Illustrating Tolkien: 1992-2026
Her presentation will be about her approach to illustrating the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. It will showcase her earliest creations in the 1990s up to very recent artworks and will look at the reasoning and inspiration behind them as well as the actual craft of creating them from first sketches to finished watercolour paintings. The talk will also touch upon Tolkien-inspired art projects such as illustrations for books by Walking Tree Publishers and Spanish publisher Legendaria. It will also touch upon the creation of my illustrated edition of a part of the epic poem Beowulf.
Bionote
Anke Eissmann (born 1977) is a German illustrator and graphic designer. Since studying Visual Communication at Bauhaus University in Weimar, Germany, and Graphic Design at Colchester Institute in Colchester, UK, she has worked for several international publisher on subjects such as mythology, fairytales, ghost-stories, adaptations of ancient poems (Beowulf), mixes of fantasy and history (Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series), and most prominently the works of J. R. R. Tolkien. Her preferred mediums are watercolour, pencil, and ink. She is rarely seen without a sketchbook, apart from when she is riding her bicycle, hiking, running, writing, or teaching art and art-history at secondary school.