Post: #1

I found this set of illustrations that tell the story of The Ainulindale, the first chapter of Tolkien's The Silmarillion.

http://www.evanpalmercomics.com/#/ainulindale/

It's beautiful. My mouth dropped at seeing the very first image and at how the author matched his style to capture the feel of Tolkien. It actually drew an emotional response from me. Like seeing George Washington Crossing the Delaware in the Metropolitan Museum of Fine arts.

Right off the bat, the artist (Evan Palmer) sets a high bar, and he didn't disappoint with the rest of it. It feels mystic, as befitting the creation myth of the world Tolkien created.

I really dug how he portrayed the music of the Ainur. How does he find the visuals to express this metaphysical thing? Sometimes you hear something, like an orchestra playing a Beethoven symphony and you can feel the love of the musicians' love for the composer in the sound. This is the case here. You can tell from the art that this is someone who has a pure and loving reverence for Tolkien's writing.

Post: #2

A little off-topic I know, but a band I used to love back in the 80s/early 90s were Marillion (named after the Silmarillion).
What actually drew me to them originally was not the music, but the album and single covers which were astonishing, and even the band's name, as it was written in that decorative style.
A guy called Mark Wilkinson did mouch of their artwork. You can see some of his work here: http://www.the-masque.com/mainpage.html