back *** Tolkien links *** shop *** The Harp and Hobbit *** asni.net
Dark Forest - charcoal sketch, c.1983?
I'm not even sure when I did that sketch, but it certainly is the earliest one in this collection. It seems inspired by Tolkien's description of the Old Wood, or perhaps Fangorn Forest, which would date it after 19983/84, when I first read "Lord of the Rings". The style is similar to a number of charcoal drawings I have done in my early to mid-teens - around ages 12 to 16 I would guess - when I was still less concerned about realistic detail and more about creating a mood - a dark and brooding one in most of my charcoal drawings, the medium seemed to lend itself to that!
There is no particular passage in Tolkien that goes with it, but I guess the following one from "The Lord of the Rings", describing the four hobbit's very first steps on their journey outside the Shire, has the right sort of flavour to go with the drawing:
"... The hobbits now left the tunnel-gate and rode across the wide hollow. On the far side was a faint path leading up on to the floor of the Forest, a hundred yards and more beyond the Hedge; but it vanished as soon as it brought them under the trees. Looking back they could see the dark line of the Hedge through the stems of the trees that were already thick about them. Looking ahead they could see only tree-trunks of innumerable sizes and shapes: straight or bent, twisted, leaning, squat or slender, smooth or gnarled and branched; and all the stems were green or grey with moss and slimy, shaggy growths.
Merry alone seemed fairly cheerful. "You had better lead on and find that path," Frodo said to him. "Don't let us lose one another, or forget which way the Hedge lies!"
They picked a way among the trees, and their ponies plodded along, carefully avoiding the many writhing and interlacing roots. There was no undergrowth. The ground was rising steadily, and as they went forward it seemed that the trees became taller, darker and thicker. There was no sound, except an occasional drip of moisture falling through the still leaves. For the moment there was no whispering or movement along the branches; but they all got the uncomfortable felling that they were being watched with disapproval, deepening to dislike and even enmity. The feeling steadily grew, until they found themselves looking up quickly, or glancing back over their shoulders, as if they expected a sudden blow."
From: J.R.R. Tolkien, "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring", book I, chapter VI "The Old Forest"
© 2002, 2003, 2004 Asni
all artwork © Asni
last updated: 12 January, 2004