Sons of Gondor
“Sons of Gondor”.
38” x 22”. Digital illustration. Photoshop. 2024.
ABSTRACT
“My father is a noble man, but his rule is failing, and our ... our people lose faith. He looks to me to make things right ... and I would do it, I would see the glory of Gondor restored. Have you ever seen it, Aragorn? The White Tower of Ecthelion, glimmering like a spike of pearl and silver, its banners caught high in the morning breeze ... have you ever been called home by the clear ringing of silver trumpets?.”
-Boromir, “The Fellowship of the Ring”
THE SHORT OF IT:
“Sons of Gondor” is an illustration in 16:9 aspect ratio created for a commission request by an anonymous client. The request was simple: a romantic scene between Aragorn, King of Gondor, and Boromir, Captain of Gondor, both characters from J. R. R. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings trilogy. The client also provided a still from Baz Luhrmann’s 1996 “Romeo + Juliet”, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes, as inspiration for the kind of pose they wanted the two characters to be in.
THE LONG OF IT:
Although the commission request only called for an illustration of the two characters, I chose to expand on the request by building an entire scene for the characters to be set in. It’s set at daybreak in the Pelennor Fields, the open region directly in front of Minas Tirith, the capital city of the land of Gondor and one of the main bastions of power against Sauron and the other forces of evil threatening Middle-Earth.
The image is set in an alternate continuity to the main story.
In canon, Boromir is slain in the first book of the trilogy while trying to defend Frodo, Sam, Merry, Pippin, and the other members of the Fellowship from attacking orcs. In the film version of the Fellowship of the Ring, Boromir sacrifices himself as a kind of redemption for the temptation and tortured motivations he has experienced throughout the film regarding the Ring. At various points in the film, Boromir argues that the Ring should be used against Sauron by the people of Gondor, who are the first line of defense against his evil. The Ring is a crux of pure malice and can influence people and things, and has caused Boromir a great deal of ambivalence and inner turmoil.
In the illustration, Boromir has survived and the story has gone on as it was meant to: Frodo and Sam succeed in destroying the Ring, Sauron is defeated and Middle-Earth enters a golden age of peace and prosperity. Gondor, which has long suffered bearing the brunt of Sauron’s might, is reborn under King Aragorn, the rightful king of Gondor.
As day breaks, Boromir sets out to ride to one of Gondor’s neighboring lands, saying a temporary goodbye to his beloved, Aragorn, King of Gondor.
Research
For Aragorn, I felt certain elements established in Tolkien’s original story and Peter Jackson’s trilogy were vital and could not be lost. These included the intricate design of his crown, as well as the imagery of the Tree of Gondor which would be worn on his chest. I was eager to find other opportunities in his costume where the rhythmic, feather-like design of his crown could be echoed. It seems evident that the original designers of the Peter Jackson films looked to the Art Nouveau movement for a lot of inspiration.
I knew that I wanted to evoke a Japanese heritage for Aragorn. I’m not entirely sure why I was thinking this; from the beginning of the piece, I envisioned the people of Gondor as a melting pot of East Asian and South Asian influences. This might be the influence of animation like Avatar: the Last Airbender, one of the greatest and most influential pieces of animation to ever exist, in my opinion. A kimono or some other traditional Japanese robe was what I envisioned the King of Gondor wearing.
Ultimately, since I did not want to lose the intricacy of the Tree of Gondor on Aragorn’s clothing, I chose to forego much of my original thinking on the kind of robes he would wear. Kimonos and other sorts of traditional clothing fold and crease over the chest and torso in very specific ways, ones which made depicting the Tree’s visual complexity even more intricate.
Boromir’s design would juxtapose against the regal attire Aragorn would wear.
As a soldier, I imagined his clothing would be earthier in tone. His shield and the Horn of Gondor on his waist would be specific items that I thought were vital to his design to differentiate him as “specifically Boromir” and not just any run-of-the-mill Gondorian warrior. That he still wears chain mail would suggest that his duties take him beyond the city regularly. A sword was considered, but ultimately I cut it from the design as the positioning of the arms left limited space to place imagery in, lest it become too cluttered.
A Nepalese “gho” was envisioned for his main robes. Once again I wanted to evoke an East Asian and South Asian influence on Gondorian culture.
Minas Tirith is located the end of the Misty Mountains in Middle-Earth. I thought of them as a kind of analog for the Himalayas. Gondor and the Pelennor Fields would then be something like the foothills and steppes surrounding Mount Everest and K2 in Nepal and India.
The light pinks, purples, and blues I envisioned were less a result of iciness or altitude, and more due to being set at daybreak. In the original color comp, I envisioned the warm gold of sunset for the time of day when the scene would be set, but changed it to the cooler hues of the early morning because I felt this was more in line with the atmosphere of hope and comfort I felt I wanted to evoke.
PROCESS
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Initial Color Comp
Originally, the composition was far more zoomed out to show more of the scenery surrounding the two characters. It was also set at sunset. However, I thought this very zoomed-out perspective deflected too much focus away from the main characters and towards the city in the distance. The visual hierarchy became muddled: should the viewer be focussing on the city, or the horses Aragorn and Boromir used to get to the hillside, or the two lovers themselves?
Initial sketch for the posing for the hands which was taken directly from the Romeo + Juliet still the client supplied for reference.
Due to some changes in how their bodies and arms would be positioned, a change was also needed in the way the hands interacted. This new pose for the hands aimed to be even more intimate and gentle, and I hoped to evoke a more OPEN, MUTUAL, and RECIPROCAL relationship.
The very first sketch for Boromir. You can see how the other elements of his design, like his gho, shield, chain mail, and Horn, were added in afterwards on top of the intitial drawing.
An evolution of ideas for Aragorn's face. Would it be a more celebratory and extroverted joyfulness he would wear on his face, or perhaps something a little more reserved, but still clearly devoted?
Minas Tirith was an exceptionally challenging element of the drawing to tackle. Not only is perspective, mechanical, and architectural drawing already a source of great challenges for me personally, but the city was round rather than straight-edged! I ultimately decided to try to use the warp and distort features in Photoshop to bend a kind of flat map of each level of the city into a two-point perspective.
The extrude feature in Illustrator for rendering 3-D objects was helpful in creating stronger forms for the basic shapes of the city and its various levels. Additionally, I created a basic wall map and exported it as a JPG. Back in Photoshop, I used the warp and distort tools to bend an object onto the circular city levels, converted it to a smart object, and uploaded the wall imagery I created in Illustrator to udpate its contents.
Refined linework used in the final illustration. Although some initial character sketches were done in an analog method and scanned into Photoshop, most of the drawing and painting for this illustration was done digitally. This is an interesting change as there is usually a back-and-forth rhythm of creating elements by hand or digitally in my usual process.
Refined linework for Minas Tirith and the Misty Mountains range behind the city. I considered drawing vegetation and trees in perspective on the foothills as they drew closer to the foreground, but opted not to complicate and clutter the image with those details.
ALL VERSIONS + ALTERNATES
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Landscape Version: Minas Tirith + Pelennor Fields
The final daybreak setting is where Aragorn and Boromir bid a temporary farewell to each other as the city Captain ventures out to neighboring lands.
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Sons: Close-Up + Full Render
A tighter and more close-up version of the illustration focusing solely on the characters and foregoing any background detail. Notice that the initial color comp which had been set at sunset is now used as the daybreak setting.
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Sons: Close-Up + Flat Colors
Finally, a version of the close-up with all rendering foregone and focusing solely on flat fields of color. I wanted to see which version I prefer. The rendering done in digital painting for this illustration was something new as most of my previous works focus on linework and flatter fields of color. I’m not sure which to choose, really! They both have their merits I think. Ultimately, all final versions were submitted to the client for their purchase.
