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This is not what I was supposed to be doing at all, but sometimes.. ehh, most times inspiration just gets the better of me...

Círdan the Shipwright

“Very tall he was, and his beard was long, and he was grey and old, save that his eyes were keen as stars.”

-- J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings, Book 6

“Círdan saw further and deeper than any other in Middle-earth.”

-- J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B

“ ‘My heart is with the Sea, and I will dwell by the grey shores, guarding the Havens until the last ship sails.’ ”

-- J. R. R. Tolkien: Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age

Círdan the Shipwright, Lord of the Grey Havens seen here at the end of the Third Age, overseeing the building of one of the last ships to bear away the remnants of the Eldar to the Undying Lands..

Círdan is often -- well, perhaps not completely forgotten, but at least largely ignored. Though never truly an active player who takes the centre stage, he is still extremely significant. By the end of the Third Age he was probably the oldest of the Eldar still left in Middle-earth; the one character that is always there, through all the stories.. definitely a strong contender for the supporting cast title.

Once again a drawing that shaped itself on the fly without any prior planning. I just had a thought that I need to draw Círdan and started drawing away.. When I started sketching I had a wise old sage wearing robes in mind, but he turned out rather more vigorous and hands-on active.. actually in the process of building one of his ships. Originally I had him holding a quill, but it didn’t seem to fit so I wanted to give him some other instrument and ended up with the dividers.. just because. (I really don’t know what he’s supposed to be doing with the thing, though.. ). After I had his pose and form done I momentarily contemplated whether I should rather make it ‘Turgon oversees the building of Gondolin’ but decided to stick with my original idea since I’ve drawn Turgon before whereas Círdan clearly needed drawing.. I gave him simple and practical work clothes.

You might also notice that I’ve tried to learn how to draw Celtic knotwork, something that has always been beyond me.. I’m still not very good at it, although in January I found a nice small book in a London bookstore that explains some of the tricks of knotwork design and it’s been helpful. As a bit of a joke, I chose Josephine’s knot as Círdan’s decorative theme here, since it’s traditionally associated with sailors (and because it’s one of the simpler designs that I could remember, since I didn’t actually have the book with me, and couldn’t look for any references..)

HB pencil and Photoshop. This one’s drawn on actual fine art paper and it was a positive pleasure to draw on it. A coloured version may (or may not) get done.. someday.

EDIT: Some minor tweaks in the image, shortened the title

Description
This is not what I was supposed to be doing at all, but sometimes.. ehh, most times inspiration just gets the better of me...

Círdan the Shipwright

“Very tall he was, and his beard was long, and he was grey and old, save that his eyes were keen as stars.”

-- J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings, Book 6

“Círdan saw further and deeper than any other in Middle-earth.”

-- J. R. R. Tolkien: The Lord of the Rings, Appendix B

“ ‘My heart is with the Sea, and I will dwell by the grey shores, guarding the Havens until the last ship sails.’ ”

-- J. R. R. Tolkien: Of the Rings of Power and the Third Age

Círdan the Shipwright, Lord of the Grey Havens seen here at the end of the Third Age, overseeing the building of one of the last ships to bear away the remnants of the Eldar to the Undying Lands..

Círdan is often -- well, perhaps not completely forgotten, but at least largely ignored. Though never truly an active player who takes the centre stage, he is still extremely significant. By the end of the Third Age he was probably the oldest of the Eldar still left in Middle-earth; the one character that is always there, through all the stories.. definitely a strong contender for the supporting cast title.

Once again a drawing that shaped itself on the fly without any prior planning. I just had a thought that I need to draw Círdan and started drawing away.. When I started sketching I had a wise old sage wearing robes in mind, but he turned out rather more vigorous and hands-on active.. actually in the process of building one of his ships. Originally I had him holding a quill, but it didn’t seem to fit so I wanted to give him some other instrument and ended up with the dividers.. just because. (I really don’t know what he’s supposed to be doing with the thing, though.. ). After I had his pose and form done I momentarily contemplated whether I should rather make it ‘Turgon oversees the building of Gondolin’ but decided to stick with my original idea since I’ve drawn Turgon before whereas Círdan clearly needed drawing.. I gave him simple and practical work clothes.

You might also notice that I’ve tried to learn how to draw Celtic knotwork, something that has always been beyond me.. I’m still not very good at it, although in January I found a nice small book in a London bookstore that explains some of the tricks of knotwork design and it’s been helpful. As a bit of a joke, I chose Josephine’s knot as Círdan’s decorative theme here, since it’s traditionally associated with sailors (and because it’s one of the simpler designs that I could remember, since I didn’t actually have the book with me, and couldn’t look for any references..)

HB pencil and Photoshop. This one’s drawn on actual fine art paper and it was a positive pleasure to draw on it. A coloured version may (or may not) get done.. someday.

EDIT: Some minor tweaks in the image, shortened the title