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Cloister β Ecthelion and Gothmog
Published: 2007-11-27 17:11:44 +0000 UTC; Views: 28885; Favourites: 350; Downloads: 3697
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Description
Commission ordered by private person.The scene portrayes the elf Ecthelion as he meets the Lord of Balrogs, Gothmog, in city of Gondolin... which is under attack by the dark forces of Morgoth, and about to fall.
Ecthelion is wounded and his shield arm hangs limb at side as he stands to face the Balrog.
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Comments: 46
Thank you so much! I agree with SonOfSaradoc--you know the story well. From the Lord of the Fountain wielding his sword with his remaining good arm to the more believable size difference between Balrogs and Elves. Based legendary battle, it would have been impossible for Ecthelion to wrap his legs around the monster's knees and drive the spike of his helmet into the Balrog's chest if Balrogs were really 4 to 6 times his size. A massive Maia fire demon twice your size and packed with horrible burning power is terrifying enough!
I imagined the spike of the helmet to be center top, as Tolkien might have visualized from Germanic/Prussian helmets of the 16th-18th century like the Picklehaub style, but with a more slender, long spike. This design would have been far more sturdy and useful as a weapon.
Keep up the good work.
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Just fabulous - among the best depictions I've seen, and adds to appreciation of the text. Thank you!
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Hi!
I found this beautiful work on Lotr Wikia, so I added links to here.Β lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Gothmog#Gaβ¦Β lotr.wikia.com/wiki/Ecthelion_β¦
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It's wonderful that there are artists who remember that the Balrogs were always describes as "shapes of shadow and fire" rather than biblical demons.
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I just can't envision how anyone could destroy a balrog, other than gandalf haha
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Not according to the expert who commissioned me to do this... some years ago.
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Yup I was wrong, my bad.
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Fantastic picture, it really captures the scene with the battle for the city going on around. Excellent work, very well done!
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Gothmog: " Fear, fool, for I will now murder you. "
Echtelion: " Yeah yeah just let me get a drink right over there and I'll be back to you in a minute. "
Gothmog: " ...What? "
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This is completely amazing. Ecthelion's always been one of my favourites, thank you for such a beautiful rendering.
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(Lol he'd be on fire 
But awesome pic though.
v<*_*>v
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awsome but seems like a rip off of lord of the rings still kool man
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Thanks! A guy commissioned me to do this Silmarillion scene. It is surely painted to illustrated the work of Tolkien. But it is not an official LOTR-product.
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Interesting vision of balrog and beautiful city and mountains in the back. I agree with previous commenter that fighters on the left would need some more defined background, shadows unless they all blended more into background if the scene is not meant to be realistic. Regarding Ecthelion his chain mail is much sharper than the rest of the image. But nitpicking aside - well done 
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Great feedback. Thanks for the time and your words!
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Definitely like how you kept a more original look to the balrog rather than using inspiration from the movie. The only thing I would really love to see more of is the elfs face. He feels distant to me just due to the inability to read his face, and you could definitely show more of a sadness / loss / weakness in that moment of the battle. Rendering is wonderful though!
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nice work, i made this fight too, cam to see it to my place,
C-ya
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I've seen yours before. Great action there! Huge balrog!
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thatΒ΄s great, thanks for the watch!
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Your Balrog is the most original I've seen...
most people just follow the ilustration of john howe's idea of a balrog(I did it)...
..nice work
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Thanks! The client was a real Tolkien-fan, and wanted an interpretation that stayed closer to the book-balrogs. (which meant less demonic features, like horns, fangs, hooves etc)
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This is such a beautiful piece, with amazing detail, please keep up the great work!
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thats breathtaking! WOW I love how that sword shines!!! wonderful monster too!!! makes me feel almost frightened! WOW wonderful shadings!
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I'm glad you like it! Thanks!
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From the look of this, I'd say the elf is history. I have to say I'm a little worried about the group to the left - to my eyes, they do look a bit like they're floating in mid-air.
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Well, you know...elves are lightfooted...
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Ah ... yes ... that explains it ... probably ...
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augh. Why does the bad guys always have advantages over the good guys?
And yet, the good always wins.
;D
This is really cool. I love how you create the hazy dark- foggy look on him.
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They don't win this, I fear... some manage to sneak out the back-door. But otherwise it is a total loss.
Thanks!
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Marvelous - a scene from the Silmarillion - you go!
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The first comment is always nice! Thanks!
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Makes me feel speshul!
I love the water, it looks so radiant *o*
Were you using some textured brushes? Did you use a tablet at all??
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For the water and the wings I used a pair of dry scattering media-like, uneven brushes, but no textured ones. There is a very transparant stone-texture covering most of the image, and a noise-generated color-layer above it all. Most of it was painted with a single hard edged brush: opacity 100%, flow 15-25% with opacity, size (50-100%), and flow set to '
Thanks!
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