Barad-dur

This was one of only two Lord of the Rings images I managed to produce before the release of the films. It will be difficult to do any more without being influenced by the wonderful imagery from the big screen. Copyright - 2001.

Pencil sketch, computer coloured using Paint Shop Pro 7. 1500 pixels x 2151 pixels.

The basic sketched layout was scanned and scaled to an equivalent physical size of 529mm x 759mm. Paint Shop Pro 7 was then used to colour the image, with only the painting tools used.

If you have browsed the rest of my galleries, you may have noticed that the tower is actually the same as the one I had designed for 'The Light Cone'. I really liked the shape of the lighthouse idea in that picture and had always wanted to use it for something. Ever since I first read Lord Of The Rings, I had always envisaged Barad-dur as being a naturally formed structure that had been twisted and manipulated by Sauron - as opposed to being built. The design for 'The Light Cone' seemed to fit that perfectly.