"Well, my dear fellow," said Bilbo, "now you've heard the news, can't you spare me a moment? I want your help in something urgent. Elrond says this song of mine is to be finished before the end of the evening, and I am stuck. Let's go off into a corner and polish it up!"
Strider smiled. "Come then!" he said. "Let me hear it!
Bilbo and Aragorn meet in the Hall of Fire, the evening before the Council of Elrond was to take place. I like drawing scenes from the book that weren't in the movies. I've included the steps on how I finished the drawing. Far from perfect, but I just love illustrating the books so much.
I first sketched Aragorn, modelling him after Viggo Mortensen. I saw the films first before reading the books, so I have always associated the characters with the actors' faces.
I drew Bilbo next, sitting in his chair, with his drink.
I started painting Aragorn's clothes all green, but wasn't sure what shade to use so it eventually became gray and black with a little green.
Looking at the step-by-step, the progress pictures actually look better than the finished work. :'( I'm starting to add yellow highlights since they're in a room with a large fire in the center as the only light source.
I start painting Bilbo's cape with a lot of yellow since he's closer to the fire.
And can't forget his drink:
I've never used so much yellow in a painting before and have never done a firelit scene so this was really difficult.
My favorite part was painting Bilbo's little stool.
Here they are bathed in firelight, the next step was the just some background color.
And some shadows:
And... done.
Again, this is so far from perfect and if any artists out there could give me some feedback or tips, I'd appreciate it so much.