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From the early days of #Tolkien illustration the innovative, colourful images of Hugo awarding winning fantasy/sci fi elder Tim Kirk shine out like Gondorian beacons. Here's one of my favourites, Frodo, Sam and Gimli peering into the starry depths of Mirrormere (c.1974).

On my Substack Release the Wargs now, short tales of creeping RPG horror from 18th century Cornwall...💀 open.substack.com/pub/joelmerr...

Seeds of Cornish HorrorI’ve lived in Cornwall on and off for most of my life and a few years ago took it upon myself to write a sourcebook for the Call of Cthulhu RPG which would (I quote from my own blurb) ‘afford players ...open.substack.com

Hitting the alcohol markers again...Mordor Orc Archer, quick and blocky colour sketch 💀 👁️#Tolkien

Saruman in Orthanc as Treebeard and Quickbeam look on. No wait, this is pole-dwelling Luke the Stylite from the c. 11th century book Menologion of Basil II. #Tolkien

Bored Éowyn waits for Théoden to snap out of it. No wait, this is the King and Queen from the 12th century Lewis chess set. #Tolkien

Available to read now on my Substack Release the Wargs - The Power of Mordor? Reading Roger Garland’s Battle of Pelennor Fields. It's an oldie, but a goodie 😉 #Tolkien open.substack.com/pub/joelmerr...

The Power of Mordor?Reading Roger Garland’s Battle of Pelennor Fields.open.substack.com

The Black Riders party post-Weathertop. No wait, it's Dance of Death by Michael Wolgemut (1493). #Tolkien

Quick alcohol marker sketch for an upcoming painting - Hedgerow Mage with Spider Accomplice🕷️🕸️

And the award for Creepiest Dragon of the Day goes to... Glaurung (1981) by the late, great Roger Garland. If you're old enough you'll remember this one from the cover of the 1982 Unfinished Tales paperback by Unwin. A truly weird and icky Great Worm emerges from a sphincter-like gate #Tolkien 😱

Besides fantasy I used to paint a lot of wildlife, and this is a subject I'm hoping to return to now that I've got a bit more time to flex the old paintbrushes. Here's one I did for a commission, a Bengal Tiger (oils on canvas) with a particularly intense, Derren Brown-like gaze. Look into my eyes 😵‍💫

Read about Sergei Iukhimov's weird and wonderful faux-art history of Middle-earth on my Substack now. In a quick excerpt from my book we discuss The Bilbo Book, the Dushanchik family of Tower Hills and the Sauron-loving Murderers (among others!). joelmerriner.substack.com/p/the-bilbo-...

The Bilbo Book and Other StoriesSergei Iukhimov's Art History of Middle-earthjoelmerriner.substack.com

On the subject of new projects I'll be kicking off my Substack Release the Wargs! shortly where I'll be combining my customary #Tolkien art history rambles with snippets of fiction, book updates and random fantasy art stuff. First post should be up soon, subscribe if you can stand the howling 🐺🤪

So, after nearly ten years I've officially left HE teaching. It's been good, but it's time for a change. Luckily I've got some exciting new projects to throw myself into. Firstly, I'm writing a new book, a (🤞) funny tale about '80s fantasy fandom called Chaotic Good Guy...1/2 (Art: John Blanche)

It's Angus McBride #Tolkien time again and as always our man creates a killer MERP cover image. From Mount Gundabad (1989) we have this awesome Big Boss Guy complete with ravening orc hordes and💀face horse. Loving the jaunty pose btw, plus this season's must-have helm & sunglasses combo 🕶️ #Tolkien

The paperback version of my book Illustrating The Lord of the Rings in the Soviet Bloc is available to pre-order on Amazon now www.amazon.co.uk/Illustrating... Sadly the PB release date isn't until 18th March 2027 (🤪) but in the meantime here's some Yassen Panov to get you in the mood #Tolkien

For Friday, a question... Which Nazgûl are you? (I'm top right at the back, if you're asking 😜💀) Art by the awesome Allan Curless (c.1979)