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peet — Turin and Mim

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Published: 2015-04-26 19:53:49 +0000 UTC; Views: 7370; Favourites: 162; Downloads: 47
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'In the time that followed Túrin spoke much with Mîm, and sitting with him alone he listened to his lore and the tale of his life. For Mîm came of Dwarves that were banished in ancient days from the great Dwarf-cities of the east, and long before the return of Morgoth they wandered westward into Beleriand; but they became diminished in stature and in smith-craft, and they took to lives of stealth, walking with bowed shoulders and furtive steps. Before the Dwarves of Nogrod and Belegost came west over the mountains the Elves of Beleriand knew not what these others were, and they hunted them, and slew them; but afterwards they let them alone, and they were called Noegyth Nibin, the Petty-Dwarves, in the Sindarin tongue. They loved none but themselves, and if they feared and hated the Orcs, they hated the Eldar no less, and the Exiles most of all; for the Noldor, they said, had stolen their lands and their homes. Long ere King Finrod Felagund came over the Sea, the caves of Nargothrond were discovered by them, and by them its delving was begun; and beneath the crown of Amon Rûdh, the Bald Hill, the slow hands of the Petty-Dwarves had bored and deepened the caves through the long years that they dwelt there, untroubled by the Grey-elves of the woods. But now at last they had dwindled and died out of Middle-earth, all save Mîm and his two sons; and Mîm was old even in the reckoning of Dwarves, old and forgotten. And in his halls the smithies were idle, and the axes rusted, and their name was remembered only in ancient tales of Doriath and Nargothrond.'

JRR Tolkien: The Silmarillion : Chaper 21: Of Túrin Turambar

See the rest of the NARN I HÎN HÚRIN series here .

Painted in watercolour.

If you appreciate my artwork, please show your support by taking a few short moments to 'Like' my Facebook Page, at Peter Xavier Price - Illustrator . Many thanks!

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Comments: 44

Truth-lover3712 [2016-07-29 12:08:02 +0000 UTC]

Am I the only one who finds this version looking almost like Kili in some way?

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peet In reply to Truth-lover3712 [2016-09-11 12:43:26 +0000 UTC]

GAH!! Nooooo!!! Well, if so, maybe only in facial features. My Mim is an extremely diminutive figure

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Truth-lover3712 In reply to peet [2016-09-11 13:23:47 +0000 UTC]

I mean Turin looking like Kili, NOT the dwarf

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peet In reply to Truth-lover3712 [2016-09-11 13:26:16 +0000 UTC]

Either way. That just means Kili looked too mannish

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Truth-lover3712 In reply to peet [2016-09-11 13:29:17 +0000 UTC]

Well, Kili is played by a human actor soooo
Dunno, just trolling around.

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peet In reply to Truth-lover3712 [2016-09-11 13:32:52 +0000 UTC]

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EmmetEarwax [2016-06-04 22:36:08 +0000 UTC]

And when Turin later killed Mim , it ended a whole race of Dwarves.
Turin, cursed...

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peet In reply to EmmetEarwax [2016-06-04 23:20:49 +0000 UTC]

Hurin actually. Still, cursed family ...

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EmmetEarwax [2016-05-20 02:23:57 +0000 UTC]

You give a dignity & nobility to Tolkein's  peoples & places ranking with the official artists.

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peet In reply to EmmetEarwax [2016-06-04 16:36:07 +0000 UTC]

This is high praise indeed, and one that warms me! Thank you so much.

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WarriorArnelle [2015-09-05 14:03:55 +0000 UTC]

Turin's eyes are gorgeous in this!

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peet In reply to WarriorArnelle [2015-09-08 21:46:30 +0000 UTC]

Glad you like I tried to give him some Noldor sea-grey eyes, and piercing ...

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WarriorArnelle In reply to peet [2015-09-09 00:30:06 +0000 UTC]

I say you succeeded!

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peet In reply to WarriorArnelle [2015-09-11 11:36:22 +0000 UTC]

!

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DarkStormSeeker [2015-05-28 17:28:11 +0000 UTC]

Beautiful!! I loved the pose of Turin's hands!!     

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peet In reply to DarkStormSeeker [2015-06-11 14:35:28 +0000 UTC]

Thanks a lot! The general seating pose with the hands like that are a reference taken from my own anatomy

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Cuthillius [2015-05-20 21:57:08 +0000 UTC]

I like the coloring.

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peet In reply to Cuthillius [2015-05-23 11:15:21 +0000 UTC]

Thank you, I went two-tone on this one

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EmmetEarwax In reply to peet [2016-05-20 02:24:52 +0000 UTC]

Known as a grissaile (some medieval paintings were done with this palette. )

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peet In reply to EmmetEarwax [2016-06-04 16:57:54 +0000 UTC]

Ah great, thanks for letting me know Looked it up, and learnt something new!

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yamisaibot [2015-04-29 23:51:12 +0000 UTC]

Wow my friend
I always love your drawings 
this piece is really amazing, I love so much the excellent couloring  

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peet In reply to yamisaibot [2015-05-11 09:51:21 +0000 UTC]

I'm seriously running out of ways to thank you; I'm so glad you're happy with these portrayals

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yamisaibot In reply to peet [2015-05-15 15:34:42 +0000 UTC]

awwwww *hugs you*
and im so glad to see your amazing drawings 

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peet In reply to yamisaibot [2015-05-17 20:41:45 +0000 UTC]

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Eruanna17 [2015-04-27 13:08:07 +0000 UTC]

Ah, there's the next picture with a dwarf in it
First of all: great work! It's always nice to see illustrations of stories I've read and also liked a lot and this is no exception. The yellow-ish colours make it look like a really cosy storytelling session. If the fire in the background is the only source of light I believe that it would probably be darker and the shadows on their faces and clothes deeper but that's very difficult to predict.
The dwarf looks very good as well Compared to your other dwarves he looks somewhat primordial (and veeeeeery old) which fits the racial description perfectly. And when compared to Turin next to him he looks very small - even for a dwarf.
Turin's pose was a good choice, he looks physically relaxed but still concentrated. Somehow I really like his lips . Great job on his hands, too! Drawing hands correctly is so damn difficult...
There's just one thing I'd change and that's Turin's look. Right now he's gazing into the distance and it almost seems as if he's not really listening to what Mim has to say. On the other hand I suppose that you wanted to show him as if he was picturing Mim's story in his own mind? But then it would make more sense to me if some fragments = smaller pictures of his tales were "floating" around or above their heads in the darkness.
But all things considered this is a great picture

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peet In reply to Eruanna17 [2015-04-27 13:44:45 +0000 UTC]

Well well, it wasn't quite 1000 words, but it's more thorough than I was expecting Thank you so much!


In this case, I did intend for there to be another source of light slightly above Mim, perhaps a smaller torch or candle. But of course, this is not obvious to the viewer. You're right though, this kind of lighting is very difficult to get right, regardless - especially in watercolour!

Re Mim, I'm happy of your description based on this image. Indeed, I picture him to look extremely primordial and old, shrivelled almost. I imagine he and his kind to be 'petty' in the very literal sense - very small in comparison to other Dwarves; on a par, in fact, with Hobbits in scale, if not even pathetic to look upon (hence why there were hunted by the Eldar at first, and why the Gaurwaith did not know what 'it' was when they nearly slew him). In fact, the petty-Dwarves are the one creatures in M-e that make me think of D&D style fantasy, which I otherwise find bears very little resemblance to Tolkien's creation, it being Tolkien that inspired said genre rather than things being the other way round.

As for Turin, you make some good points here. The pose and hands are my own. As for the direction of his gaze, I see him looking straight at the dwarf, personally. But I like your take on things too. Doing some border work encompassing Mim's tales is an interesting idea, and maybe one I'll take up one day to 'complete' the illustration

Again, thanks so much for taking the time to write a critique. It's always a pleasure to read, and becoming evermore rare nowadays. Which is understandable, given that there is so much artwork to look at, and less and less time to do so. I really appreciate it!


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Eruanna17 In reply to peet [2015-04-27 14:42:25 +0000 UTC]

Always a pleasure!
Alright, the torch outside of the frame explains it. Watercolour really is difficult and requires lots of practice, huh... It's been quite a long time since I've last used them because I always feel like I can't control the outcome. So far I do prefer pencils and digital painting (ctrl+z ftw).
It's interesting how our views of perspective differ though. I think it's because for me it looks as if the distance between Turin and Mim is rather small and Turin's looking over his head. But obviously there's a good explanation

Yeah, there really are too many pictures to look at but most of the time I try to find at least more to say than "oh, good"

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peet In reply to Eruanna17 [2015-05-13 11:01:57 +0000 UTC]

You know how you sometimes study somebody's face when they're talking (usually when they're rambling and not really talking with you but at you, or simply to themselves - usually my grandfather!)? Sometimes you take in the contours of their face, the wrinkles, or just observe their features, things like that. I think that's what I was going for here - Turin is really entranced by what Mim is saying, imagining the history of the petty-Dwarves through Mim's features - making him feel pity for this odd creature (which Tolkien says Turin was always predisposed to as part of his own character). So right at this precise second, perhaps he's merely scanning Mim's bald head ... or something like that!

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Eruanna17 In reply to peet [2015-05-13 11:40:30 +0000 UTC]

Yeah, that hast to be it, huh^^
But I do know what you're talking about. Sometimes I find myself doing exactly that when someone's talking to me.
And honestly: there are a lot of things artists (including me) usually don't depict because they look either pretty stupid (take sports for instance or stretching exercises) or are just plain weird. What one usually uses are the more obvious movements and gestures, e.g. reading a book or holding a mug or whatever. If made stationary you can still clearly see what's going on. But the small movements everyone makes but nobody normally pays attention to like moving your head around a bit would be too boring and unimportant to show...

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peet In reply to Eruanna17 [2015-05-23 10:50:34 +0000 UTC]

Yes, I think with illustration you almost have to exaggerate in such a way that doesn't work with, say, acting (or rather 'good acting') - except the type of acting that is purposefully melodramatic, I suppose. But generally speaking, 'overdoing' it produces a soap opera, which is simply an obvious appeal to the emotions, i.e., rhetorical, and has little in the way of subtlety and sophistication. By contrast, 'proper' acting if you like is far more refined, and thereby more moving because it eschews the cliched, the universalistic, the simplistic. On the other hand, when it comes to drawing or painting, a still snapshot, a single moment, you need to really emphasise the movement and/or emotion - hence the despairing hand of my dead Noldo in Anfauglith , I suppose . Although I guess the subtler stuff can come across if you're a very well accomplished artist!

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Eruanna17 In reply to peet [2015-05-24 09:25:36 +0000 UTC]

You hit the nail on the head there. It's really weird that in many cases exaggerated gestures and movement look more "real" than the ones in reality... Maybe there's a little drama queen inside every artist But in my opinion it's not that bad a thing if you use the more obvious stuff. At least it makes understanding a picture and its message easier for both the artist and the viewer
I think that the hand does add a nice touch to the picture you mentioned. If it weren't there then maybe all you could see would be the barren wasteland and assume that the volcano in the background is the case but with the skeleton and its hand you can see clearly that someone has met a tragic fate there and you feel there's more to the story than a simple natural volcano, right?
Anyway, I guess we both have to do a lot more practice until we can get the "subtler stuff" across, huh...

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peet In reply to Eruanna17 [2015-06-17 10:54:48 +0000 UTC]

Yes I suppose the subtler stuff will come in time ...

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Eruanna17 In reply to peet [2015-06-19 18:33:55 +0000 UTC]

I'm sure it will

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peet In reply to Eruanna17 [2015-07-02 21:40:06 +0000 UTC]

Ditto (coolest word ever).

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Melalina [2015-04-27 01:02:19 +0000 UTC]

I often wondered what Mim would look like.

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peet In reply to Melalina [2015-04-27 12:58:49 +0000 UTC]

And are you satisfied with this portrayal?

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Melalina In reply to peet [2015-04-27 14:56:33 +0000 UTC]

I've taken a second look at it and thought about the story. Yes, I am quite satisfied with this Mim. I think you've shown great sensitivity in projecting his personality. It's always a good thing when one can look at a picture and get a feel for the character, even without having read the story.

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peet In reply to Melalina [2015-05-11 09:50:32 +0000 UTC]

I guess this is quite an important responsibility of an illustrator, and I'm thrilled you're pleased with the portrayal in this case! Yes, I've always felt extremely very sorry for Mim (and I think Turin was also at first), even though in the end the dwarf makes some fairly questionable decisions himself. But, again, this is all part of the overall story arc re: the Children of Hurin. How much was it Morgoth's curse, and how much was it freewill - either on the part of Turin, or all those connected with him, who, in the end, also fell prey to some pretty despicable and/or unfortunate acts?

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Faerietopia [2015-04-26 23:43:48 +0000 UTC]

Lovely concept art. I am a fan of your illustrations.

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peet In reply to Faerietopia [2015-04-27 12:58:33 +0000 UTC]

Thank you so much, it's a pleasure to read such things.

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MuttMix [2015-04-26 21:41:07 +0000 UTC]

I like your design for  Mîm!

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peet In reply to MuttMix [2015-04-27 12:58:18 +0000 UTC]

Thanks, this is pretty much exactly as I saw him. Diminished from the rest of the Naugrim, and indeed petty, in a very literal sense!

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Wynnifredd [2015-04-26 21:33:49 +0000 UTC]

This is an exceptionally fine piece.
Double kudos you actually made it through the Silmarillion.

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peet In reply to Wynnifredd [2015-04-27 12:57:23 +0000 UTC]

Haha, it was not so much of a chore for me, you know? But yes, it is a pretty dense book! Many thanks for commenting.

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