A master of fantasy illustration, John Howe is famous for having brought the world of J.R.R. Tolkien to life, both in film and in prestigious editions of The Lord of the Rings. John Howe and Alan Lee worked as the chief conceptual designers on The Lord of the Rings trilogy. As a young Canadian who came to the École des Arts Dècoratifs in Strasbourg, France to study drawing, he simultaneously discovered Gothic architecture and the Middle Ages when he saw Strasbourg Cathedral.

These have continued to inspire him ever since and are evident in his images that have become popular around the world.

Quotation:

"Illustrating Tolkien means treading warily, dipping one's brush in shadow and rinsing them in light. Battle and balance, down the impossible path between the clear and the obscure."― John Howe on painting Middle-earth.