Journal project for Color and Design class.

1. Journal Assignment

2. Belonging to:Niki Tantillo

3. A single dream is more powerful than a thousand realities.
-J.R.R. Tolkien

4. Introduction
Art has the ability to influence others in an infinite number of ways.
This impact that it has on the human mind is heavily due to its ability to be
something either so familiar or something so peculiar in relation to ourselves
and the reality in which we live; Tolkien‟s work holds both of these qualities.
His words illustrate plus create a world so fanciful & unheard of
yet writes in such a way that gives the appearance of a natural & realistic
world— like walking into another reality.
For this journal, I will be analyzing the world of Tolkien‟s
literature using the elements of color and design. It will be divided &
organized into two different sections.
I. Creation of Arda
II. The land of Arda
Part I: Creation of Arda

5. Summary
The telling of the creation of Arda can be found in Tolkien‟s “The
Silmarillion” as well as „The History of Middle Earth: The
Book of Lost Tales.”
Tolkien did a summary of the creation in the second chapter of the
Silmarillion that serves as the best way to understand this scene without
going into further detail :
“In the beginning, Eru, the One, who in the Elvish tongue is
named Ilúvatar, made the Ainur of his thought; and they made a great
Music before him. In this Music the World was begun; for Ilúvatar
made visible the song of the Ainur, and they beheld it as a light in the
darkness. And many among them became enamored of its beauty, and of its
history which they saw beginning and unfolding as in a vision. Therefore,
Ilúvatar gave to their vision Being, and set it amid the Void, and the
Secret Fire was sent to burn at the heart of the World; and it was called
Eä.
Then those of the Ainur who desire it arose and entered into the
World at the beginning of Time; and it was their task to achieve it, and by
their labors to fulfil the vision which they had seen. Long they laboured in the
regions of Eä, which are vast beyond the thought of Elves and Men,
until the time appointed was made Arda, the Kingdom of Earth. Then
they put on the raiment of Earth and descended into it, and dwelt therein.”
The only thing in which this summary fails to mention is the
presence of Melkor. Melkor was one of the Ainur who was given the
most knowledge and power among his brethren by Ilúvatar. He set
himself apart and gained thoughts of his own. When trying to confront the
music of the Ainur with his own set of music, he would be stopped by
Ilúvatar only to be left with shame and anger—creating the first presence of
darkness.
Space, Shape,Form, & Color
Ilúvatar and the Ainur are the artists of everything that makes up
the Tolkien universe using the Void as their canvas. Third dimensional
as well as fourth dimensional elements are created to take up negative space of
the Void until no negative space is left and all that is left is Arda.
The work is meant to take objective shape being both kinetic and
three dimensional. When some of the Ainur decide to step into Arda (now
would be known as the Valar and Maiar) they themselves take shape of
many forms. They could either appear in actual space being plastic (plastic
in referring to color and design) beings, appearing male or female, walking
the land of Arda; or they could take amorphous shape and only be made up
of implied shape and line.

6. “Moreover their shape comes of their knowledge of the visible World,
rather than the world itself; and they need it not, save only as we use raiment,
and yet may be naked and suffer no loss of our being. Therefore the Valar
may walk; if they will, unclad, and then even the Eldar cannot clearly
perceive them, though they be present.”
--Excerpt
from
Chapter
One,
“The
Silmarillion”
The most important feature of the creation of Arda is form. Before
Arda would be created, form only took place in the shape of music. About to
be presented is another excerpt from chapter one of “The Silmarillion.”
In this excerpt, the music of the Ainur along with Melkor‟s own music
are described:
“But now Ilúvatar sat and hearkened, and for a great while it seemed
good to him, for in the music there were no flaws. But as the theme progressed,
it came into the heart of Melkor to interweave matters of his own imagining
that were not in accord with the theme of Ilúvatar, for he sought therein to
increase the power and glory of the part assigned to himself….Some of these
thoughts he now wove into his music, and straightway discord arose about him,
and many that sang nigh him grew despondent, and their thought was disturbed
and their music faltered; but some began to attune their music to his rather than
to the thought which they had at first. Then the discord of Melkor spread ever
wider, and the melodies which had been heard before foundered in a sea of
turbulent sound. But Ilúvatar sat and hearkened until it seemed that about
his throne there was a raging storm, as of dark waters that made war one upon
another in an endless wrath that would not be assuaged.
Then Ilúvatar arose, and the Ainur perceived that he smiled;
and he lifted up his left hand, and a new theme began amid the storm, like
and yet unlike to the former theme, and it gathered power and had new
beauty. But the discord of Melkor rose in uproar and contended with it,
and again there was a war of sound more violent than before, until many of
the Ainur were dismayed and sang no longer, and Melkor had the
mastery. Then again Ilúvatar arose, and the Ainur perceived that his
countenance was stern; and he lifted up his right hand, and behold! a third
theme grew amid the confusion, and it was unlike the others. For it seemed
at first soft and sweet, a mere rippling of gentle sounds in delicate melodies;
but it could not be quenched, and it took to itself power and profundity. And
it seemed at last that there were two musics progressing at one time before the
seat of Ilúvatar, and they were utterly at variance. The one was deep and
wide and beautiful, but slow and blended with an immeasurable sorrow, from
which its beauty chiefly came. The other had now achieved a unity of its
own; but it was loud, and vain, and endlessly repeated; and it had little
harmony, but rather a clamorous unison as of many trumpets braying upon a
few notes. And it essayed to drown the other music by the violence of its
voice, but it seemed that its most triumphant notes were taken by the other
and woven into its own solemn pattern.
In the midst of this strife, whereat the halls of Ilúvatar shook and
a tremor ran out into the silences yet unmoved, Ilúvatar arose a third time,
and his face was terrible to behold. Then he raised up both his hands, and in

7. one chord, deeper than the Abyss, higher than the Firmament, piercing as
the light of the eye of Ilúvatar, the Music ceased.”
The essence of Ilúvatar‟s melody symbolizes the embodiment of what
is good, aka, light. His music follows all principles of organization and
creates visual unity through the three themes described in the page before.
Overall, the music created on Iluvatar‟s and the Ainur‟s part is both
peaceful and powerful.
As someone who views music visually through color, the Music of the
Ainur come off in cool, high-key colors as well as neutral colors that blend
smoothly. In the first theme, the music is made up of mostly cool neutral colors
with accents of high-key colors, However as the music progresses, the high
key tones become stronger and have a much more dominant appearance in
order to compete with the Music of Melkor; which had taken an opposite
approach. Melkor‟s work comes off in very warm, vibrant, low-key colors in
impressionistic strokes. Some high-key yellow s are present in order to establish
a form of chaos within his piece. It is unorganized with no apparent rhythm.
Variety is scarce and only relies on repetition and the power of its intensity.
Foreshadowing and Symbolism
With light there is always darkness to accompany it in order for
there to be true balance. The clashing of music that occurs is the perfect
symbolism of this occurring theme in all forms of art. It even serves to be
foreshadowing to the whole history of Arda that is yet to come. In each
Age of the Sun (there being four ages), it always starts with the utmost
sense of peace just as the beginning of the music of the Ainur. Things will
stay this way until the
interruption of negative forces take place among that of what was peace.
Only chaos will ensue while the powers of good and evil grow trying to
consume one another until a final war would mark the victory for what is
good.

8. Part II: The Land of Arda
Geography
To the left is a map Arda in it‟s entirety. Arda consists of two
large land masses(Middle Earth to the East and The Undying
Lands to the West)and two large seas (Ekkaia—the Encircling Sea
to the North and Belegear— the Great Sea to the South) that all
sit in approximate symmetry. Middle Earth and the Undying Lands
are only connected at the top of the map by the Grinding Ice. Directly
south to the Grinding Ice is the island Numenor which stands as the
only large island of Arda (there is also Tol Eressa closer to the
Undying Lands however it is bare and not even half of Numenor‟s
size).
There is both a set of repetition and variety throughout the map of
Arda by the enviroment. Great plains, mountain ranges, forests, exist in
both land masses. However there are elements distinct to each land that
can serve as visual guiders through the map. For Middle Earth, these
would be the Lamps of the Valar.
The Lamps of the Valar served as sorces of light to all of Arda
and existed in the North (Illuin) and the South (Ormal). These
lamps would actually be destroyed by an assault from Melkor and not

9. repaired, however would serve as reference in the making of the sun and
moon.
To the West, in the Undying Lands, arethe Trees of the
Valar. These two trees exist together in the North created by
Yavanna after the two lamps were destroyed. These trees would cast light
throughout the Undying Lands and would also serve as the Count of
Time (first time that time would be measured and ages would come to exist).
For those who lived in the light „were ennobled and filled with immense
wisdome‟ (A Tolkien Bestiary).
The composition of Arda allows for movement throughout the map as
I have shown above. The mountain ranges appear very compressed and
connected through both lands and serve as the visual directors for the viewer,
**Circled in yellow are the locations in which
The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings took place**
Another pathway around the piece are the accents of the Trees of Valor
and the Lamps of Valor circled above in blue.
Landscape by Tolkien Illustrations
The novel “The Hobbit” and the trilogy of “The Lord of the
Rings” all took place in Middle Earth. Tolkien had put most of his
focuses on Middle Earth
in devoloping the lands and
the cultures of the people there
and made many illustrations
to bring visual context to his
writings. Although, there are
still some illustration that were
created for the Undying
Lands such as the one to the
right. This image represents
one of the few drawings done
from the Undying Lands
and is know as the highest
mountain of Arda—
Taniquetil .Done in
watercolor, the painiting itselfis

10. has an analogous color scheme using weak-intensity colors. The purpose of
the painting was to give a sense of scale to how Taniquetil would appear if it
were real (swan-ships of

11. the Telerin Elves used for scale).Although it is one of the few drawings
done of the Undying
Lands, it is one of the
many drawings done of
mountains and mountain
ranges. They were a
large part of “The
Hobbit” and “The
Lord of the Rings” as
both challenges
throughout journeys as
well as being the goal
destination (The
Lonely Mountiain in “The Hobbit” and Mount Doom in “Lord
of the Rings”). Mountains and mountain ranges are known to be homes
to good (Elves, the eagles, etc.) as well as to dark creatures (orcs, dragons,
etc.).
Above is another watercolor painting now of Rivendell. Existing in
the Misty Mountains, Rivendell is the home to elves and is known as a
place of safety and comfort. To the right is another image of the Misty
Mountains except in ink. Both art pieces use atmospheric perspective in
order to give understanding to just how large these mountain ranges were.
In order to recede in the painting of Rivendell, values were dulled and
detail diminished the further back in space it went, For “The Mountainpath,” both straight lines and cross-contours are used and are either reduced
in size or in space the further back in space the mountains go.

12. One other landscape found widelythroughout Ardathe forests. Forests
were ventured throughout “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings.”
From Mirkwood to Lothlórien, forests were dark, grim places usually
enchanted with magic and could be hoststo the kingdoms of Silvan Elves.
“Old Man Willow” (right, top) was created using crayon and depicts
a willow seen in The Old Forest in book one,“The Fellowship of the
Ring” from the Lord of the Rings trilogy. This is an objectively
descriptive piece that uses mostly neutral tones along with some low-tonality
greens and blues. Somewhat thick contour lines are used on the closest willow
while very thin lines are uses in the receding background.
As for the image below, it is a painting of Fangorn Forest seen in
book two of the Lord of the Rings trilogy “The Two Towers.”This
image is much more decorative, however, till neutral toned—even more than
“Old Man Willow.” A lot of contrast is present between the trees of the
foreground against that of the black backgroundmaking the image appear flat.
The use of neutral colors and tones is heavy is made heavy in both pieces
in order to evoke a sense of gloominess; even maleficence.Another element
common in these works are the use of heavily dark backgrounds behind the
trees. This darkness creates high contrast making the trees and the ground
stand out more than they would if a lighter background were used.

13. Creaturesof Arda—Of Power, Beauty,
and Satire
“As the Ainulindale tells, all things that came forth in the World
were formed in the grand themes of the Music of the Ainur.”
In the book “A Tolkien Bestiary” by David Day, onehundred-and-twenty-nine creatues/races are uncovered and described. All of
these creatures were created to attribute to the world, adding variety and
balance to Arda.
The creatures created by that of the Ainur (ofIlúvatar‟s
thought)came in many themes. Creatures such as the Eagles (below) and
Ents (half-human, half-tree beings)
were created as protectors of the land of
Arda. These beings were the first
created and represented power. They
were creatures of much larger scale,
bold, and were much more dominant
„details‟ to Arda (not nearly as
dominant, however, as that of the men
and elves wohom were the primary focal
point of the Ainur after the landscapes
were created). They are also very
structured and constantly fighting
for dominance of Arda against the
dark creatures of Melkor‟s
creation. Eagles, for example,
primarily existed within the
mountain ranges and
The Old Thrush By
Mark Poole
fought- and brought fear - to
the orcs and wolves of their region. In “The Hobbit” they
provided aid to Gandalf against the wolves on the quest to the

14. Al
as!
A
tetr
ad
colo
r
sch
eme
is
pres
ent!
Lonely Mountain and again during the Battle of Five Armies.
Another set of creatures created by the Ainur were that that
represented beauty. These creatures were very ornate in their features as well
as their movement. They are known to be light, quick, and often very
intelligent. They are much morefrequent in appearance, creating an allover
pattern within Arda. Although they are much more frequently found, they
are much more subtle and do not have the same boldness and power as that
of creatures such as the Eagles and Ents. Examples of these creatures
could be thrushes (seen above) and Nightingales. These birds were known
to be very small, but very common throughout Arda. Thrushes were very
quick and served as messengers to men and dwarves. The other is the
Nightingale. Nightingales are known for the beauty and lightness of
song.
Overall,
these creatures
were simlpy the
physical form of
the Music of the
Ainur. There
were intelligent
beings of power
and beauty that
brought balance and harmony to Arda.
However, if itwere only these creatures alone, there would be excessive
use of harmony. Again, the Music of the Ainur from Ilúvatar was not the
only composition created in the creation of Arda. Melkor, had created his
own composition of power and of terrible darkness. Even though it would not
be allowed by Ilúvatar for his composition to be apart of Arda, Melkor
would enter Arda and bring his composition to life within Arda by trying to
destroy what was created and to replace it with his own ideas. After destroying
the Lamps of the Valar, he would plung Middle Earth into darkness.
In the Pits of Utumno, Melkor mocked the makings of the Valar
and mocked them by making creatures simlilar, but terrible compared to that of
the Valar‟s creation—creatures of Satire. Through torturing elvs and ents,
they would become orcs and trolls (left).
Instead of birds, bats were bred and instead of dogs wolves were bred
and so on.

15. Melkor‟s main goal in the end was to create creatures of his
own and that he did. Werewolves, winged beasts, vampires, the
Kraken, Great Spiders, and most powerful and darkest of all
dragons (right) were bred and all were released into the world.
Similar to his music, these beings were all powerful and large in scale
and proportion. They are also all dark in theme and no light values
can be found in their thought of being. Compared to the creatures of
the Ainur, they lacked severe skill, intelligence, and organization of
being.

16. Conclusion
Arda is a great work of trompe l‟oeil. By simply reading the words
from Tolkien‟s literature, the world is recreated into a realistic enviroment right
inside the human mind. Overall, Arda is a composition of battling, high
contrasting themes. It is a battle of dark and light, of cool and warm colors,
of good and evil; creating the dualism of harmony and variety.The lighter
theme (from Ilúvatar) has a mix of calligraphic and ornate lines, and cool
colors brought on with smooth technique while that of the darker theme (from
Melkor) uses chaotic, thick strokes of high-intensity, warm colors placing
them without rythym and organization. With this ignorance towards
understanding the elements of design, Melkor‟s theme, despite all of it‟s power,
fail‟s to take any actual shape. Instead, the lighter theme will hold the
winning hand and claim dominance of Arda.
Tolkien is the father of modern fantasy. Without his work, other
fantasy works and games such as Dungeon and Dragons, Dragon
Quest, World of Warcraft, and even Harry Potter would cease to
exist. Homage has been given to Tolkien‟s work through literature, music,
art, and much more. The largest homage to Tolkien would be that of the
movies done by Peter Jackson.
I know that without Tolkien, that without his art, I would not be
who I am today.
Fin.