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Surreal - Macabre - Abstract

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March 2, 2011
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:iconbizarguy:
Reading the Fellowship of the Ring, and my vision of a Balrog was quite different than the movies, and every interpretation that I'd seen, so I had to draw it.

Was a lot of fun, will probably draw the fight between Gandalf and the Balrog when I get to it in the Two Towers.
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:iconsowerofash:
~sowerofash Nov 30, 2011
Well done! Not as monstrous or powerful looking as it is usually depicted (e.g. the movie), but the thin body and motionlessness of the creature gives a more frightening and menacing appearance.

Also: for those of you that are uncertain, the book actually says something along the lines of "it gathered the shadows around it like wings," which I think means that it merely gave itself the appearance of wings for visual effect. The movie-makers thought "why not?" and gave it wings because it look FRIKKIN' AWESOME.
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:iconbizarguy:
*BizarGuy Dec 5, 2011  Professional Digital Artist
Thank you!

Yes, this depiction is entirely based on what I imagined from the books, as I find that true horror does not come in the shape of a monstrous beast, but something more dark and terrible, more ancient and less showy. Fire and shadow do not have muscles they flex, they rather are power and darkness all on their own.

Besides, the depiction in the movie did not look like Gandalf's match or greater to me. :P
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:iconmalahhai:
~Malahhai Mar 5, 2011  Hobbyist Traditional Artist
wow, that really is a quite unique concept on the Balrog! If you ask me, it's way more frightening than what we saw in the movies...
Great work on drawing it, too!
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:iconbizarguy:
*BizarGuy Mar 6, 2011  Professional Digital Artist
Thanks!
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:iconblackflame418:
~Blackflame418 Mar 3, 2011  Hobbyist Photographer
Star Wars meets Lord of the Rings? Sorry, it looks like Gandalf has a lightsaber. :)
But this is a very different interpretation of the Balrog. It doesn't make it seem monstrous as the movie depicts it. Very interesting
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:iconbizarguy:
*BizarGuy Mar 3, 2011  Professional Digital Artist
Heh, well, Gandalf in fact has an Elven sword much like the dagger Sting which Frodo inherited from Biblo. Gandalf's sword is a bit more legendary, but just like sting it glows when Orcs are near.

Ah well, might have made the glow a bit strong, but it's always been strong in my mind XD
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:icontariencole:
*TarienCole Mar 3, 2011  Hobbyist Writer
It seems a little thin. But otherwise I generally agree. The winged Balrog thing is a long-standing debate. Tolkien never bothered to settle it. :P
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:iconbizarguy:
*BizarGuy Mar 3, 2011  Professional Digital Artist
Yeah, the only thing the book specifically says is that the shadows of wings appeared on it (paraphrasing, of course), which in my mind looked basically wings made of condensed shadow. I don't see them actually being useful for anything more than fear, otherwise destroying the bridge might not have worked.
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:icontariencole:
*TarienCole Mar 3, 2011  Hobbyist Writer
'would' not have worked. ;) I agree. I know Gandalf mentioned it as a 'strangling thing' after the flames went out. But I still imagine him as thicker.
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:iconbizarguy:
*BizarGuy Mar 3, 2011  Professional Digital Artist
I think that's something Tolkien does really well, as he never clearly describes many of the things in universe, but you can get a very clear idea of what it is. Thus, there are so many ways to imagine what his creations look like. I would not try to say this is what the Balrog looks like, any more the the Peter Jackson version. This is just how it appears in my mind.

If you look in my gallery, the creatures I often think of as horror, and not just evil, are often tall, thin, with uncertain bodies.

Here's the best example, I think, as this is the creature in my own mythos which basically defines tall, thin, dark, and uncertain. [link]

My next Balrog drawing when I get to the part where Gandalf describes the fight, will show how I imagine the Balrog in motion, and hopefully push it a bit away from looking too similar to my own dimi-god class creatures.
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