Greg and Tim Hildebrandt, the Tolkien Years

Rating:
Summary: charming
Review: As any Brothers Hildebrandt fan knows, Greg and Tim's first Tolkein calender went on to become a worldwide bestseller. Some of the art,such as Unexpected Party or Gandalf with the Balrog was simply brilliant. Some of it looks dated today such as the hideous 1976 granny dress that Galadriel wears or the Sgt. Pepper mustache on Aragorn and the silly looking Fell beasts ridden by Nazgul who look like they're about to fall off at any minute. Oh well. Nobody got out of the 70s without some style howlers. Laugh at the funny stuff and be awed by the great.

One of the strongest and most charming elements of the book is the descriptions from Greg Hildebrant's son who was five when the brothers began working on the calenders. Young Greg's memories are full of wonder that's in keeper with what his uncle and father were working on. It's not all sweetness and light however, young Greg remembers that toward the middle of the project things got increasingly difficult in the studio. The pressures of the deadline, creative disagreements and artistic disappointments (Among other things the brothers didn't have time to do a huge battle scene that they'd planned) and the need to do separate projects are all mentioned.

Besides all three Hildebrandt calenders, the book has pictures of privately commissioned works (some of which are better than the orginal paintings), prelim sketches, and photos of the models. If you loved the work of the brothers or have just discovered it this will be a highly entertaining treat for you.

Rating:
Summary: It's about time...
Review: For those of us that remember the Hildebrandt calendars of 76/77/78, this book is a dream come true. Greg and Tim Hildebrandt created enormously successful calendars inspired by J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings. Those calendars are not only a treasured collectors item, but the paintings themselves set a standard for Tolkien art that has yet to be matched. So it's no surprise that with the ever looming shadow of the Peter Jackson epic getting bigger, we finally have a book that includes all those wonderful paintings........and more. This volume has all the original paintings from each of the calendars, sketches for the paintings, as well as photos and sketches of the costumes. Includes a pull-out poster of a painting created especially for this book. Fifty-six color illustrations, 97 sketches, 127 photographs. The reprints are simply beautiful. The text was written by Greg's son. He looks back in time when he was a child posing for his dad and uncle as the Hobbits in all of their paintings for their calendars. So if you're a fan of Tolkien and The Brothers Hildebrandt, by all means don't pass up this truly awesome book. It's about time...

Rating:
Summary: Awesome Middle-Earth Illustrations
Review: Greg and Tim Hildebrandt's "The Tolkien Years" is a wonderful set of illustrations that go along with mostly "The Lord of the Rings" but this book does have a few illustrations from "The Hobbit." These gorgeous works of art were originally apart of calendars that the Hildebrant brothers worked on. This book will make reading "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit" much more fun as you will be able to visualize things perfectly.

Along with beautiful illustrations this book has a lot of text that includes quotes directly from Greg and Tim and full text entries by Greg Hildebrant, Jr. All of the artwork in this book is in full color and look just like original pieces of art. In addition to the final artowrk there are also concept drafts from "scribble" stages, to a general rough draft, all the way to the ginal, full color, and eye-catching pictures. There is also a very nice pull out poster as a special bonus. This is a book of artwork from Middle-Earth that no Tolkien fan should be without. The art in this book will be appreciated by everybody. Get this book and enjoy!

Happy Reading!

Rating:
Summary: This one has it all...
Review: I grew up with these images in my parents home. Having read the lord of the rings at 12, the Hildebrandt's best captured my vision of the books. As a film Major and Graphic Artist I work to take imagination and make it real. Greg and Tim have perfected this craft, they made this world come alive in images the way it did in the imagination of a boy. It is great that this book not only has the final images, but all the work and ruff drawings that went into them. Some of the final drafts are more impressive to me than anything else. Also because you see it through the eyes of there son, the human side of the creative is shown, a rare look in to the lives of two great artists.

Rating:
Summary: Journey through middle earth like you've never done before!
Review: I hadn't actually heard of the Hildebrandt brothers,but got this book for the simple fact that it bore the name of Tolkien.I opened it up and there it was,scenes I pictured in my head were now right in front of me,in richly painted acrylic colors,with moods of sadness,fear,peace,and courage.I recommend this book and give it five stars!Get it come on you know you want to....

Rating:
Summary: Some great art, some not so great
Review: I loved the Hildebrandts' art as a kid, and I appreciate being able to revisit it in this handsome volume. Engaging scenes, fabulous detail, vivid colors, and some of the best Tolkien paintings ever (the Ring of Galadriel, Old Man Willow, the Pillars of the Kings, Saruman and the Palantir). Their influence can be seen in many subsequent interpretations of Tolkien (compare the Hildebrandts' "Eowyn and the [left-handed] Nazgul" with the same scene in the 2004 Ted Nasmith calendar) and in much "generic" fantasy art.

But... Some of the earlier works have odd perspective (check out the chimney in "Gandalf visits Bilbo"). The hobbits look like children (the 5-year-old Greg Hildebrandt Jr. was the model). Shadowfax just fell off the carousel. Treebeard is a cartoon. Rivendell looks like a gingerbread house. Smaug appears to be made of plastic. The Nazgul fly around on rubber chickens (really, that's what they used as the model). And Aragorn's mustache! Perhaps it looked majestic in the 70s, but now it's just laughable.

It is interesting to see the sketches (some of which are superior to the final painting) and reference photos. The text is annoyingly told from the author's perspective as a 5-year-old model, but contains some amusing nuggets like the rubber chicken fell beast. I didn't think much of the pullout poster -- it's certainly not their best work. Still, on balance I would definitely recommend this book to anyone with an interest in Tolkien (unless you already have the calendars).

Rating:
Summary: A must for any Tolkien fan
Review: The Bros. Hildebrandt were *the* Tolkien artists of my youth, and even today, when I find my own artistic interpretion of the scenes varies so much from theirs, I still deeply appreciate what they did, and am thrilled to see their calendar work -- with the associated sketches and model photos -- reproduced here.

The childhood anecdotes by the author -- son of one of the Brothers -- are occasionally interesting, more often annoying. But the art itself remains glorious.

Rating:
Summary: A "must" for Tolkien fans
Review: The Tolkien Years isn't just another survey of Tolkien's titles so much as a superb presentation of the bestselling Lord Of The Rings calendars by Greg and Tim Hildebrandt which appeared in 1976-78. Stories of the artists' creation of these calendars, the source of their ideas, and how they were conceived is written through the memory of Greg's son, who posed for the Hobbits. Packed with color, The Tolkien Years is a "must" for Tolkien fans and includes a pull-out large poster.

Rating:
Summary: greg and time hildebrant at there best
Review: this book cotains hundreds of photo's of paintings, drawings and refrences photo's of tim hildebrants artwork. It also cotains the original sketches of the paintings of lord of the rings paintings. highly recommended.

Rating:
Summary: FINALLY! Outstanding reproduction-better than the calendars!
Review: This great book is LONG overdue...this is the first time all the Hildebrandt Tolkien calendar art from the 1970's has been collected in one place (there are some nifty newer pieces, too). While the pictures are slightly smaller than they were in the original calendars (occasionally, they're bigger), the photographic reproduction is head and shoulders above the old sources. The colors are richer and truer than ever. The assorted preperatory sketches are priceless, too. The commentary by Greg's son, Greg Jr, is mostly silly, as it is told from the point of view of a five-year-old onlooker---but the comments by the artists themselves really helped me to appreciate the artwork even more. Highly recommended...especially for anyone who finds the current Tolkien art by Alan Lee to be too cold. This is the REAL stuff!