Son And Heir (gouache Practice)

LEGENDS OF THE QUENDI

Private commission, from The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien.

Pen and ink, watercolor, 24 K gold.

Gandalf/Olorin, Cirdan, Celembribor, Gil Galad, Melian, Galadriel, Elrond, Arwen, The Elven Rings, The Elessar, and a symbolic Belt of Melian.

No, I'm not playing hooky on Good Omens, I get about 20 minutes a day to work on other stuff.

I was getting a half hour a day, but even that's too much at this point.

And yes, at roughly 25 minutes a day, a piece like this takes a really long time. Months.

I'm a big believer in making sure you pick at something else even while working on a big project, even if you only use that time for warm ups. Keeps you from crumbling under the weight of the main project.

We all think a lot about Maedhros’ relationships with his parents and his brothers since they loom so large in his life, but I think there are really interesting contrasts and parallels between Maedhros and Finwë and Míriel:

Finwë held himself unkinged by the Valar against his will; Maedhros chose to give the crown to Fingolfin.

Finwë was a great friend of Elwë; Maedhros was not, and even made war on his kingdom after he was dead.

Finwë wanted to have more children after Fëanor; Maedhros never had children, but he ended up with children anyway.

Míriel was known for her strong will and her tendency to make her words a law unto themselves; Maedhros swore the Oath.

Míriel chose to die; Maedhros begged Fingon to slay him and he later cast himself into a chasm of fire.

Míriel, and of course Fëanor, were well known for the beautiful things they created; Maedhros did achieve some great things, like the alliances he formed, but he was mostly remembered for what he destroyed.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Again, about how the Legendarium begins and ends in fire...

Melkor being drawn to the Flame Imperishable started a whole story. The One Ring perished in the fire, and new beginning was made.

Fëanáro born in fire started a compilation of his actions. As he died in fire, a new era was made.

Maedhros coming back as fire provoked a flipping of narratives. Dying in fire started a new Age.

However, Nerdanel, while starting in fire, did not end in fire. She ended in water, where her story will remain to be written and mourned, and never ended and never started anew.

The same goes for her son, Maglor, who held fire in his soul, and did not end in fire, instead walking along the shores that separate him and his kindred.

In Tolkien, fire is of endings turning into new beginnings.

In Tolkien, water is of a story that never quite ends and that never quite begins afresh, forever haunting the timeline.

Family Happiness

Evening had fallen upon Tyrion, but Finwë's chambers were alive with light. The king listened with delight to young Macalaurë's new work, a quiet but surprisingly profound motif that spoke of longing for distant lands and the majesty of Aman. Finwë, now free to consider himself a musical expert, was immensely proud that his grandson could express his feelings so skilfully through melody.

Next to him sat Maitimo, the eldest of the grandchildren. He studied the map intently, tracing the winding lines of the roads with his finger. Plans and dreams of wanderlust stirred his thoughts, and Finwë smiled warmly at the eagerness in the eyes of a grandson who knew the world only through stories.

Finwë felt at the pinnacle of happiness. His son, Feanaro, had found someone who shared his passion and thoughts, and now, sitting on the terrace with Nerdanel, they quietly discussed plans for a new journey through Aman, where every corner held ancient wisdom and every stone held its secrets. They planned to visit places hidden even from prying eyes, ancient rock formations to which they were both drawn as craftsmen and creators.

But the king suspected there was more to these plans. Feanaro's eyes shone with the same brilliance as they had years ago when he first met Nerdanel. Though they discussed routes, Finwë noticed how their voices sometimes fell silent, and the same spark that ignited when someone dear to him was near.

As if chuckling to himself, Finwë wondered if he might soon have a new grandson.

👑Nerdanel 👑Eärwen 👑Anairё

I don’t think Maedhros stopped praying when he left Valinor, even once the Valar had forsaken his family and banished them. Maybe it was habit maybe it was comfort but I don’t think he stopped.

Nor do I think he stopped when he was captured by The Enemy. I think it became his sole source of hope that someone who cared would hear him and free him one way or the other and in a sense that prayer was answered.

I don’t even think it stopped when Fingon died. I think Maedhros prayed he’d find peace and safety in Mandos. I think he prayed he’d be home safe soon. I think he was grateful that no matter the end the person he loved most was at last out of harms way.

No he stopped praying after Doriath. The night he lost so much. The night he lost three brothers. The night that Celegorm bled out in his arms going out of the world quietly, in stark contrast to how he entered it. But it was not those deaths that stopped his prayers, he knew his brother’s wrongs, the harm they’d done. He knew with as much pain as it brought him they deserved it.

He stopped praying when he lost two little boys in the woods. When in desperation with tears freezing on his cheeks he called out with the simplest prayer you can “please.” He was met only with the bite of the frost and the cold moonlight and the colder indifference of gods that claimed to be loving. When Fingon had reached out in a moment of need despite his own banishment an eagle had been sent. To save Maedhros’ wind and war torn soul. But when Maedhros asked them to save two little princes lost in the woods there was only silence and contempt.

Yes I think he only stopped praying after that. When he was good and sure he was alone.

Here’s a sketch of Maedhros from my work-in-progress fanfic about the Ambarussar starting a religion. Mae hasn’t heard from the twins in years, so he goes to check on them. He soon starts to feel severely overdressed when he arrives at the twins’ isolated ascetic cult community where everyone wears the same brown tunic (he has zero clue what he’s walking into.)

I aim to draw the twins next but alas they will be less sexy since they are quite emaciated, especially Amrod

A5 paper, markers, took about three hours

I know Manwe's pardon was a stupid idea and he should have think more about it, as King of Arda, but I can't help but feeling so much for him. He's a younger brother, he doesn't understand evil and even if he did, he would have forgiven Melkor anyway. That's his older brother, of course he's gonna give him another chance, of course he believes he can change, of course he forgives him.

That's what younger siblings always do.

Thingol hating on Maedhros is so crazy hilarious to me because imagine beefing with your bestfriend's grandson

A young Celeborn and Galadriel, sometime during the first age