14 Fantastic Pieces of Art Based on The Hobbit

I don’t know about you guys, but we here at Neatorama are thrilled about the second installment of Peter Jackson’s take on The Hobbit coming out this weekend, called The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. To celebrate, we decided to round up some of the great fan art based on the story. The cool thing about Hobbit art tributes is that creators have over 75 years of source material to pull from, so some of it is based entirely off of the books, some on the 1977 cartoon and some on the recent films. The end result is a vast amount of variety that expresses just how much impact this story has had throughout the years.

It’s also worth mentioning that there is a TON of artwork based on the story, so this is only a mere fraction of what’s out there. I had to leave out a lot of great creations just to keep this article from stretching on for eternity, so if you like what you see here, keep searching elsewhere for more because you’ll be thrilled with what you find.

Here and Back Again

Chinese artist Jian Guo’s wonderful take on The Hobbit shows the entire plotline in one beautiful medieval-inspired art piece. The artist has a number of pieces dedicated to Tolkien’s stories, including this other Hobbit design showing the fateful night where the dwarves show up at Bilbo’s hobbit hole to devise a plan to get back what’s rightfully theirs.

A Hobbit’s Tale

Here’s another artwork depicting the full extent of the story, this one by Belgian artist Ian Escobar Loos. In the far right corner, you can see Bilbo’s end goal: the return to Bag End.

Framing The Lonely Mountain

This illustration by Daniel Haugnes may not reveal much about the story of the Hobbit, but it rivals the film in the spectacular beauty of its scenery.

The Serenity of a Hobbit Hole

Russian artist Andrei Pevukhin has illustrated many famous scenes from both The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings, but I’m particularly struck by the simplicity and beauty of this scene, showing Gandalf approaching Bag End in the beginning of the story. Impressively, this speed painting only took the artist two hours to complete.

Not a Nasty, Dirty, Wet Hole

The films do a decent job of helping fans to visualize a hobbit hole, but if you really want to know why a hobbit would choose to live inside a hole in the ground, you’ll want to check out DeviantArt user maddsrocks’ detailed model of Bag End.

A Call to Adventure

If you ever wished you could see The Hobbit in a comic book version, Australian artist Sean Ellery offers a great look at what the start of the tale could look like on the glossy printed page.

Stop and Smell the Flowers

This lovely and cheerful illustration by DeviantArt user S-U-W-I reflects how beloved Tolkien's works were to the hippies and why they flowed so well with their art and music scenes.

The Cutest Dwarves & Hobbits Around

When it comes to cute Hobbit fan art, it’s hard to beat this adorable postcard created by Taiwanese artist Chih Ariel. Her unique style makes this adorable creation really stand out from the pack.

In Another World

Anyone who ever found amusement in hearing Sherlock stars Benedict Cumberbatch and Martin Freeman enjoy a conversation in the world of Tolkien should appreciate this delightful mashup by Filipino artist Yorugami Ahou showing Smauglock reading up as Bilson wonders what happened to the dwarves’ gold.

Never Laugh At Live Dragons

How brave is Bilbo for approaching Smaug all alone? Singaporean artist Yin Yuming shows the drastic size difference between these two major characters in this stunning depiction of Smaug’s lair.

The Prrrrrrecious

If you love that cats inevitably take over everything on the internet, then you’ll love this Hobbit creation by Swedish artist Andrea Fermerstrand, showing a Sphinx Gollum sneaking up on fluffy little Bilbo. If you want to see the artist’s two pet models, be sure to click through to the link.

Objectively Speaking

While most of the artworks based on The Hobbit focus on characters in the story, American artist Jeff Langevin went a different route, creating a poster based only on objects featured in the story.

Back to Basics

For those who prefer artistic tributes that are a little simpler, it’s hard to beat the beautiful simplicity of this Hobbit poster design by American artist Jon E. Allen.

Give Him a Pony!

Every hobbit needs a pony (even if they absolutely hate riding on them) and thanks to Bulgarian artist Veselina Nedkova, we can now always enjoy seeing Bilbo look absolutely adorable as he rides his felted steed.

As you may have noticed, these artworks come from all over the world, showing just how well The Hobbit resonates with audiences around the world –meaning movie viewers everywhere are probably just as excited about this new film release as we are.

If you check out the film this weekend, have a great time and watch out for trolls!