I see Middle-earth

[Rune Son of Bjarne]

Originally Posted by Mithadan

Visualizing Middle-Earth is a common phenomenon among fans. To some, it is highly personal, leading many to be vocal about their dislike of illustrations by artists published in Tolkien calendars, etc. One thing that many people enjoyed about the LoTR movies was the scenery and many of the sets which corresponded to their views about what places in Middle-Earth looked like. John Garth published a book, The Worlds of J.R.R. Tolkien dedicated to a review of places that Tolkien had lived or visited that he suggests inspired the imagery of Middle-Earth. While Garth may go a bit too far regarding his attempts to find Tolkien's "sources," some photographs in his book do seem to portray some of Tolkien's inspirations, for example of Rivendell.

Personally I mostly visualised specific locations, not always in great detail, often it is more about visualising an atmosphere than specifics. Some capture that atmosphere better than other (Ted Nasmith often gets the closest, but a lot of Alan Lees work gets it as well), but I seldom outright dislike illustrations of places.

Characters on the other hand... I get much more worked up about character illustrations.