Information and inspiration are everywhere… history, art, architecture, everything an illustrator needs. Europe is, after all, the land that has generated most of the enduring myths and legends of Western culture. John Howe Read Quote
I have a website because it’s an interesting tool, very – and quite unexpectedly – useful for my work. It’s become an archive and a fairly complete on-line portfolio, as well as offering an opportunity to write a little. John Howe Read Quote
More often than not, however, the person who flatly states ‘Elves aren’t like that!’ is hard pressed to describe how they really look…. as if Tolkien has summoned archetypes from so deep in our minds that we can only recall them incompletely. John Howe Read Quote
Occasionally projects just take off unexpectedly, sometimes you can work away at sketches and ideas for years before they are published. There are a number of authors I would be eager to illustrate. John Howe Read Quote
My initial plan was to spend a year in France, go to some kind of school and learn a bit of French. I went a year in an American college in the outskirts of Strasbourg, but got a glimpse of a real art school, L’Ecole des Arts Decoratifs, and enrolled the following year. John Howe Read Quote
Character is power; it makes friends, draws patronage and support and opens the way to wealth, honor and happiness. John Howe Read Quote
I think I was interested in history without knowing it and that became very clear when I arrived in France. Everything that I was really interested in was there, but I knew nothing, no education, no art education, no education beyond high school. It was extremely overwhelming and it still is. John Howe Read Quote
I have been illustrating Tolkien’s books ever since I first read them, long before illustration became my profession. John Howe Read Quote
