Middle Earth

This is a map of Middle Earth, from J.R.R Tolkien’s “The Lord Of The Rings”.

The map is made entirely by hand, first burned and then painted with natural pigments using only bone and wood applicators, using fluid from deer eyes as a base for the paint. The “canvas” is a full hide of traditional brain-tanned buckskin.

Instead of cluttering the map with place names, I paint in the locations based on the author’s descriptions and other artists’ renditions. Its a painstaking process!