Lord of the Brush

A documentary portrait of artist John Howe

Living in the heart of Switzerland is an extraordinary Canadian treasure, the artist John Howe. Little known in his home country, this small-town boy grew into the artist who helped visually define Middle Earth and the world of J.R.R. Tolkien. He is responsible for much of the design and conceptualization of the immensely popular film trilogy of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

Lord of the Brush will take you on a journey to discover John Howe, an artist famous for his illustrations of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth. The film will take you from the shores of British Columbia to the mountains of Switzerland, from old castles in France to the wilderness of Canada and on to Middle Earth. Through interviews and visuals, it will explain who John Howe is and what he stands for. The movie will focus on John’s vision of life, his art and the world in general.