Drawing Prompts from "The Hobbit"

Pereperation.

"We shall soon before the break of day start on our long journey, a journey from which some of us, or perhaps all of us (except our friend and counsellor, the ingenious wizard Gandalf) may never return."

— Thorin Okenshield

So, in the coming days we will endeavour to draw prompts based on ‘The Hobbit’.

Many of the prompts are general enough that even if you have not read the book or watched the movie, you will be able to draw. (We will take a break around the turn of the month to do the design sprint, and it might also be a good chance to catch up, before we go again.)

As I mentioned before I started a project like this once but never completed it, I think I will enjoy having this project completed. If you’re coming on this journey and I hope you will, remember to pace yourself, think about how much time you can spend each day, you don’t need to spend more than 10 minutes… though I’m sure I will be tempted to do more.

I’ll make it a point to do a 10 minutes version, for each if you are going to do the project, I encourage you to share it, in chat or online. I’ll give you instructions for that tomorrow.

There is an excellent resource that I always recommend, and it is

Mr. Tom Froese

‘S the Style Class Illustration. And if you can, take that class as a preparation for this. You don’t need to, but it’s a nice foundation.

TEN MINUTES ARTIST PROMPT

PREPARE

Create a mood-board, what style will you use to complete this project in.

Decide how much time you will spend on this project, each day/week

Decide on how and where you will share each piece

Share some of your ideas and ask questions in the comments. I’m sharing the list of prompts, but we will not be going in this order, so look out for the daily prompts with additional instructions.

I’m looking forward to doing this with you!

1. The main way to do this is 10 minutes a day! I will prepare some resources and references that will help you save time, and as always it’s okay to do more, but don’t stress about the outcome, have fun and try to get your 10 minutes in!

2. If you want to do more great, but grab a picture of your 10 minutes version, or however far you got in 10 minutes!

3. These are ideas, but do it any way you want:)

PROMPT LIST

A - Arkenstone: "It was as if a globe had been filled with moonlight and hung before them in a net woven of the glint of frosty stars."

B - Bilbo: "I am Mr. Bilbo Baggins. I have lost the dwarves and I have lost the wizard, and I don't know where I am; and I don't want to know, if only I can get away."

C - Cram: "The cram was beginning to run short, and they were getting very weary of it. They had eaten little since the morning."

D - Dragon: "This of course is the way to talk to dragons, if you don't want to reveal your proper name (which is wise), and don't want to infuriate them by a flat refusal (which is also very wise)."

E - Eagle: "The Lord of the Eagles of the Misty Mountains had eyes that could look at the sun unblinking, and could see a rabbit moving on the ground a mile below even in the moonlight."

F - Forest: "There was a breath of air and a noise of wind, but the forest-roof was as dark as ever."

G - Gandalf: "I am Gandalf, and Gandalf means me."

H - Hobbit: "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."

I - Invisible: "Bilbo had slipped on his ring before he started and passed Gollum unseen."

J - Journey: "We are plain quiet folk and have no use for adventures. Nasty disturbing uncomfortable things! Make you late for dinner!"

K - Key: "There is one point that you haven't noticed, and that is the secret entrance. You see that rune on the West side, and the hand pointing to it from the other runes?"

L - Lonely Mountain: "Far over the misty mountains cold, to dungeons deep and caverns old, we must away, ere break of day, to find our long-forgotten gold."

M - Mirkwood: "The entrance to the path was like a sort of arch leading into a gloomy tunnel made by two great trees that leant together, too old and strangled with ivy and hung with lichen to bear more than a few blackened leaves."

N - Necromancer: "We had to pay a visit to the giants' hall, and that's where we got into the tunnel, of which there is nothing standing but all full of goblins, and the Necromancer."

O - Ori: "Ori at the same moment said something awful."

P - Precious: "It's got to ask uss a question, my preciouss, yes, yess, yesss. Jusst one more question to guess, yes, yess."

Q - Quest: "The dragon is still alive and in the halls under the Mountain then – there is still a quest before us."

R - Ring: "It was a beautiful golden ring, and it shone and glittered in the firelight."

S - Smaug: "My armour is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!"

T - Troll: "Mutton yesterday, mutton today, and blimey, if it don't look like mutton again tomorrer."

U - Unexpected: "That's right, and I suppose you don't know what to do with the unexpected visitor."

V - Valley: "They saw a valley far below. They could hear the voice of hurrying water in a rocky bed at the bottom; the scent of trees was in the air; and there was a light on the valley-side across the water."

W - Warg: "They could hear the howling of the hungry wolves."

X - X-marks-the-spot: "Stand by the grey stone when the thrush knocks, and the setting sun with the last light of Durin's Day will shine upon the key-hole."

Y - Yore: "Long ago in my grandfather Thrór's time our family was driven out of the far North."

Z - Zzz: "Soon thirteen snores were sounding through the darkness, and Mr. Baggins was well on his way to making a fourteenth."​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​