Walt Simonson JRR Tolkien Hobbit original painting Dire Wargs 1977 art with book

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PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE LISTING: For sale is the April, 1977, drawn and painted Dire Wargs painting by Walt Simonson, created for the 1977 Abrams book J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit, which was a companion book to the Rankin-Bass cartoon that came out that same year. I am also including the book in which it was published in this auction. Here's what Walt Simonson told me about the art: This is a 1977 watercolor painting of J.R.R. Tolkien's Dire Wargs by Walter Simonson from the Harry N. Abrams book that retold the story from the popular Rankin-Bass cartoon, The Hobbit. It is one of several illustrations Walt Simonson, the artist most famous for drawing The Mighty Thor for Marvel Comics, did for the book, along with Charles Vess, Gray Morrow and other illustrators. This might be the only one that ever made it outside of Simonson's personal collection of his Hobbit art (he kept nearly every Hobbit drawing). The paper measures 9-inches long by 5.75 inches deep. The image on the paper measures 4.75 inches long by 3.5 inches deep and it's a beautiful pen/ink/watercolor painting. It's signed by Simonson in his famous signature style with the date "4-77" under his name. According to Walt: "The Abrams book was published as an adjunct to the Rankin Bass TV Hobbit animated film. It was largely illustrated with design drawings, storyboards and cels from the cartoon. But because the book is long, it couldn't all be fit into a 2-hour TV special. So Abrams hired several illustrators to do drawings in the style of the cartoon to fill in the sections of the book that had been left out of the film. I was one of them because the original designer of the film was a friend of mine and recommended me. (Charlie Vess and Gray Morrow were two others.) I did about 20 color drawings for the book, scattered throughout the story. Might have been more; I don't remember for sure now. Some of the little paintings I did were formatted to look like storyboards, as is this one. I did several drawings in a sequence as faux storyboards that dealt with the wargs and their attack against the hobbits. I used to contribute drawings to charity auctions. And I'm pretty sure this was one of those. (These days I tend to do new drawings for auctions rather than contribute published ones. But I don't think I let many of these go. -- Best/Walter." Then, he later added: "The Hobbit drawings would have been done about 1976. Maybe 1977 depending on when the book was published but '76 is probably right. I believe that the book was printed overseas which is why there's that writing at the bottom." (he's referring to the Japanese writing at the bottom, which was confirmed by comic art collector Tim Finney, who lives in and teaches English in Japan, that it is, indeed a notation for the printer).Look at the LARGE PHOTOS I have included to see this really awesome piece of published original artwork by one of the greatest artists to ever draw comics! ASK ANY QUESTIONS BEFORE BIDDING. Check my other auctions for more original comic book art, rare comics and graphic novels and MORE! Don't let this pass you by! All of the items I have up for sale come from a smoke-free home and have been stored away in boxes. I have cherry picked original comic art, comics and rare books for my personal comic book collection for years and now it's time to let some go to fund other purchases! I ship very securely and will combine shipping when I can. cannot combine shipping on items that ship via the Global Shipping Program, which I do use. I also cannot hold items that you buy so that you can bid on items ending later. I charge a little more because I actually buy all-new boxes and packing materials so that everything I ship is secure. Check my feedback to see how other people have graded my shipping methods! Check out my other auctions for many hard to find graphic novels, comics and collectibles! Payment is due within TWO days of the auction's end or I will file a non-paying bidder case against you with eBay. I try to get the items shipped within 24 hours of receiving payment, but please be pati... read more

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