All in all, Tolkien fans are as varied, remarkable and marvelous as the books and the worlds that they share. They make me feel a little like a Hobbit who glimpses colourful strangers passing but has never left the Shire.

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.

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.

I have been illustrating Tolkien's books ever since I first read them, long before illustration became my profession.

Dragons and bridges are very much something out of fairy tales and fantasy.

Drawing must seek for interest, not for admiration. Because admiration wears quickly.

Daydreaming with pencil and paper is a respectable form of meditation.