This is one of many moments from the silmarillion that i wanted to draw for many years now. But i never had the courage, because i knew it would involve drawing things i can't draw, like males, hands, legs, action poses, perspective, emotions and all of this combined, and in the end it would look stupid and ridiculous and nothing like in my imagination.
I just realized that i will never be able to draw these things well, so i might as well draw them now. So i started and i choose the most complicated one and the one of my favorites. And i worked on this every night from when i came from work until i went to sleep all week and whole weekend and i don't think i have ever spent more time and put more effort to any picture. But i also kept many things more simple than i imagine them and some less detailed than i would like them to be.
So here it is: "the contest of Sauron and Felagund which is renowned. For Felagund strove with Sauron in songs of power, ad the power of the King was very great; but Sauron had the mastery" (in case you didn't recognise it, which wouldn't surprise me).
So there is Finrod, being almost defeated, and Sauron in not very solid form, i wanted to draw only his dark horrible presence, but it is hard to draw dark being in dark room. It might not be exactly how it is written in the silmarillion, but this is how i imagine it. Sauron sings to Felagund about things that noldor did or happend to them while leaving valinor (and what he doesn't know finrod's mind fills in from his memories) and he makes everything seem worse than it was (as he did later to those looking in palantirs).
I wanted the song to merge with reality at it's beginning and it's end. It ends with "The captives sad in Angband mourn." - but i didn't have enough space to properly draw this, i should have thought more about the composition. But this angband part passes into reallity of the dark room and sad Finrod's companions possibly mourning, posibly Sauron's hint of what awaits them.
Above there is "The ice mutters in the mouths of the Sea.". You can see there from left to right Fingolfin, Fingon and Idril, Aredhel with Turgon and dead Elenwe, Galadriel and one of her brothers. In background there is the first rising of the moon and "dark figure standing high upon a rock" "speaking the curse and prophecy" and Finarfin with his people turning back (looking like they are going for a trip).
The cheerful group to the right is Fingolfin with his people seeing burning of the ships. (I am really not able to express emotions of crowds).
Then there is the kinslaying, i hope i'll never need to draw so many tiny figures again. The girl there is Amaire, probably crying when parting with Finrod.
Next is the oath of Feanor (with Melkor enjoying what's going on). Again left to right: Amrod (or Amras), Amras (or Amrod, and i don't think that "alike in mood and face" means "always wearing the same clothes"), Maglor, Maedhros, Feanor, Curufin (behind Feanor, that hand is not growing from Feanor's head), Celegorm and Caranthir. And they all have seriously mutated right hands. You can see Galadriel and Fingon in the crowd below, but i don't know who the others are.
He chanted a song of wizardry image 2
He chanted a song of wizardry image 3
He chanted a song of wizardry image 4
He chanted a song of wizardry image 5