Ted Nasmith

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Ted Nasmith is a Canadian artist, illustrator and architectural renderer. He is best known as an illustrator of J. R. R. Tolkien's works — The Silmarillion, The Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit.

Nasmith was born in the mid-1950s in Goderich, Ontario, Canada. As the son of a Royal Canadian Air Force officer, Nasmith's early life was characterized by a series of moves as his father was re-stationed during his military career — sometimes within Canada, sometimes to other countries, such as France. By the time Nasmith became a teenager, they had settled in Toronto (he now resides in nearby Markham.)

Nasmith's family and friends encouraged him to enter a high school which featured a commercial art program. During his third year of high school, however, Nasmith's sister introduced him to The Lord of the Rings, and it quickly became a huge inspiration and focus in his life. Nasmith writes:

"It opened up in me a dormant love of lost and misty times, myth and legend. Not since childhood had I felt such a sense of 'home', unaware of the effects the intervening years had had in displacing it. I began immediately to draw scenes inspired by this magical, nostalgic realm, becoming absorbed for many hours at a time." (Nasmith 2002)

In 1972, Nasmith mailed photographs of some of his paintings to J. R. R. Tolkien. Tolkien responded by letter a few weeks later, both praising the work and making the comment that the rendition of Bilbo Baggins seemed a little too childlike. Still a teenager at the time, this early feedback from Tolkien encouraged Nasmith to strive for a more literal interpretation of Tolkien's works.

After graduation, Nasmith aspired to follow in the footsteps of automotive illustrator Art Fitzpatrick. However, since photography was replacing illustration in the business of car advertising, he instead found employment as an architectural renderer, showing a particular flair for the intense realism such illustrations demand.

Lúthien—a gouache painting depicting a scene from The Silmarillion—is among Nasmith's acclaimed works. It was published in the 1990 Tolkien Calendar.
Lúthien—a gouache painting depicting a scene from The Silmarillion—is among Nasmith's acclaimed works. It was published in the 1990 Tolkien Calendar.

Nasmith's Tolkien artwork, which echoes the luminist landscapes and Victorian neoclassical styles, eventually caught the attention of Tolkien's publishers, who included four of his paintings in the 1987 Tolkien Calendar. His artwork continued to appear in these beloved calendars over the years, including several where he is the sole featured artist (1990, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009).

In October 1996, Nasmith was asked by Tolkien's publishers to provide the artwork for the first illustrated edition of The Silmarillion, during which time Ted developed a strong working relationship with Christopher Tolkien. The illustrated edition was published in 1998; in 2004, a second edition (ISBN 0-618-39111-8) was published featuring many more paintings by Nasmith.

In early 1999, representatives for Peter Jackson and New Line Cinema invited Ted Nasmith to join John Howe and Alan Lee to work on conceptual art for the Lord of the Rings movie trilogy. According to Nasmith,

"They invited me to be there with the others in New Zealand to help with conceptual art, and made me a nice offer. However, I was going through a personal crisis unrelated to my art, and in the end, being that it would also force me to abandon my freelance obligations and be away indefinitely, I reluctantly declined, settling the question in my mind after very careful deliberation." (Nasmith 2004)

Nasmith is also considered a Tolkien scholar, well-read in ancient history, religion, and other areas. He is a prominent member of several Tolkien-related organizations (such as The Tolkien Society, the Mythopoeic Society, and Mensa's Beyond Bree).

Nasmith is a musician, guitarist and tenor. Much of his musical work is likewise inspired by Tolkien's writings. His first commercial album, The Hidden Door: Songs in the Key of Enchantment, was released in 2007. He has also worked on a musical project entitled Beren and Lúthien: A Song Cycle, with his friend Alex Lewis, and has a close friendship with the founders of The Tolkien Ensemble.

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