My Valhalla of Tolkien Images is
Rolozo Tolkien, although it has been dumbed down a bit by too much fan art since the movies came out. Don't get me wrong, I've got nothing against fan art - quite the opposite - but when you have a half dozen pictures of a specific shot of what is obviously Cate Blanchett, the whole process is self-defeating.
For me, Middle-Earth (I'm a little sketchy on the Undrying Lands [sic - injoke]) is very vivid and colourful. My favourite illustrator is John Howe. I own the maginificent Alan Lee illustrated centenary version of LOTR, and his pictures have helped craft my vision, but I don't like the tone of most of them. Although realistic, many are too soft in tone and not bold enough in composition. They look like historical paintings of something that happened a long time ago, like you might have of Salisbury Cathedral by Constable. When I read Tolkien, the events are in the here and now, right up in my face. That's why I like pictures like
John Howe's Balrog, wings notwithstanding. I was seldom happier than when I heard the filmmakers had hired both John Howe and Alan Lee.
Any illustrator who pays strict attention to the books wins a lot of points with me. After all, as an illustrator that's their job. Alan Lee's infamous Bearded Elrond, and Brunette Galadriel have always given me cause for concern. The Hildebrants are marvellous painters, but I think they would be better suited to The Brothers Grimm. The Bombadil pic which Diamond provided to the link was a pleasant surprise, though. They somehow manage to make a bright blue jacket and yellow boots not look ridiculous! That's talent.
Ted Nasmith has a wonderful visual sense for Tolkien's world, and I'd love to chat with him about what he sees as he is reading. For myself, I am not a very visual reader, and usually let the words speak for themselves. I have to consciously summon up images, something I have been doing more since seeing the movies. Either way, Tolkien is still magnificent reading. Ted Nasmith's visions of Mordor (
Across Gorgoroth) are horrifying and help to build an appreciation for just what Frodo and Sam were going through.
The movies have done extremely well with locations and costumes. The Shire and hobbits in general surpassed my wildest expectations. They were as close to perfection as I believe possible. Ditto Nazgūl. Gandalf and Saruman were also standouts. I won't go into depth about the movies here, there's too much good and bad to go on about. But I haven't seen anyone yet who can properly show the beauty and splendour of High Elves, or the power of Andśril or of Gandalf. I think that my ideal LOTR movie would be a manga or something similar to Princess Mononoke, where the imagination need not be fettered by the complications of working in a real world.