The scene
Inspired by The Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien (1955). Minas Tirith, the City of Kings: seven white walls rising in tiers against the mountain, the great rock keel splitting the circles and the White Tower at the top. In the foreground a king and his court watch the masons at work, and ships wait on the river. An inspired-by print: nothing in it is taken from any film.
The style
A Flemish oil-on-panel painting after Pieter Bruegel the Elder: fine detail, hundreds of tiny figures, an earthy palette and the varnish and fine cracks of a painting four hundred years old. Look closely and the whole city is still being built.
The inspiration
After Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Tower of Babel (1563), Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna. I followed his composition on purpose: the king's visit in the corner, the river, the swarming workers. His tower of Babel has become Gondor's White City.
How it's made
I design each scene and refine it until it feels right. It's a print of a digital artwork after Bruegel, not a Bruegel and not a hand-painted original. A typeset caption under the picture names the book, the scene and the painting it follows. Each one carries my printed "Chapter & Scene" signature in the margin.