LEGO OrthancRemember this stunning 7 and a half foot tall Tower of Orthanc built entirely out of LEGO bricks? Featured on Wired, CNN and countless other websites including TheOneRing.net, this LEGO creation premiered at BrickCon in Seattle back in November 2011. Complete with an 8 foot diameter base consisting of over 25 Ents and 100 Orcs battling, ‘The Last March of the Ents’ by OneLug will be on display at TheOneRing.net’s ‘An Unexpected Art Show’.

‘The Last March of the Ents’ LEGO model recreates the epic storming of Saruman’s stronghold depicted in The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers and directly inspired by the artwork of Alan Lee. The base of the model contains many details familiar to fans of the movie including an ent on fire, water flooding Isengard, and Treebeard leading the charge with Merry and Pippin holding on tight.

This is likely to be the last time this creation will be on display publicly. There will also be some new original LEGO creations on display from the members of OneLug, in addition to ‘The Last March of the Ents’. If you don’t want to miss seeing this incredible work of art in person or any of the other wonderful artwork that will be on display, buy a ticket to the art show today!

Don't be hasty!Join TheOneRing.net for ‘An Unexpected Art Show’ in Los Angeles, California on Friday, February 22, from 7 PM to 1 AM. All ages are welcome to attend. Celebrating The HobbitThe Lord of the Rings and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, ‘An Unexpected Art Show’ will feature inspired art pieces — from paintings, drawings, and illustrations to prints — from a variety of artists. A limited number of tickets are available for $15 online and $20 at the door. ‘An Unexpected Art Show’ will be held at Lot 613, a blank-canvas special events space in the Historic Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles, located at 613 Imperial Street.

It’s all part of our Oscar Celebration weekend culminating with ‘The One Expected Party’! Tickets to ‘The One Expected Party’ are still available!

The Hobbit by Donato GiancolaTheOneRing.net is excited to announce that among the over 30 artists contributing work to ‘An Unexpected Art Show’, award-winning fantasy artist Donato Giancola will be in attendance! Celebrating The HobbitThe Lord of the Rings and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, ‘An Unexpected Art Show’ will feature inspired art pieces — from paintings, drawings, and illustrations to prints — from a variety of artists.

Donato creates truly stunning oil paintings blending Renaissance craftsmanship with the inspiring world of J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth. As John Howe himself said in 2010,

“There’s more to Donato Giancola’s art than just a pretty face. Underneath the incredibly meticulous surface of his paintings is concealed a love of perspective and form, an intimate understanding of the human body, a historian’s knowledge of costume and armour, an infallible sense of implicit narrative, visual storytelling and mythical history. It’s just that you’re so rapt gazing at all the mind-blowingly pretty bits that you tend to miss it. Look again. There’s a lot more to see.”

J.R.R. Tolkien by Donato GiancolaDonato will be on hand with limited edition giclée prints available including his newest commission, an incredibly detailed portrait of J.R.R. Tolkien himself.

Join us for ‘An Unexpected Art Show’ in Los Angeles, California on Friday, February 22, from 7 PM to 1 AM. All ages are welcome to attend. A limited number of tickets are available for $15 online and $20 at the door. ‘An Unexpected Art Show’ will be held at Lot 613, a blank-canvas special events space in the Historic Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles, located at 613 Imperial Street. It’s all part of our Oscar Celebration weekend culminating with ‘The One Expected Party‘!

Purchase art show tickets today! —  Party tickets are also still available!

Sauron by Jerry VanderSteltTheOneRing.net is honored that among the over 30 artists contributing work to ‘An Unexpected Art Show’, Jerry VanderStelt will be attending  in person! Celebrating The HobbitThe Lord of the Rings and J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle-earth, ‘An Unexpected Art Show’ will feature inspired art pieces — from paintings, drawings, and illustrations to prints — from a variety of artists.

Jerry VanderStelt is an acclaimed artist who has done various licensed print work for The Lord of the Rings and other properties like Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Star Trek. Jerry has also been teasing us for weeks now, finally revealing his incredible licensed print for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey (pending approval.) We will be auctioning off three limited edition lithographs from his The Lord of the Rings trilogy series. Jerry will also be on hand to sell his limited edition prints, giclées as well as canvas edition prints.

Join us for ‘An Unexpected Art Show’ in Los Angeles, California on Friday, February 22, from 7 PM to 1 AM. All ages are welcome to attend. A limited number of tickets are available for $15 online and $20 at the door. ‘An Unexpected Art Show’ will be held at Lot 613, a blank-canvas special events space in the Historic Arts District of Downtown Los Angeles, located at 613 Imperial Street. It’s all part of our Oscar Celebration weekend culminating with ‘The One Expected Party‘!

Purchase art show tickets today! —  Party tickets are also still available!

Thanks to the amazing artist Jerry Vanderstelt, we’ve been teasing for a few weeks now bits and pieces of what would be on his print for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Today, thanks to WB and Jerry, we get to show you – the fans – what the print will look like, pending licensor approval. As you can see, this beautiful print captures many of the biggest moments from the film, and will look exceptional on the wall next to his superb The Lord of the Rings prints. As soon as Jerry is given the green light to put this print up for sale, you can expect we will let you know!

Here are Jerry’s comments on the reveal:

Here we go 🙂 The Hobbit:An Unexpected Journey artwork has been sent into Warner Bros. and I was given permission to show the entire piece. This art is subject to approval, but likely everything will remain as you see it. Enjoy!

Hobbit fans from across the US and around the World are now happily planning for a weekend of fun in Hollywood in late February. So here is your helpful guide to what is going on and how to best take advantage of the activities. On Friday, February 22 TheOnering.net will be hosting An Unexpected Art Show, featuring artwork inspired by Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit and other realms created by J.R.R. Tolkien to take place in Downtown Los Angeles. On Sunday, February 24 TheOneRing.net will be hosting The One Expected Party in Hollywood. Please see their respective web pages for details.

Before you ask about Saturday, we’ve decided to leave that to the Fans to determine for themselves. Suggestions would be a Studio tour, a visit to the Griffith Observatory with it’s commanding views of Hollywood and Downtown LA, or a trip to the Getty Center in the Santa Monica hills, both a wonderful museum and one of the best views of the Pacific Coastline. And if you are from a cold clime, you might consider a visit to the Santa Monica pier and then a stop at one of a dozen Pubs in the area. But if you prefer to keep the weekend focused on movies and the Academy Awards, you might consider one of the many symposiums that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences hosts on the Saturday before the Oscars. Please check their website in early February, but typically they host the Foreign Language nominations at the Beverly Hills home for Oscar, while the American Cinematheque hosts two symposiums, usually either Editors or Cinematographers and then Art Directors. These symposiums are always free and very educational, offering you a view into movie making you just can’t get anywhere else. No matter what you decide to do on Saturday, there should be no shortage of other Tolkien fans willing to ‘Moot’ with you.

Here is a little checklist to help you plan your weekend:

1) Buy your tickets for The One Expected Party now. You could wait until the nominations are announced on January 10, but you risk tickets selling out. The party is scheduled to go on as planned, with or without nominations, this is a celebration of “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey” regardless of Hollywood’s attention.

2) Buy your tickets to An Unexpected Art Show now. For those traveling from afar, this is a great way to extend your vacation a little and see more of your Ringer friends. And for those not attending the Party on Sunday, this is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the joy of artists expressing the creativity inspired by Tolkien, and to hang with your Ringer friends from far and wide.

3) Make your travel arrangements, be it ‘trains, planes or automobiles’, figure out your travel dates and get yourself to Hollywood in time to celebrate with everyone. This includes making sure you have your hotel settled now, because they will sell out. Oscar time in Hollywood is very popular with foreign tourists, every hotel expects to be sold out. So check our Hotel and Lodging page on the hotels we’ve set up blocks with. Some have links to make booking super easy and instantaneous while others require you to call in, just make sure to use the Hobbit Oscar Party name for the group and you should be fine. If there are problems with booking into the group, contact us and we’ll get you sorted. Some of these rates are phenomenal for that time of year, and are selling quickly, so don’t delay. We do have to return unsold space in just a few weeks time.

4) Plan your attire. Most of you will find your own dresses, tuxedos or costumes, but if you find you need a little assistance, visit our Costumes and Attire page for assistance.

5) If you are coming on your own, or have never been to a TORn sponsored event or convention and don’t know many fans, fear not. You can find fans on our TORn Facebook page and here in our message boards. Those attending the Art Show and Oscar party should be able to find threads on the TORn Moots and other events, just look for the appropriate threads for each event. This will help you figure out how to fill up your Saturday and make sure you have the best possible Hobbity Weekend you could imagine.

We’re just a little over a week away now from the world-wide release of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey and fans are getting a final tease of what should be a superb collectible. Jerry Vanderstelt has released the last of his teaser images for his upcoming print that will capture The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. In this image we get a fantastic look at brothers Dwalin, Balin, a small glimpse of Thorin, and the eagles. Stay tuned and as soon as this goes up for order you will know so you can order this great collectible for your collection.

Jerry has this to stay about his last teaser image:

“Well friends, here is the last teaser of my Hobbit art. I am getting very near the end of finishing up the Original and soon this art will be available as Fine Art Giclee prints in Canvas and Paper editions, but here’s a little something for now!”