Barrel-rider

In my last painting post, I mentioned the trouble I was having with my eyes when it came to painting miniatures. While I still need to look into reading glasses, I have made some good progress with my new 'super light' in place. In fact, I decided to challenge myself and paint one of the smallest, most finely detailed miniatures in the Games Workshop Middle-earth range: Bilbo on a barrel. [For some reason the blog is displaying the image at slightly lower resolution. Click on the image for a clearer shot.]

Of all the thousands (yes, I'm pretty sure its thousands) of miniatures I have painted, this has to be one of my favourites. It's just a perfect.

It's probably also one of the most useless wargaming miniatures ever sculpted, which for me just increases its charm. In fact, I liked it so much, I've decided to go ahead and paint all of the dwarves that came in set as well. Honestly, I think the scene in the movie is ludicrous, overdone, and generally a missed opportunity, but the miniatures look good!

While we are on the subject of Bilbo the barrel-rider, I think Tolkien's own painting of the scene is one of my favourite pieces of his artwork. There is just one thing about it that has always given me pause. In the painting, Bilbo is very clearly wearing shoes! (or boots). How did Tolkien come to forget such a central fact about his own creation?