Early Influences

The Trolls J.R.R. Tolkien.
One of the things that led me to start painting Tolkien inspired work, was Tolkiens very own naive sketches. Growing up I always  read fairy tales, fantasy, mythical works and unlike most books Tolkiens illustrations always left a lot to the imagination and allowed you to form your own ideas on how the characters and locations should look.

The Three Billy Goats Gruff  (Ladybird Books) which are so beautifully illustrated its hard to detach the illustration from the story.