Council of Elrond

Some of the artwork featuring on the cards seems to have been altered for the release of the game.
Let's start what might become another interesting series on artwork details ... with

Palantir of Osgiliath:
The left image is a scan from the print which is/was available from Ed Beard's website and various (online) shops. Looks like there cannon hatches as well as clouds of gunfire at the ships' broadsides (as well as, as if they're firing at each other with cannons. Clearly nothing we've heard of in Middle-earth so far. Might have been a reason for ICE to photoshop the clouds away from the scene. Also the htaches have disappeared. The image on the right hand side is the remastered version, but it's identical to the original.

(PS I wasn't aware of that yet when I held the presentation at Lure XXV, just realised it afterwards)

The Way Is Shut

The left panel is a scan from a print I bought form Ted Nasmith a few years ago. Looks like in the original version Gandalf appeared in the door of Moria, looking back to the watcher in the pool. Gandalf's silhouette is no longer visible neither on the card image nor on the jigsaw (even this shows the scene in greater detail).

Magic Ring of Guile

That's a small alteration which, AFAIK, appears only on some (German) cards: The original shows a bit of reflection of the gold ring on the leather glove above (right). For some reason that was removed for some of the cards (left).

Not really a modified art, but more of a curiosity. What or who is the thing on the top left side of minion Moria?

Army of the Dead

The original riders (why is it riders, by the way, did the dead come with undead horses, too?) looked quite alive and were put behind a veil of mist afterwards.

Recent SOURCE from https://tolkiengateway.net

Card design and artwork

Artists sent their original works to Iron Crown Enterprises, and after photographing the works were returned to the artists.

Because digital cameras in the 1990s lacked the necessary resolution and quality, the artwork was photographed on film. This could, for example, be 4 in × 5 in format film. To ensure colour accuracy, a control bar with known colour values was included in the photograph.

After colour correction, the card would be composited with QuarkXPress, the software used for all graphic design, resulting in a high-quality digital print. This was then compared to the original artwork, a process which was repeated until the digital print was a satisfactory match to the painting.

A final digital version of the card image would then be sent to Cartamundi for printing.

Artists sometimes reworked their art after getting them back. Here are the ones that I personally spotted.

Horseman in the Night by John Howe has so many differences that it may have been completely redone:
Stefano Baldo altered his Elf-Song by blurring the background:
Same for Land-Drake, but with an additional front silhouette:
Ted Nasmith modified Bree by redrawing the porch lantern and adding a cat at the entrance:

There exist at least 2 other altered versions of Stefano Baldo's works, Beorn and Durin's Bane:
I reckon he made these changes some time later, and only digitally. At least the originals of Elf-song and Durin's Bane are as on the cards (see the originals in the Gresinger Museum:
https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipN ... Y2MVRjcHZ3 and https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipN ... Y2MVRjcHZ3)

Strangling Coils by Steve Luke: many alterations on snakes scales and head pikes, Gandalf sword pommel, beard, toes, cast lightning.

Orc-warriors by Brian Snoddy: No more flying birds in the background, an orc traded his cowl against a helmet, different horns on helmets, red-eyed orcs, different pattern for the closer orc helmet side-protection, different cuts and scratches on the wooden shields.

The orc painting on the right is not the original but a re-paint that was made years afterwards.

Probably. As there's no date visible on it I aknowledge it's possible. Probably same thing for Horseman in the night. I recently bought the last John Howe artbook and I'll have to dig for informations.

nico21000 wrote: ↑Mon Sep 01, 2025 12:57 pm Probably. As there's no date visible on it I aknowledge it's possible.

I bought that repaint 2 years ago (believing it was the original) and asked the artist directly. What I got in response is what I've posted.