Book Cover Challenge The Hobbit

Back at it with another classic book cover challenge brought to you by #Meayrimim. This'll be an easy one, I thought...I thought wrong. There were so many questions along the way and many pitfalls. How does one make a unique version steering away from Peter Jackson's adaptation that has made an undeniable mark on our collective consciousness? Beyond that, I cannot forget the endearing 1977 Rankin/Bass that captured my Millennial heart at first sight so many years ago. Then there's the most important matter at hand: what do I want to highlight on my cover? First I must mention the criteria for this challenge was that Bilbo must appear on the cover. So, this could not be a cover made of just symbolic imagery or a picturesque scenery backdrop. And finally, the title/lettering. The best lettering advice I've been given (by illustrator Danielle Peleg) is that it is just as much part of the illustration, not a foreign entity pasted onto the page. This is why lettering is an art unto itself and not a skill I can say I've mastered. It's a work in progress...