My interest in Beowulf began with my interest in Tolkien. I've long been a fan of his well-known works (LotR, Hobbit), but have been following up with some of his work that is harder to read (Silmarillion, Unfinished Tales, History of Middle-Earth). These aren't as immediately accessible as his other work, but I find that as I work through them and study them, my understanding and appreciation of his work grows. My goal is to read everything written by Tolkien, including his academic writing, so I began his Translation and Commentary of Beowulf. Again, this is not a work to breeze through, but I have enjoyed reading and rereading, and making notes as I read. For me this also includes drawing!
If you know me at all, you know that's how I think and process information. I've also noticed that my eleventh graders come to art class talking about Beowulf as assigned reading. I hope that my example of visualizing and illustrating selected passages encourages them to approach their reading in a similar way.
I'm experimenting with a different style of "coloring" -- using pencil shading techniques over a line drawing.
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