Bilbo - Matryoshka Doll

....Also known as the Project that Defies the dA Categorization System. Should it be in Fan Art? Is it an Artisan Craft? If so, is it a Custom Doll? Is it Other? I have no idea. I finally put it under Fan Art, because the point of it was to portray The Hobbit, and if it doesn't belong here then I'm sure some nice mod will come along and tell me where to put it.

This was a gift for my dear friend Angel, who loves both Russia and J.R.R. Tolkien's The Hobbit. It is a Matryoshka doll, or wooden nesting or stacking doll, a folk art that originated in Russia around 1890, and the figures represent character and places from The Hobbit--Hobbiton and the Lonely Mountain, Gandalf, Bilbo, Gollum, and the One Ring.

The blank wooden dolls were purchased at my local craft store (and I wish now that I had bought them out when I had the chance, because they no longer have them and I want to do more!), painted with acrylic paints, and coated with a spray-on sealer to protect the paint and give them a glossy finish.

BILBO is wearing a green suit, a cheery yellow waistcoat with bright brass buttons (as mentioned in the book), and his curly hair is a coppery brown. His enormous smile and big eyes might make him look slightly crazed, but he was under a lot of strain, you know. Very stressful, adventuring. His right hand is in his pocket, and I wonder what he has in there? What has he got in his pocketses?

The back of the doll represents Mirkwood, with enormous black trees and giant spiders. Don't you want to build a summer home there? The upper branches of the trees are also home to a couple of black butterflies, which are mentioned in the book.