Luthien

This is (I hope - if I manage to go through with it!) supposed to be part of a series.
Every now and then, I'll stumble across some discussion concerning strong female characters and the lack thereof in Tolkien's works. Every time I'll shake my head and count on my fingers the occasional strong woman in the Lord of the Rings or The Silmarillion that I can think of off the top of my head, and although (unlike certain Tolkien characters) I have two hands, I'll find that my fingers don't suffice. Which, considering we're talking about a fairly conservative author from the early 20th century, isn't too bad; especially considering how few strong female characters you tend to find in the fantasy genre (even so-called "feminist fantasy") on the whole.
I usually don't take part in these discussions anymore because they frustrate me.

But every time that happens I promise myself to make a series of paintings depicting Tolkien's strong women.

Well, it seems I finally managed to make a start! (I actually ment to be all chronological and start with Nerdanel, but then all of a sudden I felt more like dealing with Lúthien first.)

Lúthien must be one of the most-depicted characters from the Silmarillion. In almost all of the pictures, you have this dainty, doe-eyed, mournful maiden.
Which is perfectly fine, of course. But I wanted something different.
Despite all that may be said against Lúthien as a character (self-insert, Mary Sue, over-hyped nurse etc; the only part I agree with is, obviously, the self-insert, which can't be denied), there's lots in her favour, too. From the beginning of the story, she seems to be predestined to be your usual damsel in distress - and refuses to comply with that expectation. She stands up to her dominant father, escapes from imprisonment several times over, saves her lover's life at various occasions rather than needing him to save her, manages to heal a werewolf bite, sings Morgoth and his entire court to sleep, is one of the rare Silm characters who don't want a Silmaril for its own sake, sacrifices her immortality and convinces the Lord of Death to return her lover to life, without any silly "don't look back" games. If Mandos had had any strategic brains, he'd have enlisted Lúthiens help for the War of Wrath at once. (Or the Fëanorians. If Celegorm and Curufin had recognised their chance at that point instead of antagonising her, they might have gained two out of three at least...) In short, Lúthien kicks ass. The Lay of Leithian's hero is not Beren, nor Finrod either.

Now probably this is just my usual slightly odd self, but I don't see dainty, doe-eyed, mournful Lúthien dressing up in the skin of a dead giant vampire bat. Or wrapping Morgoth's entire court around her dainty little finger.
So I tried to go for a somewhat more kick-ass, killer queen, "ready to rock" kind of look. This is the result.

With random art nouveau ornaments because I love art nouveau.