HOBBIT IN A PINCH
2025 Leftovers & Palette Gremlins #3
I was using this piece of scrap as a “palette” while working on another painting back in 2023. After a day's work, I sketched out the reptilian creature with leftover paint and set it aside until last week.
When the grandchildren stayed over, I was reading to them one of my favorite books, The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien. After they'd gone to bed, I went back to the studio to do some work, saw this little thing and thought, “Hmm...”
Additional images from HOBBIT IN A PINCH
New Original Art in Our Shop
HOBBIT IN A PINCH
Acrylic - 7” x 9”
The scene is from the second chapter of The Hobbit when Bilbo stumbles upon a trio of dimwitted trolls. Rather than slinking away, the intrepid hobbit tests his skill as a burglar.
“Blimey, Bert, look what I’ve copped!” said William.
“What is it?” said the others coming up.
“Lumme, if I knows! What are yer?”
“Bilbo Baggins, a bur—a hobbit,” said poor Bilbo shaking all over, and wondering how to make owl-noises before they throttled him.
“A burrahobbit?” said they a little startled. Trolls are slow in the uptake, and mighty suspicious about anything new to them.
“What’s a burrahobbit got to do with my pocket, anyways?” said William.
“And can yer cook ‘em?” said Tom.
“Yer can try,” said Bert, picking up a skewer.
This small original painting is available in our shop for as long as it lasts!
$2,500
About Leftovers & Palette Gremlins
Leftovers are spur-of-the-moment doodles or sketches created with paint left over from a work in progress. (Ever since my poor art student days, I’ve been loathe to discard any usable paint or other art materials!) Many of these quickies end up in the trash, but some give rise to an idea that merits development into a full sized painting.
Palette Gremlins are small creations inspired by random or accidental shapes in my immediate environment. Usually these gremlins are found on a used palette, but nearly as often they spring from an unintentional mark of paint on a piece of paper or a suggestive shadow in my studio.
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