Middle Earth Ranger Forum

Hello fellow Rangers,

I've made this concept art as an example for my current ranger garb.
The colors are dark greens, browns and some parts are Grey. Because my goal is to make it mostly functional, comfortable and
give off a vibe of a nature dwelling archer/ranger. The colors should also camouflage its wearer.

My question for you all is, what is great about it?
And what would you improve to make the garb more functional for the ranger archetype?

Thanks!

Welcome to the forums Green Ranger.

Love the colour choices here, as well as your artistry, couple of questions.

Do plan to portray a Ranger of the North or a Ranger of the South?
The belt and it's associated buckle are quite large! Is there a reason you went with such a chunky one?

That aside I would consider switching the hooded cloak for a separate hood and cloak as they tend to be far more versatile.
I would also consider some form of lower leg guard or wrap as loose pants tend to get caught on stuff, muddied up etc. High boots, gaiters, leg wraps are all good options.

Lastly, and it's just personal preference but I've never seen the benefit of the leather collar.

Can't wait to see more of your work.

Mae Govannen GreenRanger! Welcome to the forum!

To echo Eofor here, the color choices are spot on. Rangers of both the South and the North are noted as wearing greens, browns, and greys. Good choice.

I noticed that you have the garb on what seems to be both a masculine and feminine form. Are you intending this to be an actual uniform to be worn by all Rangers?

I agree with Eofor's comment on both the buckle, separate hood and cloak, and leather collar. If you wish to maintain the lines of the leather collar but in a more subtle medieval way, I would recommend looking into the Skjoldehamn hood. That triangular hood would work very well.

https://projectbroadaxe.weebly.com/viki ... pplication

My other comment is that personally, I really don't like the look of the ubiquitous leather cuffs/bracers that it seems all fantasy and historical movies use. There's no evidence at all for them except for archery and even then, it's just one. I think it would look a lot better/ "realer" if they were ditched.

Looking forward to seeing it all done!

Thanks for the warm welcome!

Eofor, First Thanks for your feedback.
I want to portray more the Rangers of The north. I know the colors are not what they would wear. Those would be more the ithilien palette?
The belt should be thinner than portrayed in the concept drawing, Maybe I've drawn it a bit too large (oops!).
Your take on the lower leg part is great, before I did the pants the outfit had Grey leg wraps. So maybe I should switch back to that. (I wanted to give the ranger less equipment, so they could gear up faster - Less is more was my thought for removing the leg wraps).
With the leather collar, do you mean the Grey triangular upper body piece? That piece was inspired from the ithilien rangers from the movies. Should those be removed from the design?

Cimrandir, Also thanks for your feedback.
Your question about the masculine and feminine versions, I wanted to incorporate the same outfit also for females. As for uniforms, it would be nice if there is one garb that is worn by all rangers. But that is not a must.
Yes! I agree with your comment on the leather cuffs/bracers. I practice archery myself, so maybe I should only add one small leather arm bracer just for the bow wielding part of the garb.


More feedback would be most welcome!

Hey GreenRanger8!

Eofor and I were commenting that you do in fact have the correct color palette. There's very few references to the Northern Rangers and even less to what they wear but we do have a few notes as to colors.

The Lord of the Rings, Book I: The Ring Sets Out, Chapter 9: At the Sign of the Prancing Pony wrote:Suddenly Frodo noticed that a strange-looking weather-beaten man, sitting in the shadows near the wall, was also listening intently to the hobbit-talk. He had a tall tankard in front of him, and was smoking a long-stemmed pipe curiously carved. His legs were stretched out before him, showing high boots of supple leather that fitted him well, but had seen much wear and were now caked with mud. A travel-stained cloak of heavy dark-green cloth was drawn close about him, and in spite of the heat of the room he wore a hood that overshadowed his face; but the gleam of his eyes could be seen as he watched the hobbits.

The Lord of the Rings, Book II The Ring Goes South, Chapter 3 The Ring Goes South wrote:The Company took little gear of war, for their hope was in secrecy not in battle. Aragorn had Andúril but no other weapon, and he went forth clad only in rusty green and brown as a Ranger of the wilderness.

The Lord of the Rings, Book V, Chapter 2: The Passing of the Grey Company wrote:A little apart the Rangers sat, silent, in an ordered company, armed with spear and bow and sword. They were clad in cloaks of dark grey, and their hoods were cast now over helm and head. Their horses were strong and of proud bearing, but rough-haired; and one stood there without a rider, Aragorn's own horse that they had brought from the North; Roheryn was his name. There was no gleam of stone or gold, nor any fair thing in all their gear and harness:

As you can see, the color palette you've chosen is quite appropriate.

GreenRanger8 wrote: ↑Sun May 21, 2023 9:52 am Thanks for the warm welcome!

Eofor, First Thanks for your feedback.
I want to portray more the Rangers of The north. I know the colors are not what they would wear. Those would be more the ithilien palette?
The belt should be thinner than portrayed in the concept drawing, Maybe I've drawn it a bit too large (oops!).
Your take on the lower leg part is great, before I did the pants the outfit had Grey leg wraps. So maybe I should switch back to that. (I wanted to give the ranger less equipment, so they could gear up faster - Less is more was my thought for removing the leg wraps).

If you want quick and easy leg-wraps, you might take a look at the Søgård Mose II legwraps.

Iodo Ionite made a pair here! Wool leg wrap's the easy way [link]

GreenRanger8 wrote: ↑Sun May 21, 2023 9:52 am With the leather collar, do you mean the Grey triangular upper body piece? That piece was inspired from the ithilien rangers from the movies. Should those be removed from the design?

In my opinion, yes, they should be removed. I cannot think of any practical use for them and consider them just "movie fluff." I suspect Rangers, if they were real, would quickly discard them as well. Like I said, if you want the aesthetic of the pointed collar but want to make it practical, the pointed Skjoldehamn hood would provide the same silhouette.

GreenRanger8 wrote: ↑Sun May 21, 2023 9:52 amCimrandir, Also thanks for your feedback.
Your question about the masculine and feminine versions, I wanted to incorporate the same outfit also for females. As for uniforms, it would be nice if there is one garb that is worn by all rangers. But that is not a must.
Yes! I agree with your comment on the leather cuffs/bracers. I practice archery myself, so maybe I should only add one small leather arm bracer just for the bow wielding part of the garb.

I think a single archery bracer would look just fine.

As regards a uniform, it is my opinion that Rangers of the North would not have a uniform per se. Uniforms are a modern-ish military custom and the Rangers are rather individualistic. I think their gear (made for rugged traveling) would be the main thing that distinguishes them from your regular man of Bree.

Eofor and Cimrandir have great points. Another thing you might want to look into is possibly a different style of cloak. The front-fastening cloak that meets at the throat looks really cool, but (this is a personal opinion) it’s an easy snag and control point. If your cloak catches on something or is grabbed by an enemy, because it fastens at the throat, it’s going to make it harder for you to deal with that while in the forest or in battle; an enemy could easily stun you/begin to strangle you if you’re not careful.

Another reason I prefer to stay away from this particular style of cloak is it doesn’t protect your front very well. In inclement weather or low temperatures, you would want at least the option of full coverage from your cloak. That is, of course, why you would have one in the first place.

My cloak of choice for the wilds would be either a Bocksten cloak or a Ruana cloak; both can be pulled up over the shoulders for maximum convenience and mobility, and they can be dropped down over the front for better coverage against the elements.

Otherwise, I love the art! It’s a very aesthetically pleasing yet functional look.

Cimrandir, glad I've got those color quite right. Thanks for the book references. They are from Tolkien himself so can't go wrong with those descriptions. About the leg wraps, I bought some fabric months ago which was really comfortable and stretchy. The older woolen ones were quite hard to put on but these are just perfect and flexible.

The Skjoldehamn hood is just perfect and a timeless medieval design, I guess wool would be the most versatile material for that one? And What color should that one be? Because I was also thinking which color blend more into nature, would that be green or brown?
About the bracer, I agree. Mostly functionality over style is better. What makes a character believable is that what they wear serves a function and that they use the gear they wear.

Barandir, Thanks for the feedback!
Aye, great point about the cloak and the front fastening part, I've watched this on YouTube on the channel by Living Anachronism (Hey there Kramer!) In his videos he makes very good points about all kinds of garbs and medieval/fantasy stuff.

My main goal is to create a functional depiction of the Ranger archetype, so getting more and more feedback and perspectives on this would assist me greatly in designing this image.
More feedback is always welcome!

Welcome, I missed this a few days back but that kit design looks amazing, as does your art

in my experience wool is the best material for outer layers, so wool for hood/cloak etc... and linen is the best material for tunics/pants etc... however cotton is a good and cheaper/easier to come by substitute even though it's not book accurate

for a ranger greens, browns and grays work well, however I have come to learn that in small amounts (for detailing/pouches/trim/embroidery etc...) some colors that you would never expect to blend in to nature actually do very well, these include darker blues and purples, orange and red (obviously not fluorescent). So you are not entirely limeted to the "earth tone" but I would stick with it for large outer garments

and as for bracers I probably have the unpopular opinion here, I will and do wear two bracers in the winter simply because it is warmer and if I wear my short sleeved wool coat they keep my lower arms dry, also they protect me/my clothing from becoming caught on brambles etc... If you want to, try it because for me, if you wear bracers or not depends on climate, terrain, and what works best with the other clothing you are wearing

I don't believe that Rangers of the North would have a uniform.

The closest thing to one in the canonical texts are common gray cloaks with a star brooch.

So why no uniforms?

Because the Ranger's enemies would be able to easily pick them out. This would further put them at risk since they tend to operate singly or in small groups.

The colors are fine.

As mentioned upthread, consider a Ruana style cloak. You can even tuck the front down your belt to keep it in place in inclement weather of particularly active movement.

The Ithilien Rangers are different. They are a military unit.

Iodo, Those are some very interesting details regarding the other colors for camouflage purposes.
Thanks for appreciating my artwork!
I will keep those outer garment materials in mind while designing.

Harper, yes the Dunedain Rangers mostly wear gray, and the star brooch is known to me.
Yes it seems the Ruana cloak is the most versatile piece of outer garment, I want to combine one with a Skjoldehamn hood.
The Burgschneider Ranger set seems to have one.

More feedback is welcome!

I think a good brownish gray, something approaching heather color, would work really well for an all-weather cloak. It’s good enough to blend in during the spring and summer months when all the foliage is in bloom, but also would blend in with the tree trunks and bare branches of winter. Just a thought!

Barandir wrote: ↑Fri May 26, 2023 7:22 pm I think a good brownish gray, something approaching heather color, would work really well for an all-weather cloak. It’s good enough to blend in during the spring and summer months when all the foliage is in bloom, but also would blend in with the tree trunks and bare branches of winter. Just a thought!

I always prefer a greenish grey to blend in in both summer and winter, because the color will seem more grey when the forest is without color, but when the green can reflect the greens of leaves it will seem much more green, but opinions... both probably work

however for my kit (dwarven) I try to avoid greenish cloaks/hoods because that color pallet is too stereotyped as "ranger" in modern fantasy, in a greenish cloak it doesn't matter what else I wear, everyone who sees me asks if I am a ranger LOL

It seems like brown and green is often used most in nature, black is best to be avoided I've heard before. The Rangers apprentice book series describe the cloaks as grayish green.
Most animals are often more brown, while standing still you would not really spot them that easily.