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TurnerMohan β Smaug
Published: 2011-11-03 20:37:44 +0000 UTC; Views: 12403; Favourites: 315; Downloads: 0
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I always imagined smaug as a real rooster among his species, a big, plumed male, with a high fanning crest and tendriled lizard-beard. after a few designs which featured a narrower, more bird like skull, i went with something that fattened out at the back to this broad crocodilian grin supported by a bulging, frilled gullet.Related content
Comments: 41
This is one of the best pictures of Smaug I've ever seen!Β Β Β
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Β Master Mohan, I would like to offer you a modest compliment for this most excellent concept art, but find that Smaug's haughty stare intensifies to the levels of a GLARE if I even THINK the word 'modest' in his presence so I'll just speak my mind and say "The only version of Smaug superior to this one can be seen in 'The Desolation of Smaug' and HE has the unfair advantage of being voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch!"(really, the only actor who I think could have done a better job with Smaug the Terrible is the late, great Vincent Price and he wasn't available for some reason).Β Β
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I have no difficulty admitting when I've been beat. pj's smaug was a priviledge to watch on screen, and as a lifetime lover of dragons, will probably have a big influence on how I draw them in the future (personally, despite the loud and frequent protests of myopic D & D fan idiots, i think the case has been pretty irrefutably made for the superiority of the four-limbed dragon design over six)
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Β Not universally, I would argue - Draco remains one my favourite screen dragons even nearly two decades after 'Dragonheart' was released (one of my favourite films, incidentally) and I believe that each body-plan still works beautifully in the proper context (I find it hard to imagine The Reluctant Dragon bearing much of a resemblance to old Smaug the Terribly-Smug for example - I tend to see the dragon who was 'A bit of a a bard' as very close to the moustachioed Asian dragon in appearance, for the record); if you want a 'scientific' dragon then I agree that the more Pterosaur-esque body pattern fits - but if you want a really Old-School 'Satan with Scales' Fantasy Dragon then I think the four-leg, bi-wing design still holds good (incidentally that's more or less how I imagine Ancalagon the Black).
Β For the record what I loved most about the cinematic Smaug was the sheer CHARACTER radiating from the old Worm; he not only talked, but you could actually see Personality writ large across those terrifying features (and that personality was CAD, which is as it should be).Β
Β Quite frankly I'm convinced that the sheer character with which Professor Tolkien imbued his drakes is all the proof any reader should require before admitting that he wrote the BEST dragons (or at least the best EVIL dragons - I remain oddly convinced that the only possible casting choice for Glaurung, Father of Dragons would be Mr James Earl Jones at his most s-s-s-serpentine).
Β Out of curiosity might I ask if you have seen the depiction of Smaug the Golden by Mr Angus McBride? (it's rather a good one).Β
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i've loved draco since the first time I saw that movie, and still think he works, also I myself had always seen smaug with a separate pair of forelimbs until seeing DOS, but the "wyvern" build (as it is so annoyingly called) just reads so much more convincingly on screen, they make a dragon seem like a biological creature that really could exist (and shortening his first two fingers after the thumb claw, thereby functionally giving him a pair of "hands" was a stroke of genius) Draco works on screen for what he is, but those gesturing, more-or-less human front limbs, with the wings jst stuck on the back, cant help but come off a little cartoony by comparison. Actually I thought Smaug's head and face was surprisingly similar in build to draco's, longer, leaner and more wicked (as is appropriate) but they stuck with that strategy of giving him a moving set of lips, and I was very pleased to see how effectively they were able to give him a "face" from infront, which is hard to pull off with a long snouted creature.
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Β Indeed!
Β I love just how different and yet equally-expressive (allowing for technology) those two dragons are; they truly are CHARACTERS rather than just another special effect.
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I find you really nicely captured Smaug's personnality and physic here, evil, dark and proud, the "king under the mountain' like he says 
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no, not Smaug, I will complain to all Smaug "artists" he is lion faced, furry cheeks and fur down his spin, missing a scale on his chest, VERY red, cat eared and has an under bite. but he is a "rooster" among his kind, proud, always looking down upon others.
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No need to bash them!
Everyone has their personal view on each of the Tolkien characters, and just because one didn't draw it in your ideal image doesn't give you the right to hassle them about it!
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haters gonna hate, as they say
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I'm going to ignore most of this comment because you're assuming the RankinBbass version is the Tolkien-confirmed canon, which is flatly incorrect, but here's some other things to note:
- You can't SEE his chest in this picture besides a tiny bit below the neck.Β How do you know he's not missing a scale?Β Also, in the books (i.e. the official canon) Smaug doesn't have ANY scales on his underside, let alone a missing one.Β The gems and gold are embedded in his skin and there's a patch which is bare.
- This picture is black and white, so you don't know if he's red or any other colour.
- You seem to assume that the furry animated version is the correct one, even though that version is more brownish-red than "very" red.Β Be more consistent.
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I guess you cant please everyone (I cant for the life of me figure out how they knew I meant smaug to be neon pink instead of red 
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you've got some hard evidence for that description I suppose?
I like the rankin/bass cartoon too, but it's just one possible interpretation of the character. also, I do this for a living, so the quotes around artist are not necessary.
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"Well, thief; I smell you, I feel your air, I hear your breath. Come along; help yourself- there's plenty and to spare..."
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A nice drawing of Smaug, this one..
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For once you and the movie seem to be on the same design page here.
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a thing I'm very glad to see (me and the movie being on the same page i mean. It's been a rare occurrence with this new trilogy so far 
I prefer a serpentine to dinosaur-like appearance for dragons. though never real, dragons were kicking around in our collective mythology thousands of years before we ever even knew dinosaurs existed, and of all real, living creatures, they are most closely linked with snakes ('wyrm' for example meaning both snake and dragon, or the fact that in genesis satan is recounted as both a serpent and a dragon)
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Really like the pose and the face
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no those are supposed to be subtle, naturally occurring patterns on his scales, like a swirling celtic version of those marks cobras have on the back of their hoods (T think I've looked at one too many john howe paintings, 
Thanks so much!
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Wow, really epic drawing! If I could some day draw this amazingly, I will cry of happines! That's gorgeous! Thinking: "Meat, finally some meat" Ok, he is so big that Bilbo wouldn't count as meat.. XD
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ha! yeah bilbo's more like a cocktail weenie. thank you for such a lovely comment, and I like your work (that Saphira piece especially is pretty dead on)
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No problem! And thank you very much!
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I remember when I was very young I loved the hobbit cartoon, and after reading the book I had the urge to watch it again. Though the cartoon was disturbing as it is I always thought their Smaug should look like this instead.
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I loved that cartoon too (still do actually, one day i'll have to do some fan art) and yeah I agree it's not how I picture Smaug (obviously) but I always loved his voice. i think sherlock will be hard pressed to match it for sheer awesome. thanks for commenting, means alot
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so awesome!
that miffed look
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Very nice - this has a very John Howe feel to it, yet better. Great job.
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well that about as high praise as i could ask for. thank you so much.
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I LOVE SOOOO MUCH!
Smaug is the best villain by far and I like his evil glare
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COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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COOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Every time I see this level of skill at drawing, it makes me wonder even more how it's possible. My drawing skill is so terrible, I can't imagine being able to draw like this.
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