Book Review - Hobbit, Smaug, Unleashing The Dragon

If, like me, you are all about creature creation then "Smaug, Unleashing The Dragon" is just the book you need. This hard cover book comes straight from the masterminds that work in WETA Workshop, the designers of Smaug, to show you the entire thought and design process behind the dragon, from initial sketches and scribbles to full blown renders of varying designs.

The people from WETA have designed every part of Smaugs anatomy with pristine anatomical accuracy, everything from the way his scales are shaped to the way his skin folds as he moves is all planned and thought over meticulously. What I found interesting was that the majority of the initial passes for Smaug they designed him as a "technical dragon" (a dragon that has four legs and wings).
And explain how as they continue through the design process his finishing result is actually that of a Wyvern (not a dragon, a subspecies who's front arms double as wings).

I think the favourite parts of this book for me were the initial sketches of Smaugs profile shot as it shows just how drastically they played with the shapes and possibilities for the Drakes head. In the first 2, shown above, its almost as if the heads are based on weapon designs with the long sharp snout of the first pass looking similar to a spear, and the second larger, bulkier head resembling more of an axe. Its amazing how just the shape of a head can affect your entire perception of how you believe they would act and talk. For instance, I believe that head number 1 would talk in a very whispery "hissy" manner, much like the stereotypical snake talk e.g: "ssssssoo how are you?"
Head number 2 however I imagine to have a much deeper voice, almost like thunder and would reflect just how ancient a creature he truly is.

These two heads are an entirely different matter, I almost feel like they resemble more of an alien than a dragon or wyvern! I imagine the bodies of both of these creatures to have the Wyvern physique, but have a much more predatory instinct, much preferring to hunt and eat rather than converse to its prey like in the film.

The final two are much more dinosaur based, especially head number one with its heavy set jawline, large dewlap and raised neck its easy to tell that carnivorous dinosaurs have been the subject of reference such as the Allosaurus, Tyrannosaur and Gigantosaur.
Head number 2 however seems a lot more closer to the finalised design, being extremely slender and serpentine which in turn conforms to the typical Wyvern anatomy.

I really can't recommend this book strongly enough for people who are into creature design and fantasy worlds, their is plenty of text to read through so you can read about the step by step processes that the WETA crew had to go through when designing Smaug, along with beautiful glossy coloured pages of various WIPS, full renders and reference examples. When I'm drawing something scaly or serpentine this is always my go to book and its extremely cheap for what it is!