King Under the Mountian
My Interpretation of Smaug done for 3D Creature Planet Dragon challenge on CGHUB.
Tolkien always described his dragons as a physical representation of
greed, power and manipulation. So I wanted to base his face off
a viper. I also noted that Smaug is listed as a Fire-drake which in and
of themselves were initially wingless after being bred by Morgoth in the First Age.
Smaug is also referred to several times as a Wyrm which are more snake
then traditional 4 legged beasties. Looking at Tolkien’s own
interpretation, He is generally depicted with a long snake like body,
small limbs and large wings (as a hurricane after all). So I decided to
combine all of the inspirations for a representation that is a kind of
transitional form trying to adapt and survive in the changing climate of Middle Earth. An amalgam between Wyrm and Fire Drake.
All Assets were modeled in Zbrush 4r6 using a variety of techniques.