Smaug is the fearsome dragon who ousted King Thrór and the Dwarves of Erebor within the Lonely Mountain. Smaug was "the greatest of the dragons of his day", after driving the Dwarves out of the Mountain he remained for the next 150 years guarding his hoard before the arrival of Thorin Oakenshield and co. to oust him with the help of Bilbo and Gandalf.

This illustrative design was based on the wonderful descriptions of Smaug in The Hobbit, with his fiery red scales and magnificently menacing features. Intricate scales cascade down Smaug's back as a fireball erupts from his awesomely powerful jaws, falling across his wings in an incomparable depiction of the mighty beast slain by the Bard at Laketown.

"My armour is like tenfold shields, my teeth are swords, my claws spears, the shock of my tail is a thunderbolt, my wings a hurricane, and my breath death!" - Smaug.

Learn more in the blog post