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book Gandalf
Rohan
Dec 3 2013, 2:10am
Post #26 of 38
(167 views)
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john howes yellow browny dark colours are becuase of the lighting, a red would fade to browny then black if there was very little light, of course that is perfectly reasonable.
the only conclusions im coming to are from the picture of smaug on that plane. which is mostly brown. that picture is also meant to be seen in full daylight as i see it and is presented as a fully lit smaug.
im just going in what i can see.
This is a serious journey, not a hobbit walking-party.
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AinurOlorin
Half-elven
Dec 3 2013, 2:25am
Post #27 of 38
(164 views)
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You know I am with you on most things, but considering the range of colours birds
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fish and reptiles come in here in our own time, I don't really see anything wrong with a distinguising vivid red and gold. Smaug should be MAGNIFICENT, not earthy. lol I think it might not be the end of the world if smaug is not exactly the colour how you would like him to be.
Cartoon red is imho terrible btw.
So a realistic red-brown-gold whatever is quite perfect.
"Hear me, hounds of Sauron, Gandalf is here! Fly if you value your foul skins, I will shrivel you from tail to snout if you step within this circle!"
"Do not be to eager to deal out death in judgement. Even the very wise cannot see all ends."
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peterLF
Rivendell
Dec 3 2013, 2:30am
Post #28 of 38
(159 views)
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unless smaug is anything other than red i will be highly disappointed in this whole franchise
i dont want to hear golden, reddish brown, reflective, camouflage, de aged, anythiung like that, no excuses
smaug has to be a red dragon with a lighter underbelly end of.
So basically, this guy?
I have a feeling you are indeed going to be highly disappointed.
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peterLF
Rivendell
Dec 3 2013, 2:37am
Post #29 of 38
(161 views)
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To be fair, the picture that ended up as a decal on the plane, seems to have been from within Erebor... Hence in a golden light... Will probably look different in sunlight.
And it remains to be seen whether we even get to see Smaug in sunlight until next year B-|
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starlesswinter
Lorien
Dec 3 2013, 2:55am
Post #30 of 38
(147 views)
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However, I often find that the filmmakers come up with better designs than Tolkien. As great a writer as Tolkien was, he wasn't an experienced or particularly skillful artist.
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ElendilTheShort
Gondor
Dec 3 2013, 3:15am
Post #31 of 38
(139 views)
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have you viewed his Artist & Illustrator book. There is a great deal of skill displayed in many of his illustrations.
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starlesswinter
Lorien
Dec 3 2013, 3:44am
Post #32 of 38
(128 views)
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I've seen many of his drawings and I don't think they're very good, to be honest. The man was a great writer with a great imagination, but there are far better artists out there. So many of the WETA artists, not to mention Alan Lee and John Howe, are more skilled and creative with their artwork. The tower of Orthanc is one example. It's an iconic, evocative image from the films, whereas Tolkien drew a brick wedding cake.
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book Gandalf
Rohan
Dec 3 2013, 3:52am
Post #33 of 38
(126 views)
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I've seen many of his drawings and I don't think they're very good, to be honest. The man was a great writer with a great imagination, but there are far better artists out there. So many of the WETA artists, not to mention Alan Lee and John Howe, are more skilled and creative with their artwork. The tower of Orthanc is one example. It's an iconic, evocative image from the films, whereas Tolkien drew a brick wedding cake.
like all great artists, tolkiens drawings and designs are totally unique and individual, and they are from th eman who made all this up so you have to respect that. the hobbit book without tolkiens unique drawings and cover and font design is iconic, someone like john howes paintings you could argue , though skilled are quite generic.
This is a serious journey, not a hobbit walking-party.
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MorgolKing
Rivendell
Dec 3 2013, 4:11am
Post #34 of 38
(119 views)
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Isn't he red in the first trailer? I wonder if they changed his color after that. I still can't believe they didn't have Smaug finalized before AUJ was released.
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starlesswinter
Lorien
Dec 3 2013, 4:20am
Post #35 of 38
(114 views)
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Unique isn't necessarily of quality though
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Yes, Tolkien's drawings are unique and he did come up with the ideas, but they simply look like child's work to me. His Smaug drawing, for example, must be one of the least threatening renderings of him out there. I'm really talking about technicality here - as an artist myself, I appreciate a well-drawn picture, regardless of its originality or uniqueness. Tolkien was an enormous talent in many things, just not in the technicalities of drawing (in my opinion), and therefore I have no problem with the filmmakers coming up with more creative designs. I even think the Alan Lee illustrated Hobbit is a better looking book than Tolkien's original.
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Kendalf
Rohan
Dec 3 2013, 8:53am
Post #36 of 38
(97 views)
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I often find that the filmmakers come up with better designs than Tolkien.
I don't disagree  It's just that, if Tolkien gave an explicit description of a character, then I'd expect anyone translating his novel to the screen to pay some sort of homage to that description.
Anyway, in my view, you're correct to qualify your statement with "often". If I consider the original trilogy's designs for Aragorn, Legolas, Elrond, Gandalf, Gimli, Saruman, the hobbits, Edoras, Minas Tirith etc I can feel reasonably assured that they all resemble, to a greater or lesser extent, Tolkien's original vision for them.
If, however, I think about this new trilogy's Beorn, Thranduil, Ragagast, Master and Lake Town, I feel reasonably assured they do not 
"I have found it is the small everyday deeds of ordinary folk that keep the darkness at bay. Small acts of kindness and love."
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starlesswinter
Lorien
Dec 3 2013, 8:59am
Post #37 of 38
(95 views)
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See, I love the designs for Thranduil, the Master, and Laketown, the latter being one of my favorite location designs from this whole franchise. (I don't see why you think Laketown doesn't match the book's description, to be honest.) I agree that Beorn is a little whacky and could have been done better, though I don't think it really ruins anything. Thranduil and the Master are just plain interesting to look at, which to my eyes trumps a need to adhere to the book's descriptions. But I understand why someone would dislike that.
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Glorfindela
Valinor
Dec 3 2013, 11:40pm
Post #38 of 38
(62 views)
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I actually really like Tolkien's paintings and drawings
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Especially of things like Beorn's hall, the barrels floating downriver, etc. I have an old print of his painting of Smaug, with the bright red dragon, which depicts a rather childlike image. The dragon is not at all frightening in looks in that painting. Having a scarlet dragon would be a mistake, I feel, and would look too Disneyish.
However, I often find that the filmmakers come up with better designs than Tolkien. As great a writer as Tolkien was, he wasn't an experienced or particularly skillful artist.
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