Designing Dragons: Spiderwick Dragons (Part 3)
Early on, Holly and I thought it would be cool if the Spiderwick books slowly immersed the heroes into an entire world of fantasy. So, by the end of book 1, they finally see their house brownie, Thimbletack. By the climactic battle at the end of book 5, they are battling an evil ogre, his goblin army, and his brood of dragons.
The Spiderwick dragon design was clearly inspired from Asian dragons. I had not done a long and lanky drake before, and was very excited about it. After the Pern project, I also felt less inhibited and returned to birdlike features for the head and face.
The multiple legs came purely by accident. I was sketching where exactly the legs should be placed on the body not erasing any of my previous attempts. I realized it looked kinda neat having multiple legs and found that I had stumbled onto something not seen (to my knowledge) in dragon design before. Woo! A breakthrough!
The other aspect that we pushed for was a return to a prehistoric-ish wild creature. You see, all of the creatures in the Spiderwick universe were reverse evolved from the “big fish” stories that had been told over centuries.
We developed the notion that as storytellers retold the tales of dragons, trolls and goblins, they embellished these beasts to tell a grander tale. So we tried to rewind these creatures back to what their original form may have been like. In the case of the dragon, I removed the wings (commonly seen on European drakes), made the beast smaller (about 9 feet in length), and removed fire-breathing and the ability to speak. We felt that if the dragon was less intelligent and more feral, it would be harder for our clever heroes to conquer.
One thing we did do, though, was embellish the toxicity of the creature. I wanted everything about the Spiderwick dragons to be poisonous - their breath, saliva, blood, claws, teeth, everything. They were Mulgarath’s weapon of mass destruction.
I based this idea on a story I had read about a knight who fought a particularly dangerous dragon and vanquished it. Afterwards, the slain beast’s blood ran into the ground killing all the local farmer’s crops. The idea of environmental impact by a destructive force really resonated with me, and it also fit well into the themes used within the Spiderwick books.
I started to realize it may actually be less about what a dragon looks like, and more about it actions. Really that’s what makes some of those favorite examples I listed earlier so memorable.
You can’t believe how relieved I am that I’ve figured this out. You see, my next chapter book involves a classic well-loved dragon…but more about that next time.
Next: A new take on an old dragon…
October 26th, 2007 at 10:58 pm
I really enjoyed the detailed thought that went into the Spiderwick dragons!
I picked up G is for Gzonk earlier this week and had a lot of fun reading it to my daughter at bed time that night. My husband enjoyed it, too!
October 27th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
Very cool. I love dragons and I enjoy new twists and ideas added to the old beasts.
I’ve said this before but I’ll say it again Tony you are such a good artist! And cool too! Your work is so well done and I am greatly, greatly inspired by it. And thank you for replying to that letter I sent you in 2006. Its so cool that you are a fan of The Dark Crystal! Thats a favourite of mine!
Thanks for the art! It rules!
P.S: I just finshed The Nixie’s Song today! It was great and I’ve already made some art inspired by it!
Your fan,
Luke Dickey
October 27th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
I have to say thank’s to both you and mrs. Black. I adore the spiderwick books and Ive recammended them to everyone in my family.
I have to thank you especially, since your blog about dragons has helped my ADV. Illustration book project a great deal. My project was to create a childrens book and so I took a classic french tale of a dragon and adapted it. I was having the hardest time designing an aquatic dragon until I saw the “Arthur Spiderwick’s field guide to the fantastic world around you”. I bought it and immediatly became a fan. Luckly I stumbled onto this page right at the begining of your dragon blog…THanks for the insperation and helping me gain the courage to break out of the stereo typical dragon mold!
fan and fellow illustrator,
Kevin Cannarile
October 31st, 2007 at 11:04 am
I love your idea of “reverse evolution” of the creatures in Spiderwick. I also like to think of what originally started these mythological monsters and like to think that they may have begun as descriptions of actual yet rare animals. There must have been plenty of strange animals that humans encountered as they migrated to new lands. It makes perfect sense that as they passed on what they had seen to others who hadn’t that the descriptions might evolve over time to become very different from the original viewer’s experience.
great series of blog posts by the way!
Your fan,
Ian Ruff
November 30th, 2007 at 3:56 pm
My 2 older girls Maddie and Whitney, and their friends Jane and David found a skull in the woods behind our house the other day while searching feverishly for Spiderwick clues. I have included the link here http://michellewegner.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/11/my-not-so-girly.html
Tell us if you think it is a dragon, or maybe a black Phooka? Thank you for your time.
Michelle Wegner
and 4 of your number one fans.
February 23rd, 2008 at 10:55 am
Lovely Dragons, when is the film coming out?
May 25th, 2008 at 8:10 am
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