Trying (and Failing) the Smaugust Art Challenge

Dragons, boredom, and a sketch that went viral.

Aug 11, 2025

Hello friends! 😁

It’s August, which means one thing in the art world: Smaugust. Have you heard of it?

If not, the idea is simple, you draw dragons. 🐉

It’s named after Smaug from The Hobbit. And yes, I loved his design in the movie. That deep, rumbling voice: “I am fire, I am death!” Ugh. Chills.

But here’s the thing… I failed this challenge.

(Any Arrow fans? You know the voice.)

I actually started strong. My plan was to use my Dracopedia books for reference, and for the first few days, I did. But then. like clockwork, by day four, it just… got boring.

Me and monthly art challenges? We don’t mix. I always get super hyped before they start, imagining how awesome it’s going to be. But the second it’s underway, my interest just drains away.

Maybe I should stop forcing myself to follow the calendar and just start drawing whenever I get that spark of hype. 🤔

I did manage to get a few dragons done before I tapped out. And one of those sketches unexpectedly blew up over on Substack Notes. I’ve never had that happen before, not on Notes, anyway. Once on Twitter, years ago, but that’s it. So that was a fun surprise. 😁

The other dragons? They were experiments. I tried ballpoint pen, I tried those new matte graphite pencils I bought recently (still not sure if I like them), and I even gave alcohol markers a go. That last one was inspired by a recent Aaron Blaise stream… but honestly? I’m awful with alcohol markers.

That’s my Smaugust in a nutshell: started with fire, ended with smoke.

But I’m curious, do you like working with markers? Or are you, like me, better off leaving them in the drawer?