Bahamut, 'nuff said!

[Alzrius]

I think Nonlethal Force has a good idea. I honestly can't imagine how the specific dragon himself could be made to visually appear more god-like, but his surroundings are another story (make no mistake though, the snowy "top of the world" mountaintop and dark-blue "edge of space" sky are VERY evocative...just not of deific glory).

I'd try and make the background of it be him in his home in Celestia (Heaven), with other dragons, and perhaps celestials and/or humanoid worshippers, around him to bask him his glory. In this case, the way everything seems to revolve around him and augment his natural presence is the tip-off that this isn't any normal metallic dragon. Scaling would likely be very important here, as it should note that he's even larger than other dragons (as opposed to making him seem like a normal-sized dragon, with the other ones being smaller than average compared to him).

That said, I can't draw stick figures on a good day, so the original pic still rocks my socks! It's now my desktop background!

 

[blargney the second]

A few itsy bitsy trees might establish scale fairly well. Wicked picture, Klaus.

 

[reanjr]

I am all ears! Anyone got any tips on making him more god-like?

I think a size reference would be useful. Make it known that he dwarfs dragons.

 

[dragonhead]

I think a size reference would be useful. Make it known that he dwarfs dragons.

i was going to say the same thing. in the tiamat pictures, it shows the other chromatic dragons being so tiny in comparison. also, he should wear a crown


JK on the crown

 

[Asmor]

That is totally awesome. And I agree with you about there not being enough illustrations of Bahamut. Actually, come to think of it, this may be the first I've ever seen!

As far as making him godlike... I dunno. Maybe some sort of glowing nimbus?

 

[Ambrus]

As the original complainant for the lack of really good Bahamut imagery I'd like to offer Klaus my sincerest thanks for this breath of fresh air. It does, in my mind, stand at the forefront of all previous D&D related Bahamut art. Extra kudos for following up with his pledge to produce such an illustration and then offering it freely in large format on the boards. I bow to you good sir.

Better than nearly all art Bahamut has, still not sure if it realy feels "King of all good Dragons" though.

Saying nearly seems a bit odd to me; I'd be very curious to see what Bahamut art you'd consider to be even marginally better than this offering. This, for instance, is the best Bahamut image to date that WotC has published that I can think of:

As far as making him godlike... I dunno. Maybe some sort of glowing nimbus?

I do agree however that the Behemoth could use an extra little 'oomph' to push him into the divine sphere and this was my first thought as well. Show the light of pure goodness radiating from him rather than simply being reflected off his scales. In such a northern clime, and in keeping with his frosty north wind aspect, perhaps some type of aurora borealis or St-Elmo's Fire aura would be appropriate for conveying that other-worldly quality. I'm just tossing out ideas...

Edit: Something else that just came to mind: Bahamut is often described as being accompanied by seven wise great wyrm gold dragon retainers. If I saw a mighty silver-white dragon surrounded by seven subservient gold dragons there wouldn't be any doubt left in my mind who I was looking at.

 

[Klaus]

All good ideas, people! Keep ´em coming!

 

[FireLance]

Seconded or thirded on the glowing nimbus thing, especially if it could subtly suggest, through color or shading, that it is composed of the spirits of metallic dragons of all varieties.

It's still a great piece of artwork, though.

 

[Gold Roger]

Hmm, the biggest and imho best 3.X image for Tiamat is in the full pager in the Complete Divine.

It shows tiamiat in hell, sorrounded by a bunch of, by comparison miniature sized, LE fiends (Including, I think, Asmodeus) with some ritual going on.

Maybe is Bahamut was encircled by some angels and archonst to mirror that would both underline his status and his scale.

 

[hamishspence]

Falazure: maybe the Night Dragon pic from Fighting Fantasy?

If any of you have seen this little gamebook by steve jackson and Ian Livingstone you will know what I mean: hint of black dragon, hint of dracolich, very strong Alien/HR Giger flavour. I think it would make a good Falazure picture.