At some point, I do plan on posting non-Pachyrhinosaurus artwork, really.

Click to brobdinagificate. ( Just some noodling with textures. Sort of a sketchbook raid, really. Still really busy.)

Perfecting _Pachyrhinosaurus_

A year and a half ago, I painted this.

Normally, I don't revisit or do remixes of anything this big or complicated, but there was always something unfinished and rushed about this piece in my mind, and I actually jumped at the chance to rework it.

Since I always save my file history, this is easy (at least at first). Oh, and if you're an artist working digitally, and you aren't doing this, you should. Saving often is great, but saving a new version every time a new change is made is even greater! For example: my current proportions don't favor a standard US Mail Postcard (which should be no bigger than 4.25" x 6.00"), but with layers, I can scale and arrange everything I want included until they do (with an eighth-inch bleed all the way 'round).

First, the difference between a restoration and a reconstruction (in the sense of William Elgin Swinton):

A reconstruction is an impression, model, or re-enactment of a past event formed from the available evidence (Oxford American Dictionary).

For restoration, the definition specifically mentions extinct animals ("a model or drawing representing the supposed form of the extinct animal, ruined building, etc."; ibid.).

I think it's a mistake to assume that because specializations are not present in a given skeleton, general actions like digging or (say) swimming are therefore ruled out. But it's actually fallacious to say that they are: absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

Traits that would positively identify many many animals as diggers or swimmers are often absent (since behavior seldom fossilizes)--yet these are both things many animals can do (and some do rather well--without the need for evident specialization).

For the sake of a good artistic restoration, more than mere knowledge of anatomy is required here; the animal in a successful life reconstruction will be doing something or otherwise have some discernable motivation--this lends verisimilitude and detail and life to the restoration.

A restoration does not have to be a scientific hypothesis; it can posit behavior that is perfectly feasible, but might be specifically untestable. For example, maybe Psittacosaurus didn't dig at all, but how can anyone tell if it didn't? In the case of Pachyrhinosaurus, charging down a hill might not be something it did--but if it was not overtly incapable, then why not add a little dynamism to the image?

This is not, incidentally, a constraint of scientific conservativism; it's a constraint of having a limited understanding of animals in general--or not understanding the point of a life restoration, possibly. It might work for reconstructions that are technically valid but otherwise lifeless, but a good work of art will often go beyond what is overtly displayed in the skeleton of a given critter--and often must, if it is to be memorable at all.

Most of my sources come from skeletal material as well as close examination of other artists' restorations (as well as a liberal amount of reading from the technical literature).



But I also originally wanted to pay homage to the reason why I hold Pachyrhinosaurus in such high regard in the first place. This I did okay with originally, but here's where it all started for me: in 1996, I lived in Washington State, and was experiencing a resurge in interest in paleontology after a lengthy hiatus. When I was younger I had a series of Golden Guide books that I carried everywhere with me. (One was Rocks and Minerals).

And when I came across a 1990 edition of Dinosaurs in the same vein of design and style, I snagged it immediately.

I've lived in numerous places, thanks to my Dad being in the Navy. But Alaska and now Washington didn't yield much when it came to dinosaurs. So this page, in particular, made me do Pachyrhinosaurus:



The new remix finally satisfies me in that respect. In spite of this post's title, I don't think necessarily I've perfected the piece; far from it. But deadlines are deadlines, and eventually the artist absolutely must let it go.

Until, at least, the next time, should another second chance presents itself.

But now to it.

Step one was to erase the body and adjust the pose slightly. This was easy since I try to preserve everything in separate groups of layers in Photoshop.

Step two involved reworking the background extensively. Very little was retained, since I knew this would be printed out large-scale, I wanted the most texture and detail I could get away with.

Monkey-puzzle trees were a must this time around, and I redid every single horsetail, layering thousands of them in as efficiently as possible.

I used personal photo-reference for the trees, from photographs taken when I lived in Washington state; with the main painting on the Cintiq display and a preview file open on Harryhausen (my 5-year-old G4 laptop's display), I was able to paint freehand from the reference without having a printout of it. (Since I don't have a printer, this saves time.)

Quick tip for artists not necessarily new to tablets regarding the Cintiq pen-based display: look at the cursor, much as you might with a regular tablet, rather than where the point of your pen is, and painting and other operations will go much more smoothly. Some artists get frustrated by the change, and I think this must be the reason why. Once you adapt to that, you'll never want to go back.

The trees were also built in several layers: trunks, branches, and leaf-clusters (background clusters and highlighting clusters). For highlights, I made extensive use of the "lock transparency" toggle for the background leaf cluster layer. That way, my highlights would never appear anywhere other than where leaves were painted already.

The new trees now frame the left-hand side of the composition more, giving something for the silhouette of the animal to interact with.

Ground vegetation in the fore- and background were built up in a series of layers, with a shadow for the animal multiplied on top of the background layers (also on its own layer).

For the vegetation, transparency in brushes was used a lot as well. Ninety-percent works for most things that were green. Then I just layered in as many brush strokes as it took to convey greenery.

The new sky is a gradient (as a real sky is).

I don't use filters much, but the green wall in the distance needed some texture, so I faded in some faint layers of monochromatic uniform noise and rebrushed much of it.

The body and head of the animal took on a new color scheme. This time, I favored a model presented by an existing animal: the Okapi. I also redesigned the iris somewhat, making it look more natural. On the rough nose I acheived a more natural texturing in highlights to better emphasise the "pachy" in Pachyrhinosaurus.

The original purpose of the remix was to enable a traveling exhibit that would show in museums in Alaska. My hope is it will be met with much success. But I also finished it in time for a virtual exhibit, located here.

_Brachiosaurus_ the Passable

Good enough! Let's Go!

Some Sort of Scribbly _Pachyrhinosaurus_

I'ven't posted my art lately. I haven't been doing much. But here's a little:



Very busy now. I'll try to put more up later, after I get some stuff done (most primarily, invoicing some work I've done that will actually enable me to go to SVP this year).

Solo Show: the Dinosauria in Eight Parts

The Archosauria will reflect the format of my previous show. To wit:

March–April 2007

Tarbosaurus bataar: an Alarming Reptile Hero

Seen here in it's natural habitat, this has been one of the more popular images up, much to my (rather slight) vexation. The Microraptor was way more work.

First piece up is Tarbosaurus bataar (alarming reptile-hero). As you might guess from it's species name, it's found in Mongolia.

Here's a PDF of the infosheet printed out beneath it. I am offering prints of this critter, both in the letter-size and the 18x24 inch size pictured above (with foamcore mount and shrinkwrapping it's $70.00)--the larger print excludes all the text in the letter-sized print.



Haliaeetus leucocephalus and the Avian Connection


Haliaeetus leucocephalus: the American Bald Eagle.

Here's the PDF of the infosheet beneath it.).



Psittacosaurus mongoliensis


Psittacosaurus mongoliensis.

Here's the PDF of the infosheet beneath it.




Tyrannosaurus rex


Tyrannosaurus rex.

Here's the PDF of the infosheet beneath it.




Elliot's Cold-Crested Reptile


Cryolophosaurus ellioti.

Here's the PDF of the infosheet beneath it.




Ankylosaurus: He's the Biggest One


The Ankylosaurus is a big one.

As you can see, this is a pretty big piece. Roughly three feet high by eight feet long, it's the largest piece in the room (allowing it to be mounted on three pieces of foamcore was a cost consideration: it would have been too cost prohibitive for me to mount it as a single piece, and would have posed problems in transportation).

Here's the PDF of the infosheet beside it.





Edmontosaurus: Pretty Boring, All Told


Edmontosaurus sp.

Two drawings from life, of the same skull, different angles (section and elevation). Not much to say about Edmontosaurus. Like it's genus name, Edmontosaurus is a pretty boring vegetarian. While I'm not opposed to naming dinosaurs after the regions wherein they were found, I think exciting finds should be given exciting names. Not this one though. Edmontosaurus is as unexciting an animal as it gets.

So why did I draw it twice? What a good question! I shan't answer it, however, as I prefer to savor the mystery.

Here's the PDF of the infosheet beside them.




Edmontosaurus sp. again.




A Bi-Wing Foamcore and Gatorboard Flyer



Microraptor gui

Every exhibit needs a big piece to close on, something designed to impress. The Microraptor, for me, is that piece. At 1.84:1 scale, it clocks in with a five-foot wingspan.



PDFs of the infosheets: first, second, and last.



This is an unique piece that was very hard to make, and, since I really really need a car, it's $3000. (Composed of foamcore, gatorboard, and laminated 36# bond applied with ATG tape, hung with beading wire for support, available for pickup after the show is over 13 April 2007.)










(This post was migrated from the old Drupal-based blog to Blogspot on 17 January 2008.)

_Tyrannosaurus_ galorosmorgasboard...

The chief reason to draw Tyrannosaurs well is to show them being stomped all over by Pachyrhinosaurus.

But first, I must get to the point where I'm doing them well. Here's a smattering of the better ones I've done:




(16 Oct 2007)



(Interestingly, the above image was nicked by a local tabloid without asking for permission. I do give permission, but I also ask that one asks before snagging my stuff and running with it. And I do respond favorably to offers of money.)


Jacky Lantern:
No explanation needed, I hope.


(30 Oct 2007)

Just a random, unfinished sketch:


(9 Oct 2007)


Though this came out a bit weird, I kinda like it:

(Drawn with purplish ink and lots and lots of little lines, 10 Feb 2006.)

Huh. Looks a bit on the Brian Froud side of things to my mind.

*snap!* Chamberlain rex!

I've never seen a purple T. rex ... until I drew one in purple ink, no sketching, no pencil underneath, no white-out, no erasing, and no chance I could have started the damned animal somewhere on the page so I could fit the rest of it on the same page. (Purplish ink, 10 February 2006).

Astute viewers will note the feathers.

Yes, feathers on all the rexes! Why? Two words: phylogenetic bracketing.

Gif for you, because it was smaller than the JPEG, and better-looking.





Relocated from the old blog 26 January 2008

_Spinosaurus aegypticus_

Relocated from the old blog 26 January 2008

_Pachyrhinosaurus_ 2007

Click on either or both images below to see 'em larger.




Swan Song for the Pachyrhinosaurus Mural at the 2007 Alaska State Fair:
Monday was the last day of the fair. Which means there's precious little time remaining to see the mural I designed and painted in the farm exhibits barn (the vast green building on the fairgrounds). So little, in fact, that you missed your chance:




I don't know why crap is piled in front of the painting. Perhaps it's another artistic statement, something along the lines of, "I don't know where to store my crap, so dumping out in public is as good a place as any."

Not referring here to the picnic table, which is sort of ideal. Here is a place to eat your lunch: in front of a charging dinosaur. Keen.

I should also mention that the prints also have an information sheet.

Anyway, I didn't do this alone. I mean, I could have, but I'd still be painting it, and probably hating every minute of it. I owe some thanks for the efforts of the following people for helping realise it: Carmen Summerfield, Mindy Nix, Brian Lyons, Raven Amos, and Dennis Denniston.

Thank you all.

For completeness' sake, here's the visual history of these pieces:

After about 20 or so discards and false starts, I finally had a good rough:


Which was color roughed in Photoshop:


This was then projected against the wall for the mural via an LCD projector.

I did rework the rough somewhat, but didn't do much with it:




Relocated from the old blog 26 January 2008
Also featured here.

_Ankylosaurus_

Submitted for your approval:



This may warrant a bit of explanation. Ankylosaurus is based on three partial skeletons, none of which reveal osteoderm patterning (hence the Gamera-like backing on my part), or evidence of spikes (in spite of the fanciful 1964 World's Fair life-sized restoration).

Not as happy as I originally was with the pose. I may rework that a bit.

The end result reminds me of the rust monster. This pleases me out of all proportion.

_Ankylosaurus muchbetterus_:



Now to ink it.

Anky Inky:



Final size: 8.5x14.



Reposted from the old journal 22 January 2008; date of the latest entry used.

_Psittacosaurus mongoliensis_ Drawings

Psittacosaurus mongoliensis; literally, the parrot lizard of Mongolia.


Started the Saturday before 14 May 2005 and finished on that day. Carmine red Sanford pencils on 7.5"x11" sketchbook paper (and a little bit over, as you can see on the tail).


Psittacosaurus mongoliensis dorsal view of the skull. Note that the left side of the skull is missing material.




The second image was begun at the request of ESRC correspondent Paul Riddell (who, unless I misremember, needed visual reference for a Psittacosaurus sculpture he's planning. Why I just didn't send him a digital photograph is beyond me, but this kind of turned out well. Hope I get to see it someday anyhow.) Started and finished 25 June 2005. Carmine red Sanford pencils on 7.5"x11" sketchbook paper.


Moved from the old blog 22 January 2008

_Edmontosaurus sp._ Drawings

2005, at the Alaska Museum of Natural History, 14"x17" sketchbook paper. (Both originals are for sale.)

Relocated from the old blog on 22 January 2008

_Probactrosaurus mongoliensis_

Orthographic views (elevation and section, respectively) drawn 22 July 2005, Alaska Museum of Natural History. (Both from 7.5"x11" sketchbook, carmine red Sanford pencils, all images done, apparently, from a lousy mount. I didn't know at the time, so I don't recommend anyone use these for anything.)

More Probactrosaurus mongoliensis:



Carminy red Sanford color pencil on 14"x17" sketchbook paper.

Relocated from old blog 24 January 2008.