The CAW box

Ginger Sketch

2012-02-04T00:45:00.000-08:00

#10oclockart for tonight - Ginger (Zingiber officinale) leaf and flower studies.

Hourly Comic Day #1

2012-02-01T16:55:00.000-08:00

Scott quoted The Merchant of Venice at me - "Tell me where is fancy bred, in the heart or in the head?" My mind went here.

Late-Night Mesozoic Plants

2012-01-28T03:28:00.000-08:00

#10oclockart tonight consists of Zamia furfuracea (in purple) sketches from a live specimen and Zingiber officinale from photographs (in green).

Colored Pachyrhinosaurus

2012-01-26T17:36:00.000-08:00

#10oclockart Trying to move away from the blue and orange color combination. Now I'm into green and purple.

A Pachyrhinosaurus for Scott Elyard - Updated

2012-01-24T17:07:00.000-08:00

#10oclockart Updated drawing progress:

#10oclockart sketch for someone very special - thank you for all your love and encouragement, Scott Elyard. Look for a colored version here soon.

Lambeosaurus lambei Speed Painting

2012-01-23T23:01:00.000-08:00

Hey, it's before 10pm - I suppose this counts as a #10oclockart entry!

According to a pamphlet distributed by the Bureau of Land Management, Lambeosaurus lambei is supposedly known in Alaska from a fossilized partial upper jaw and some teeth. However, after an email discussion with Dr. Anthony Fiorillo of the Dallas Museum of Natural History, it is probably safe to assume that the remains were probably misidentified and, in fact, belong to the more ubiquitous Alaskan hadrosaur, Edmontosaurus.

Thalattosaur Sketches

2012-01-19T02:31:00.000-08:00

Been a hectic and busy few months - with the mid-winter move (in the middle of a huge blizzard I might add) to Homer, AK and getting settled into our new place, as well as the back to back art shows, and getting picked for the ScienceOnline 2012 art competition, I finally have the time and room to do some new artwork.

This is just for fun right now - a head study and color rough of Thalattosaurus, based on Merriam's 1905 drawings of the holotype skull from his book "The Thalattosauria."

"Troodon in the Rushes" - Dinosaurs & Robots Art Show

2011-09-29T20:57:00.000-07:00


Sparrowhawk photo by Bence Mate courtesy of www.hidephotography.com reposted with permission.

How do ideas come to life? A deceptively simple question that has no concrete answer. In my work, inspiration comes in many different forms. It can be the shape of a tree sillouhetted against a setting sun, the way the light plays off the iridescence of the local magpies and ravens, the simple complexity of a fern or horsetail growing in the deep, cool boreal forest, or the flash of a predator's eyes as it stops for a refreshing drink.

When creating something that only exists in one's imagination, it is important to keep at least part of the work grounded in reality. In the case of the painting "Troodon in the Rushes," I spent many hours researching not only the visual aspects of the work - art nouveau styles, iridescent bird feathers, and so on - but also the scientific aspects of paleoecology, paleobotany, and paleobiology.

What was the habitat of Troodon formosus? Where could it be found? The evidence for Troodon in the Alaskan fossil record is scant and scrappy - a few teeth ^{1, 2} and a couple partial braincases ³ are the only testament to their occupation of far northern climes during the Late Cretaceous (between 70 million and 69 million years ago). Thankfully, more complete specimens have turned up in other locations such as Alberta, Canada and even as far south as Wyoming.

This image is certified "GSP-free," meaning
absolutely no Gregory S. Paul reconstructions
or by-products were used at any time in the
creation of this painting.

Reconstructing ancient ecosystems is not just limited to animal life - to create a realistic setting, one must also become aquainted with the flora of a particular locale or geologic epoch. During the Late Cretaceous, ferns and horsetails were very common, filling niches that are claimed by grasses and flowering plants today. Balmier temperatures in Alaska also meant that warm weather trees, such as gingko, proliferated quite nicely under the ancient Midnight Sun ⁴.

I would like to take this time to thank paleontologist Scott Hartman for the use of his skeletal reconstruction (and for taking time out of his busy schedule of being a "Force ghost" on the new Discovery Channel mini-series Dinosaur Revolution to critique my work), as well as Bence Máté and Boglárka Somfalvi of Hide Photography for allowing the sparrowhawk photo above to be used as reference.

REFERENCES:

Aside from the obligatory use of Wikipedia, I also used the following source material:

1. Fiorillo, Anthony R.; Gangloff, Roland A. (2000). "Theropod teeth from the Prince Creek Formation (Cretaceous) of Northern Alaska, with speculations on Arctic dinosaur paleoecology". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 20 (4): 675–682

2. Fiorillo, Anthony R. (2008) "On the Occurrence of Exceptionally Large Teeth of Troodon (Dinosauria: Saurischia) from the Late Cretaceous of Northern Alaska" Palaios volume 23 pp.322-328

3. Fiorillo, Anthony R.; Tykoski, Ronald S.; Currie, Philip J.; McCarthy, Paul J.; Flaig, Peter. (2009) "Description of Two Partial Troodon Braincases from the Prince Creek Formation (Upper Cretaceous), North Slope Alaska". Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 29(1):178-187

4. Knowlton, Frank H.; La Motte, Robert S. (1919) A catalogue of Mesozoic and Cenozoic plants of North America

If you are interested in purchasing prints, visit my DeviantArt page.

"Europasaurus" - Dinosaurs & Robots Art Show

2011-09-29T20:43:00.000-07:00

When someone discusses dinosaurs, they generally refer to enormous lumbering beasts whose very size boggled the imagination. Evolution, however, is capable of some amazing things - especially when it comes to animal populations that, through folly of geography, sea level change, or plate tectonics, become displaced from their formerly wide-open homelands and become stranded on islands or archipelagos. Known as Foster's Rule (or the "island rule") among biologists, formerly small creatures will sometimes become larger (island gigantism), while the bigger animals shrink (insular dwarfism) in response to resource availability, or lack thereof. In modern times, this is evident in the giant Komodo dragons of Indonesia and the pygmy elephants of Borneo - going further back in time, we see the same with the Wrangel Island dwarf mammoths and the giant flightless moa birds of New Zealand.

Rewind the clock all the way back to the Late Jurassic between 155 million and 150 million years ago - much of Europe isn't even a continent yet, and is instead covered by a massive, shallow seaway dotted with island archipelagos. At least one of these islands, near what will one day become Germany, is home to a population of herbivorous dwarf dinosaurs - sauropods, to be precise. It may be hard to imagine that one of the largest creatures that ever walked the planet could come in a pint-sized package as well, but Europasaurus holgeri was just that - a diminutive variety of the usually gigantic Titanisauroform sauropods, a family which includes such bruisers as Brachiosaurus and the newly named Brontomerus. Adult Europasaurus measured approximately 10 to 20 feet long and weighed a mere 1,000-2,000 lbs, where other Titanisauroformes reached lengths of over 40 feet and weighed several tons.

If you are interested in purchasing prints, visit my DeviantArt page.

"A Cold Day Out" - Dinosaurs & Robots Art Show

2011-09-29T18:45:00.000-07:00

As humans, we have all been guilty of prejudicial categorization - for example "creepy" and "crawly" things, like lizards and insects, are objects of scorn and revulsion, not generally synonymous with fine art or decoration. This view was especially true during the Victorian and Edwardian eras, at the close of the 19th century. Then, in 1897, French art nouveau painter M. P. Verneuil released his critically acclaimed design portfolio "L'animal dans la décoration," the pages of which were filled with glorious renderings of creatures that were once seen as disgusting, alongside more traditional "beautiful" animals - bats, bugs, and lizards in perfect harmony with peacocks, parrots, and dolphins. The balanced, graphical style of art nouveau breathed a new life and appreciation into these once reviled creatures and made them attractive to even the most dapper fashionplate of the era.


Albertosaurus lived during the Late Cretaceous era and is known in Alaska from several bones and teeth discovered in the Coville River basin near the North Slope during the 1980s.

Such was the inspiration for this image - dinosaurs, with larger theropods in particular, have been popularized through movies, television, and books as bloodthirsty, snarling beasts or scaly monsters. Few people realize that these magnificent ancient animals, like their avian kin, could have been devoted parents that tended to their young to give them the best possible chance at survival. With this painting of a young Albertosaurus mother and her brood of fluffy chicks, I utilized the principles of art nouveau and combined it with a scene that any Alaskan parent can relate to - taking the kids for a walk on a chilly fall or winter day - to illustrate this point and to cast a different light on these powerful, misunderstood beasts.

If you are interested in purchasing prints, visit my DeviantArt page.

Albertosaurus Update

2011-09-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

Done with the mother - on to the babies! #10oclockart

Albertosaurus

2011-09-16T22:27:00.000-07:00

Troodon is finished and off to the printer - now working on a neglected Albertosaurus painting. #10oclockart

Iridescence

2011-09-12T02:17:00.000-07:00

Troodon painting is almost finished! #10oclockart

Trent Reznor Portrait

2011-08-30T20:40:00.000-07:00

Trying to caricature #trent_reznor feels like nailing Jello to a tree. #10oclockart

Horsetail detail

2011-08-30T02:19:00.000-07:00

I really hope I didn't make them look like Dr. Seuss plants. #10oclockart

Gingkos and Ferns

2011-08-12T22:49:00.000-07:00

Troodon painting progress - getting the foliage hammered out. #10oclockart

Troodon detail

2011-08-02T00:04:00.000-07:00

Whoa. I accidentally a totem in the water. Shh, it's a secret. P.M. #10oclockart

Troodon progress

2011-08-01T20:33:00.000-07:00

Happy with the colors and layout, but wondering about the pose. #10oclockart

Troodon & Gingko

2011-07-28T12:01:00.000-07:00

WIP for an upcoming art show with @coherent_light - #10oclockart

Baby T. rex

2011-07-16T13:15:00.000-07:00

#10oclockart for today - a fluffy T. rex chick! He tow kyoooooot!

Mechanical Dragon 2 - NIN-lectric Boogaloo

2011-07-15T22:49:00.000-07:00

PM #10oclockart - So, my awesome dream last year involved @Trent_Reznor riding a mechanical dragon, battling the TEA Party army. #NineInchNails

Mechanical Dragon

2011-07-15T12:39:00.000-07:00

Late #10oclockart - a mechanical dragon based on an awesome dream I had last year. WIP.

Ceratopsian Walk Cycle

2011-07-15T00:04:00.001-07:00

#10oclockart - A very rough exploratory pencil test for a ceratopsian walk cycle, based on Stefan Thompson and Robert Holmes' paper "Forelimb Stance and Step Cycle for Chasmosaurus irvinesis." (Paper available at http://palaeo-electronica.org) - Click image to embiggen!

Andrew Bird Tribute

2011-07-14T00:12:00.000-07:00

#10oclockart entry - inspired by the lyrics to Andrew Bird's "50 Pieces."

Ghrendali Color Sketch

2011-07-13T00:44:00.000-07:00

PM entry for #10oclockart - a Ghrendali warrior, looking fierce.

Fire-belly Newt

2011-07-12T13:26:00.000-07:00

#10oclockart submission - just a cute little newt :) Speed painting - 45 mins.

Pachyrhinosaurus sketch

2011-07-11T20:21:00.000-07:00

Sketches of a Papo Pachyrhinosaurus toy for #10oclockart. Now with more "derp."

Troodon sketch

2011-07-10T13:08:00.000-07:00

Today's #10oclockart submission - a non-naked troodontid. Who says feathers look stupid on dinosaurs?

2011-07-09T13:49:00.001-07:00

Late entry for #10oclockart - a pissed-off raven, which is what I have been the past few days.

Ghrendali 2011

2011-07-07T01:04:00.000-07:00

Quick sketches of my Ghrendali race. Need to return to this some day...

Parasaurolophus Skull Study

2011-07-07T00:56:00.000-07:00

Drawn from a model skull owned by Zachary Miller during a sketching jam at his house.

Inostrancevia skull study

2011-06-26T17:27:00.000-07:00

Cintiqing it!

2011-06-25T03:46:00.000-07:00

As you may or may not know, I was working as a live-in caretaker for a friend who had hip replacement surgery for the past couple of months, and as payment, received a brand new Cintiq tablet.

Expect more soon!

New blog design!

2011-06-25T02:50:00.000-07:00

What do you all think? :D

Of Paintings and Other Things

2011-06-21T01:56:00.001-07:00

Been working on art for a project at The Dragon's Tales blog called "The XenoPermian," an imagined geological epoch that operates under the assumption the Siberian Traps never had their million-year-long eruption, and as a result, the Permian extinction never happened.

During the Permian era, our planet was dominated by our long-gone ancestors, the reptile-like protomammals - Therapsida. And most dominant among those was undoubtedly the dicynodonts, by force of sheer numbers. As a result, many (but by no means all) of the critters that populate this strange non-time can draw their lineage from these humble beginnings.

Enter the walrodont.

If you would like to see more, visit my DeviantArt page: Here! Or keep checking back on The Dragon's Tales blog for these and other strange creatures created by myself, Zach Miller, and Scott Elyard

My Rant Regarding Gregory S. Paul

2011-04-06T17:40:00.000-07:00

Warning - huge rant behind the cut. Proceed with caution.

Apart from a few comments on other blogs and on my Facebook, I have kept pretty quiet on the matters that have come to the forefront in the past few weeks on the Dinosaur Mailing List regarding Gregory S. Paul and his ultimatum delivered to other artists regarding using his skeletal reconstructions as the basis for their artwork, mainly because of how shocked I have been. I couldn't think of the words to express the intense depths of disappointment, dejection, and disillusionment I have felt after reading what has transpired (archived here). I have recently moved past the "disappointment phase," but I feel I must relate to you, dear reader, the absolute rage I have tried to quiet over the past few weeks regarding this matter.

First and foremost, I am a graphic designer that has the dubious distinction of being from Alaska, and all that entails. Dinosaurs are often thought of by the general populace as "mere fantasy", a trick put here by the devil to mislead us. I have even been informed by certain people that live here that the only dinosaurs they give a damn about are the ones they can put in the gas tank of their pickup trucks. Couple this attitude with the general attitudes towards "the arts" lately, and you can begin to see the depths of how frustrating my position is.

Very little fossil material that is pulled from Alaska remains in the state. More often than not, it is shipped to Texas to be "studied" - which is a nice way of saying that these fossils are locked in a back room and forgotten. Very rarely do we get the opportunity to draw, let alone measure and proportion, fossil material. The local "natural history museum" here in Anchorage isn't accredited and is a complete disaster, with only F-grade casts (or at the most, low B-grade only because of hours of work that myself and my friends put into it with no credit) to work with. The next closest natural history museum in Fairbanks is 300+ miles of hard driving away. The paleontological selection of books at the local libraries and bookstores consists primarily of Greg Paul's books and very little else of scientific merit. This means that, as much as I would love to, I cannot create my own accurate restorations. Even with the internet, I am hard pressed to find the angles I need, or see for myself how the bones relate to one another.

Secondly, we are ALL struggling. All of us. Every last one. Myself, I share a cramped trailer with my equally artistic and dinosaur-loving boyfriend, his cat, our collection of dinosaur books, and jammed in there tighter than tight, all our art supplies. We have so little space, we can't even paint properly - there is barely even room for an easel, and when there is, only one of us can paint at a time, uncomfortably at that.

We have been forced to take on other forms of employment just to make ends meet. And now, the one consistent source of reliable, accurate reconstructions that I can find in this god forsaken place has put his foot down, looking down at people like myself and my boyfriend who, through no fault of our own, are unable to go through the incredible effort that Mr. Paul undoubtedly has for their own research.

All well and good, I suppose, but then came the incredibly callous, infuriating, and bombastic quip "don't do your own reconstructions, but don't use mine either." His reasoning? Because he is the best.

Nothing about this incident has utterly inflamed me more than that statement right there - it implies that nothing any one else can ever do will be half as good as ol' Greg Paul's work, so why bother going through the trouble of researching the material yourself when you can just pay him for his reconstructions.

How am I supposed to react to something like this? I can understand Mr. Paul's frustration at being "ripped off" (which, unfortunately, he has been on more than one occasion), but it's misguided at best, and downright mean at worst to blame his financial troubles on other people who are struggling just to make the rent every month.

It's hard enough to get paid for any kind of art nowadays, let alone dinosaur art. When the average response to your sales pitch is "Well, why should I pay for this when my little nephew is quite the artist himself?", what can you do?

So, my final word on this matter is in the form of the picture below, lovingly named by the wonderful Scott Elyard.

Upyoursaurus, pauli.

Pardon My Dust

2011-01-11T17:23:00.001-08:00

I've moved some of my posts to my long-neglected Livejournal to get ready for using this blog purely as a platform for my artwork. Stay tuned!

2010-08-27T22:54:00.000-07:00

Wow, time to clear out the cobwebs!

Been working on a piece not for any particular reason other than I need to expand my abilities. Too much of my art has been disembodied beings floating on a sea of nothing...no longer! More updates to come...

A Taste of Things to Come

2009-10-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

More on England soon - been sick and busy since I got back...

For now, a teaser JPG of my Amargasaurus that I am working on for the BlogEvolved crew - by the way, THANK YOU everyone for not running me and Scott off with pitchforks at the Blogger's Dinner for our ghastly (read "hilarious") attire. ;)

P. sibiricus - almost done!

2009-02-24T18:21:00.000-08:00

So I have inadvertently posted a complete progression of a piece, from start to finish - something I have rarely done (at least online). Here is the main portion of my Psittacosaurus sibiricus drawing, ready for inking. I wasted too much time to do a digital painting for now, but maybe in the future I could be convinced to do something with it.

Psittacosaurus sibiricus - Even More Progress!

2009-02-17T23:22:00.000-08:00

The angle of some of these scutes is wonky at best - the lighting in my drawing area sucks to say the very least. I'm quite pleased with how this is starting to shape up. Still debating as to whether I have time to go the extra mile and do a digital painting...we'll see.

Psittacosaurus sibiricus - more progress

2009-02-09T11:16:00.001-08:00

Thanks to Scott for helping me with the anatomy. I had made the body a wee bit too long. The legs and feet still need some work, but the angle of the head and body are nailed. I'm working on at least one other Psittacosaur to include with the scene.

I am seeing these creatures more and more as the warthogs of the Cretaceous - knobby, horned skulls, a blunted nose that would probably be suited for digging and rooting behaviors. Definitelly not like the lithe, two-legged P. mongolesis...

Psittacosaurus sibiricus

2009-02-03T20:27:00.000-08:00

What a singularly bizzare creature. I cannot emphasize that enough. It's some bastard child of a turtle, warthog, parrot, and reptile, with some domestic pig thrown into the mix. This is Psittacosaurus sibiricus, without a doubt one of the weirdest ceratopsian ancestors out there.

Yes, folks, not everything in this genus is P. mongoliensis. Not even close. I think just the sheer weird factor inherent in this particular flavor of Psittacosaur should make it pointedly clear that an entire class of dinosaur should not be dictated by ONE subspecies. And really, why should it be? Are we just getting lazy as paleontologists? "It's just another Psittacosaur - put it in the pile with all the others." That's not the line of thinking that got us this far...

Anyway, as you can probably see, I'm having a bit of trouble with the head angle. Practice makes perfect - or insane, as the case may be.

Also, Andrey Atuchin's skull reconstruction, which I have been drawing from - mainly because it's the ONLY one out there. But also, because this is a very talented artist.

Cthulhu MK. II and Psittacosaurus head study

2009-01-29T10:47:00.000-08:00

The scan doesn't do the sketch of Psittacosaurus justice - a lot of the musculature and fine details didn't translate well to digital. Le sigh...this was more of a warm up than anything else...familiarizing myself with my subject matter.

I'm pretty pleased with the way this Cthulhu is turning out, even if it's not _quite_ what I was going for...I guess drawing the personification of chaos and insanity is more difficult than it seems...

Ia! Ia! Cthulhu F'thagn!

2009-01-27T10:25:00.000-08:00

Scott and Zach have had a little "friendly rivalry" going on with their renditions of Cthulhu for the past month or so, and I couldn't help but to join in the fun. Here's my rendition as it sits so far. I've done several sketches, but this is the only one to make me happy. Hopefully it doesn't come across too much like an alien parrot with tentacles.

RULING REPTILES - The Archosauria

2008-10-28T20:05:00.000-07:00

Greetings. A month late, I know, but things are busy in my little corner of the world.

Here you shall see digital representations of the artwork that is up until the 31st at Side Street Espresso in Anchorage, as well as a small blurb about each piece. Please excuse the lack of a truly scientific explaination - I leave that to the REAL brains, Scott and Zack.

Triceratops Horridus. This curious critter was among the last of the great dinosaurs before the K-T extinction, and probably one of the world's most familiar, indeed synonymous with the word "dinosaur" to the average person. A great muscled hulk that seems part parrot, part angry, scaly cow, with a curious array of weaponry and sheilding. Apart from the large bony frill that did well at protecting the herbivore's jugular, Triceratops also sported several hard, bony protrusions called scutes (think crocodile skin), impressions of which have been found in some fossil formations.

Corvus corax. To most people, these are the "pigeons" of Alaska - numerous, brazen, and all too happy to mob you for tasty golden french fries. Some may see them as a nuisance. Some don't even see them at all - just another blip in the background noise of arctic life. As one may guess, I have a different view of these birds. The blood of gods course through the veins of these "simple scavengers" - the Tlingit sensed this and beheld this bird as a force of creation, responsible for the accidental creation of mankind.

They really weren't that far off. While most may scoff at the mystical explaination, consider the scientific one. Birds, such as our black feathered friend here, are decended from a lineage far older and terrifying than ours. From a time when mighty titans strode across a world far different from the one we are familiar with. Their very footsteps shook the earth, and even the mightiest trees would bow to their vast strength.

Tupandactylus imperator. One may call this strange creature "Prince", if only for the fact that this is the pterosaur formerly known as Tapejara imperator. It was previously thought that this was a relative of T. navigans, a shore-dwelling pterosaur made famous by the "Walking with Dinosaurs" BBC series, and T. wellnhoferi. All three sported some interesting headgear, but that was as far as the similarites went. Not much else is known about this royal reptile, other than it had a H-U-U-U-U-U-U-G-E crest on it's noggin. It's purpose is unknown, but one can assume that it was used for display. However, with what effectively equates to a large sail on it's head, it's unlikely to me this strange bird-like creature could actually fly, despite how he's posed in the picture. The big, heavy beak resembled that of a wrinkled hornbill, which is where my color pallete came from.

Cretaceous Taxi - Revision

2008-07-01T13:28:00.000-07:00

Here's the progress so far on my Triceratops piece for the art show. The Alexornis are still a little big, but any smaller and it would be impossible to get any kid of detail work . Anyway, enjoy!

Cretaceous Taxi

2008-06-25T19:11:00.000-07:00

This concept has probably been done before - a gaggle of Alexornis catching a ride on the back of a Triceratops. The Alexornis was a lot smaller than what I have drawn - they were about the size of a small sparrow.

Getting happy with this one. Still not sure what to do about that back foot there...

Triceratops Horridus

2008-04-18T18:20:00.000-07:00

A rough sketch that will be incorporated into the final artwork for the art show in August. One thing I have found in my searching for Triceratops reference is all the art, with a few exceptions, seems so....static...lifeless. I am sure Triceratops did more than just stand around, legs akimbo...I wanted to really bring them to life. I saw after I scanned it that the back left foot isn't cambered correctly, as it seems to have turned into a rear 3/4 shot. This and the other feet will be adjusted accordingly.

Vee-dee-oh

2008-04-16T02:18:00.001-07:00

http://youtube.com/watch?v=_hQm9sLhdbM&feature=related

I don't know why a Triceratops would randomly charge a T. rex, but hey...

Color Roughs

2008-04-10T17:27:00.000-07:00

Some alternative colors for Tupandactylus that I was kicking around before I found the wrinkled hornbill. The first is based off a ground hornbill from Africa (a scrubland/plains bird), while the second is inspired from the Indian/Atlantic yellow-nosed albatross. Both are done in (dying) Prismacolor markers and colored pencil.

Tupandactylus rev 1.5

2008-04-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

I'm being sneaky!

Blogging from work...BAD RAVEN! No shiny....

Anyway, an updated picture of my submission to the art show. At some point I will be uploading my work on the Triceratops I'm doing as well.

I Should Be In Bed By Now...

2008-04-10T01:37:00.000-07:00

But I had a final thought for the night...

Presenting the wrinkled hornbill, an bird with some pretty impressive headgear all his own, slightly reminicent of the Tapejara species...although nothing quite as spectacular as T. imperator.

This "little" guy (slightly larger than your average Alaskan corvid) lives in the rainforests of Indonesia and Malaysia. The coloration is spectacular and I am drooling at the thought of adorning my T. imperator picture with the same splendid hues. However, I get the little voice in my head about how those beautiful colors might not be applicable to what was essentially a scrubland/plains pterosaur (after perusing Mark W.'s Flickr site, I read up on his research - good stuff!)

Still, I think I might tell that voice to get bent, scientific accuracy be damned!

Honestly - how can you say "no" to a pretty face like that?

Tupandactylus

2008-04-08T22:36:00.001-07:00

These are the sketches that I have gotten around to scanning. Two prelims of the strange critter known formerly known as Tapejara imperator, now performing under the name of Tupandactylus, a Brazillian pterosaur from the Early Cretaceous period. The crest on this bugger is amazing, to say the least...one would wonder how such a creature could ever achieve liftoff with such elaborate headgear, let alone keep an even keel with what is essentially an enormous sail on it's noggin.

Most of the (very few) articles available on this particular pterosaur seem to hint at the crest being considerably larger than what I have drawn here, but there seems to be no images to be found of the Tupandactylus/Tapejara imperator skull pulled from the Santana Cretaceous formation in Brazil, which supposedly has faint impressions of the crest imbedded in the strata surrounding the fossil. The anatomy of this sketch will change - I was more getting the feel for how that huge noggin would correspond to the rest of the body - which there also seems to be no pictures of. And I know my damnedable furry art background has gotten in the way of anatomical correctness - the body is too big, I think...pterosaurs routinely had compact, one could say dwarfed, bodies.

I seem to have this problem with drawing OFF the page...here is a sketch of the skull, accompanied by my first attempt to bring this bizzaroid critter to life. I bought a bigger sketchpad, but I have yet to christen it...

And that's all you're getting from me for now...