Your Favorite Artwork(s) of Your Favorite Fossil Species

[HD-man]

Disclaimer: I originally posted the following in Games, but then realized it makes more sense here.

Recently, I've been thinking a lot about what my favorite artworks are for certain fossil species, especially my favorite dinos, & why (hence this thread).

For those who don't know, my favorite non-bird dinos are eudromaeosaurs in general b/c they're basically "terrestrial hawks" in terms of ecology/behavior (& thus, both the most awesome & the easiest to imagine as living animals: https://qilong.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/dromaeosaurs-are-terrestrial-hawks/ ) & Deinonychus in particular b/c of how much we know about it. Furthermore, my favorite reconstructions of Deinonychus ecology/behavior are Willoughby's "Deinonychus Prey Restraint" & Bonadonna's 10/2020 NatGeo cover. They go so well together that I feel like they could represent a hawk-like family group w/the smaller, more agile male hunting & the larger, stronger female brooding. I especially love how well the colors/patterns go together despite being by 2 different artists: 1st, the female has the same basic pattern as the male (I.e. Solid-colored back, barred wings), but "darker plumaged and more heavily barred" (which reminds me of goshawks & shikras: https://earthlife.net/grey-goshawks/ ); 2nd, the chick is similarly colored to the male (I.e. Dark brown & white), but w/"vertical[...]stippling and spotting down" its breast (which, again, reminds me of goshawks & shikras: https://roundglasssustain.com/species/hawks ). The more I look at them together, the more I love them together <3

[Gwangi]

Great thread idea! Coelophysis is one of my favorite dinosaurs and one reason for that is because of Douglas Henderson and his many Coelophysis paintings, his are still my favorite depictions of the species. A lot of it comes down to how well Henderson integrates his subjects into his landscapes and is able to suck you into them, but the colors and patterns that he frequently applies to Coelophysis are extremely appealing as well. Naturally, the similarity between his and Safari's Coelophysis hasn't escaped me and so the Safari figure is one of my all-time favorite dinosaur figures.









I like coelophysoids in general and Doug Henderson has art depicting other species as well. Here we have Diloposaurus and Podokesaurus in another of my favorite pieces of his and these are some of my favorite depictions of these animals. Truthfully I'm in love with most the the prehistoric animals that Henderson has painted over the years and it usually boils down to how he uses color and the environment.



When it comes to the dinosaur listed as my favorite in my profile (another coelophysoid) my favorite depictions are this one, by Gabriel Ugueto.


And this one, by Luis V. Rey. A somewhat unusual choice for me because I'm not generally a big fan of his style of work.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

When I was a kid you had to struggle to find good artwork around here.  The library had some but still mostly kids books or dry technical books on the creatures I loved. Encyclopedias were no better really, though the art of Knight was beautiful in them. I knew those weren't right based on the few dinosaur shows and documentaries I caught on tv.   Finding PT magazine at my local comic shop in 93/94' I think really helped me out. There was so much in each issue I hadn't seen before.  William Stout, Douglas Henderson, Bob Eggleton, James Gurney, all were present there and I only wished I could draw that well. Even PT Editor Mike Fredericks did these great sketches of dinosaurs with expressions I loved. I got a chance to tell him so years back.  So here is a sampling of some I love, I'm sure I'm missing a lot.






and of course Allosaurus :

[HD-man]

Great thread idea!

Many thanks for commenting & for the kind words!

I like coelophysoids in general and Doug Henderson has art depicting other species as well. Here we have Diloposaurus and Podokesaurus in another of my favorite pieces of his and these are some of my favorite depictions of these animals. Truthfully I'm in love with most the the prehistoric animals that Henderson has painted over the years and it usually boils down to how he uses color and the environment.

I especially like that one! It reminds me of Henderson's Early Jurassic mural at MOS:

When it comes to the dinosaur listed as my favorite in my profile (another coelophysoid) my favorite depictions are this one, by Gabriel Ugueto.

Very nice & stripy!

[Gwangi]

The early Jurassic painting I posted is actually a mural too, at the Museum of the Earth in NY.

It's kind of disheartening that this thread isn't getting more attention. I'll go ahead and share another. Since the discovery of more material, Deinocheirus has quickly become one of my favorite theropods. A gigantic ornithomimosaur basically adapted to live like a duck. I live within the Atlantic coastal plain, where the natural ecosystems aren't too different from where Deinocheirus would have lived. Marshes, swamps, tidal rivers, mudflats, etc. I'm also an avid birder and kayaker with an affinity for waterfowl and wading birds, so of course I love Deinocherius. While kayaking on water lily covered ponds, or brackish tidal marshes, it's easy for me to envision a Deinocherius wandering by. Being able to realistically envision in animal inhabiting the same ecosystem you live in is a fun fantasy for me.

So here are some of my favorite Deinocherius pieces. And I'll save my absolute favorite for last.

Andrey Atuchin


Damir G. Martin


Mark Witton


And my absolute favorite, this one by Julio Lacerda.


Anyway, when you see the kind of places I visit, you might understand why depictions of Deinocherius appeal to me.

[Psittacoraptor]

I love this piece by John Conway (https://johnconway.art/) for several reasons. I like that the art is stylized and recognizable instead of aiming for pure realism. Troodon works as a stand-in for my favourite type of dinosaur, the small, bird-like feathery ones. Finally, we had a huge magnolia tree in our garden when I was a child, which turned into a mountain of pink and white blooms every spring. So, while it might sound cheesy, this artwork is bit like seeing a piece of my childhood in a Mesozoic setting.

[Papi-Anon]

Setting aside the controversy of the artist, my signature is to this day my favorite depiction of Andrewsarchus (WWB a close second).

Also the CGI model for the allosauruses used in Ballad of Big Al are still my favorite depictions of said genus.

[HD-man]

I thought that art style looked familiar. Eggleton's work is also on the cover of Debus's Dinosaurs in Fantastic Fiction: A Thematic Survey.

1 of my favorite paleoartworks, partly b/c of nostalgia & partly b/c of Gardom/Milner's The Natural History Museum Book of Dinosaurs, which is 1 of my favorite dino books for reasons discussed elsewhere (See #2): https://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=7132.0

The early Jurassic painting I posted is actually a mural too, at the Museum of the Earth in NY.

I heard about that museum when I went to school in Syracuse. Unfortunately, I didn't get to visit

Mark Witton

1 of my favorite paleoartists for reasons discussed elsewhere (See "Good"): https://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=4742.msg233272#msg233272

[HD-man]

Troodon works as a stand-in for my favourite type of dinosaur, the small, bird-like feathery ones.

I'm guessing you're a big fan of Willoughby's artwork If you don't already have it, I recommend getting Drawing and Painting Dinosaurs: Using Art and Science to Bring the Past to Life: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09GRGMVGM

Setting aside the controversy of the artist, my signature is to this day my favorite depiction of Andrewsarchus

No worries, I won't judge. I'm very nostalgic for his Raptors! work: https://babbletrish.blogspot.com/2011/04/so-close-yet-so-far-away-lets-read.html

Also the CGI model for the allosauruses used in Ballad of Big Al are still my favorite depictions of said genus.

If we're talking about A. jimmadseni specifically, then my favorite depiction is probably Atuchin's (although I am nostalgic for the BoBA color scheme): https://www.deviantart.com/olorotitan/art/Allosaurus-jimmadseni-882847324

[Halichoeres]

@Psittacoraptor That's a really nice piece I hadn't seen before! I've heard Conway rail against the tendency in paleoart to have photorealism as its only goal, and that painting is an excellent counterpoint.

@Gwangi I've canoed in some superficially similar environments in Minnesota, and I definitely see the appeal. So much you can see that you miss from the shore. From now on when I'm in a marsh I'm going to imagine it being dredged by Deinocheirus.

I remember that Henderson mural from Museum of the Earth (I lived in Albany for a while and I made a point of visiting while I was there). He's done a lot of interesting underwater work, and the piece that sticks in my mind most is Horseshoe Crab and Crayfish, which also includes some jellies and a Dipteronotus:

You can buy prints here and they're pretty affordable, I might lay out for one https://douglashendersonehi.com/GalleryMain.asp?GalleryID=135475&AKey=4YBGL8XG

[HD-man]

For those who don't know, my favorite non-bird dinos are eudromaeosaurs in general b/c they're basically "terrestrial hawks" in terms of ecology/behavior (& thus, both the most awesome & the easiest to imagine as living animals: https://qilong.wordpress.com/2011/12/19/dromaeosaurs-are-terrestrial-hawks/ ) & Deinonychus in particular b/c of how much we know about it. Furthermore, my favorite reconstructions of Deinonychus ecology/behavior are Willoughby's "Deinonychus Prey Restraint" & Bonadonna's 10/2020 NatGeo cover.

The following reconstructions of Deinonychus ecology/behavior by Skrepnick & Brougham, respectively, deserve honorable mention: For 1, they're from 2 of my favorite non-NHD dino books (Bakker's Raptor Pack & Abramson et al.'s Inside Dinosaurs, respectively); For another, while shrink-wrapped by today's standards, I love Skrepnick's art style ( http://linesandcolors.com/2006/03/22/michael-skrepnick/ ); For yet another, while not as "clear, sharp and detailed" as Skrepnick's art style, I love how Audubon-esque Brougham's is (See "Good": https://www.deviantart.com/jd-man/journal/SD-Good-semi-good-and-bad-dino-sources-3-632615112 ).

[Psittacoraptor]

H @HD-man Yes, I really like Emily Willoughby's work, although I hadn't heard of that book before. Thanks for the link!

@Halichoeres That's a wonderful gallery. The underwater pieces are great, but I'm particularly fond the terrestrial landscapes, like this Lycaenops:


https://douglashendersonehi.com/GalleryMain.asp?GalleryID=135474&AKey=4YBGL8XG

[HD-man]

I had a lot of trouble narrowing down my favorite artworks of Velociraptor. The top 2 by Willoughby & Csotonyi, respectively, are my favorites in terms of ecology/behavior (especially Csotonyi's, which reminds me of famous night paintings: https://drawpaintacademy.com/night-paintings/ ). The bottom 2 by Willoughby & Chuang, respectively, are my favorites in terms of colors/patterns (especially Chuang's, which reminds me of living desert birds: http://www.in-the-desert.com/birds.html ).

[Gwangi]

You had posted a B&W drawing of some Velociraptor perched in a tree but it's gone now, H @HD-man. That was a pretty neat illustration I hadn't seen before. Can't go wrong with Willoughby & Csotonyi for Dromaeosaurs, they're certainly among the best. I'll be contributing to this thread again when I get the chance.

[HD-man]

@Gwangi Sorry about that. I was still in the process of narrowing down my favorite artworks of Velociraptor. I cut the following artworks from my previous post.

By Chuang ( https://www.edelweiss.plus/#sku=1612545157 ):


By Csotonyi ( https://mobile.twitter.com/dinoecosystems/status/1383945210846089222 ):

[Gwangi]

Thanks for reposting it, I've now saved it to my computer. It's an interesting piece, really getting a fledgling baby bird vibe from it.

[HD-man]

Thanks for reposting it, I've now saved it to my computer. It's an interesting piece, really getting a fledgling baby bird vibe from it.

Anytime. I especially like it b/c it reminds me of GSPaul's climbing/perching sinornithosaurs, but better: http://gspauldino.com/PTDromaeo.pdf

[Papi-Anon]

I loved the 2016 Disney Jungle Book remake's take on King Louie being a gigantopithecus due to South Asia being their original stomping grounds. Aside from his more exaggerated size and the more orangutan-like build, I can't think of Giganto these days without first seeing 2016 Louie in my head. You can tell he's in the ponginae family but his design is distinctly different enough from modern orangutans (sheer size notwithstanding).

[HD-man]

I loved the 2016 Disney Jungle Book remake's take on King Louie being a gigantopithecus due to South Asia being their original stomping grounds. Aside from his more exaggerated size and the more orangutan-like build, I can't think of Giganto these days without first seeing 2016 Louie in my head. You can tell he's in the ponginae family but his design is distinctly different enough from modern orangutans (sheer size notwithstanding).

That's an interesting choice I didn't expect. In retrospect, it makes sense. Like Prehistoric Planet, JB 2016 was also produced by Jon Favreau.

[GojiraGuy1954]

Prehistoric Kingdom includes some of my favourite reconstructions of the dinosaurs in the game

Spoiler

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