Your Favorite Artwork(s) of Your Favorite Fossil Species

[Sim]

It's time for number three, Herrerasaurus ischigualastensis!

By Fred Wierum, I love the colouration, anatomy, pose, details...  It reminds me of why I like Herrerasaurus so much.
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I think the artist that did this next one has the same Russian name as with that Rhamphorhynchus from earlier, and the style is the same, so I guess it's by Dmitry Bogdanov again.  I like this piece as the animals it portrays each show a mixture of ancient and advanced - they were early members of their groups but also very modern.  Also the Herrerasaurus is shown as being an effective hunter and is slightly scary due to the way it's standing over its prey and looking at it.  Those things also make it look alive.
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By Sergey Krasovskiy, I like this piece as it's a nice modern restoration of Herrerasaurus.
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By the Field Museum of Natural History, I love this model!  It looks realistic and menacing, as Herrerasaurus would have been.  I like how it has lips but as its mouth opens one can see the dangerous teeth inside.
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By Ashley Patch, I like the natural feeling this artwork gives off.
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By tuomaskoivurinne, this piece shows two Eoraptor hiding from Herrerasaurus, a striking depiction of these two species.
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I couldn't find who this next one is by.  I like how dramatic it is!
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[Gwangi]

I really like Herrerasaurus too and one of my favorite depictions of it is actually from Jurassic World: Evolution.





But if I'm being honest, I'll always be partial to the Herrarasaurus animation from 1992's The Dinosaurs.

[Sim]

Number four, Saurornithoides mongoliensis!

By cisiopurple, I find this sublime!
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By Polihierax, the species represented are, in order, Stenonychosaurus, Saurornithoides, Jinfengopteryx.  I love this reconstruction of Saurornithoides, the feathers, the black snout, the binocular vision, the mouth agape...
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And that's it for Saurornithoides.  Saurornithoides deserves more attention, it was the first troodontid to show what troodontids were like since the only other troodontid at the time was the tooth taxon Troodon.  And it remains one of the best preserved troodontids.  Anyway, since there are so few images of Saurornithoides in this post I'll move onto number five, Styxosaurus snowii!

By ABelov2014, this is a very nice underwater scene although I think it's incorrect to give Styxosaurus lips.
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By Julian Johnson, this is another nice underwater scene.
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By Daniel Eskridge, I like the colouration of this Styxosaurus and how it looks without lips covering its teeth.
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By Gabuded, I love this piece!  I like the colouration of the Styxosaurus, its calm behaviour, and the beauty of the sea and reef.  Styxosaurus's dentition is actually well known and is incorporated accurately in this artwork, something quite rare.
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By PaleoGuy, another nice underwater scene, I particularly like the organisms growing from the seafloor.  And the Styxosaurus of course!
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[Concavenator]

Excellent idea for a thread!

Here are 2 of my favorite dinosaurs, Styracosaurus and Suchomimus.

First, Styracosaurus. There are a lot of good depictions of it. These are some of my favorites:


Art by Olorotitan.

I like the colour scheme and the long keratinized horns.


Art by Julio Lacerda.

Almost looks like a photo!


Art by John Conway.

Very expressive and I love the artistic license of the spikes, even if it's not that likely for derived ceratopsians (yes, I know of Psittacosaurus quills). Still, I love spiky depictions of this genus, (aesthetically) they fit it very well.


Art by Pterosaur-Freak.

Very lovely. I'm a big fan of the long horns and the scutes. Eye-catching colour scheme on the head, and overall it has a certain retro feel to it that's very charming, reminds me of Knight's "Agathaumas".


Art by Steveoc86.

Nice colour scheme and detailing.


Art by Ictonyx

The anatomy is portrayed very nicely and it also has scutes. Interesting pattern on the frill too.

Now, for a more overlooked dinosaur, Suchomimus. It wasn't so easy finding nice depictions of it as it's overshadowed in popularity by Baryonyx (and of course, by Spinosaurus), but these are some of my favorites:


Art by Mario Lanzas.

The colour scheme is fitting considering the ecology of spinosaurids, it has a nice pose and the characteristic long snout and tall neural spines are depicted perfectly.


Art by Adamsaurus02

Nice fishing scene, and very naturalistic depiction. The colour scheme is simple but nice, and it has a surprising detail: it's missing an arm. Theropods, especially big ones, are usually imagined as bloodthirsty lethal monsters by the general public, but they weren't monsters nor bloodthirsty, they were real, living animals no different from today's predators: striving to survive and reproduce. I don't even feel the need to say they're scary by their own too, as an organism's goal is not to be scary, as far as I'm concerned. It's also usually ignored they had very rough lives (Big Al is a prime example) and they suffered, too.


Art by BangBooDoragon

A chunkier depiction, and a lovely, active pose. I always imagine this genus with a green/blue(ish) coloration for some reason, so I think it's fitting. It also has some red along the dorsal part, so it's a brighter colour which might have been likely around the sail and also on the head (especially around the nasal crest, a structure present in spinosaurids and that perhaps is always portrayed too conservatively, probably its main if not only function was display). It captures the elegance of this creature very well.


Art by Adrián Blázquez Riola

A beautiful realistic depiction.


Art by Ictonyx

Captures its look very good. I really like this paleoartist's style.


Art by Jurassic World (??)

It's no secret that I have criticized the Jurassic _ franchise countless times, but credit where credit is due, this is a nice depiction, it doesn't look like a monster and is accurate to the real animal.

[GojiraGuy1954]

Hypuronector limnaios by kepyle2055

[Sim]

I like Styracosaurus and Suchomimus a lot, so I enjoyed going through your post @Concavenator!  I very much like Olorotitan's Styracosaurus and Jurassic World's Suchomimus.  The Jurassic World Suchomimus would be perfect if it lacked the sparse feathers in my opinion.

[Gwangi]

Thanks for the contribution @Concavenator and @GojiraGuy1954 . The best part about this thread is seeing some great paleoart I've never seen before, and I'm happy to see participation growing.

@Sim, the Suchomimus that is actually in the game, Jurassic World: Evolution, does not have feathers.

[HD-man]

Art by Olorotitan.

Atuchin's ceratopsians are some of my favorite ceratopsians. They're so detailed & realistic. I especially love his Torosaurus ( https://www.deviantart.com/olorotitan/art/Thornton-Torosaurus-882963215 ) & Einiosaurus ( https://www.deviantart.com/olorotitan/art/Einiosaurus-procurvicornis-702085658 ).

Art by Jurassic World (??)

You misspelled "Julius T. Csotonyi": https://jurassicworld-evolution.fandom.com/wiki/Suchomimus#Behind_the_scenes

[Concavenator]

H @HD-man Yeah, Atuchin is an outstanding paleoartist. He also designed the Eofauna Diplodocus' colour scheme and it turned out great IMO. 

And I didn't realize the JW Suchomimus was done by Csotonyi! Well, that explains why it turned out so well.

@Sim I agree, those feathers are out of place for a spinosaurid.

[Gwangi]

Today I want to share my favorite depictions of Ceratosaurus, one of my favorite theropods. I've shared a lot of theropods so far so next time I'll pick something different.

I want to go with Ceratosaurus today because I recently got reacquainted with Wayne Barlowe's dinosaur art and his Ceratosaurus piece has been on my mind. So, here it is.



Also picking Ceratosaurus today because this piece by Ashley Patch just came to my attention and I absolutely adore it. Coincidentally, she claims it was inspired by Wayne Barlowe, as well as Charles Knight and Greg Paul.



Honorable mentions for...

Mark Witton


Brian Engh




 

 

[Sim]

Thanks for showing me the JW game's Suchomimus doesn't have feathers, it looks so good!  Regarding the feathers, I just don't find that sparse feathering in selected areas (always the head, arms and sometimes the tail end) believable and it just looks bad to me.  I would love it if David Silva made a BotM or Cyberzoic Suchomimus with the JW version's colouration.

I like the Wayne Barlowe and Mark Witton artworks of Ceratosaurus, they're great!

[Concavenator]

Here's some art of one of my favorite dromaeosaurids, Halszkaraptor escuilliei. I love dromaeosaurids, they're probably my favorite family of dinosaurs, because of how elegant they are and since they are so similar to extant birds, they're, in a way, relatable.


Art by Gabriel Ugueto

Lovely plumage, calm pose and check out those webbed feet! I really like Halszkaraptor because of how unusual and elegant it is and its interesting ecology (especially for a dromaeosaurid). It also differs greatly from the concept the average public have of a "raptor".


Art by Gabriel Ugueto

Another beautiful realistic scene, they look just like a pair of gulls!


Art by Carlos Espinosa

This scene feels "mundane" in the best possible way. And those chicks are very cute.


Art by @jackthevulture

Gorgeous coloration and interesting feathering on the head.

[HD-man]

Today I want to share my favorite depictions of Ceratosaurus, one of my favorite theropods.

All good examples of Ceratosaurus paleoart both old & new I especially like Sibbick's & Chuang's (in reference to old & new, respectively), shrink-wrapping notwithstanding:

I love dromaeosaurids, they're probably my favorite family of dinosaurs, because of how elegant they are and since they are so similar to extant birds, they're, in a way, relatable.

Me too, especially eudromaeosaurs ( http://dinotoyblog.com/forum/index.php?topic=10177.msg316852#msg316852 )! As for Halszkaraptor, Halafax stands out to me artistically: https://www.deviantart.com/avian-king/art/Halafax-720268792

[Concavenator]

H @HD-man That art is lovely too!

Here's some of my favorite art of my favorite dromaeosaurid and 2nd favorite dinosaur, Deinonychus.

First, some depictions by Emily Willoughy. She's one of my favorite paleoartists and certainly my favorite when it comes to illustrations of maniraptorans.











Now, two pieces by Franceso Delrio:





By Julio Lacerda:



And I'm closing with this beautiful illustration by Gabriel Ugueto:

[Grimbeard]

I'm a big fan of both Douglas Henderson and Mark Hallets work.

My favorite Hallet piece is this Dilophosaurus picture


It so perfectly encapsulates Dilphosaur by emphasizing both it large size (in comparison to its contemporial dinosaurs) and its sleek body. Also, this particular scene perfectly combines "scary predator" with "animals that just want to eat and survive. I love expression on both Dilophosarus, no malice, no anger, no joy, no bloodthirst, just that blank, reptilian/birdlike indifference you can see in both crocodiles and Ravens.

My favorite Henderson picture is this one



Henderson is IMO a master in blending prehistoric with their environment, making them appear what they were: part of a large, interconnected ecosystem, not movie monster playing on center stage. This particular piece has such a nice, peaceful athmosphere....while featuring an alert Tyrannosaurus Rex. That particular Tyrannosaurs is such a good depiction, it looks almost as straight from Prehistoric Planet....only that this picture is from 1992.

[Sim]

@Concavenator I enjoyed your Deinonychus post!  I had never seen the first two pieces of artwork before, do you know what the non-Deinonychus animals in them are?

@Grimbeard I very much like the Dilophosaurus artwork you posted, I had never seen it before!  Although the poor Scutellosaurus!  The art makes me look forward to the BotM/Cyberzoic Dilophosaurus even more.

[Concavenator]

@Sim Glad you liked it! 

In the first piece, it looks like some sort of extant bird, I'm not an expert on the matter and I can't identify it, unfortunately... and in the second case, I'm not sure either...it's some sort of feathered theropod. I searched what feathered theropods lived in the Cloverly Formation, and from what I found, there were (Deinonychus aside) Microvenator and an indeterminate ornithomimid. And in any case the animal looks like a juvenile, so there are 3 options. She didn't specify what species it was. But looking at it I wouldn't say that's an oviraptorid nor an ornithomimid, I would lean towards it being a young Deinonychus (agonistic behaviour?).

[ceratopsian]

I like that first piece by Emily Willoughby very much, @Concavenator.  It looks as though the extant bird (?) top right has provided the template for the integumentary colours of the Deinonychus left.  I don't recognise it.  A knowledgeable member of my local birding group judged that it looked like a bunting - though not a UK bunting.  It's not a million miles from the American bunting, the White-Throated Sparrow.  But maybe someone else on the forum might recognise it?

This reminds me that I really ought to get her new book!

@Sim Glad you liked it! 

In the first piece, it looks like some sort of extant bird, I'm not an expert on the matter and I can't identify it, unfortunately... and in the second case, I'm not sure either...it's some sort of feathered theropod. I searched what feathered theropods lived in the Cloverly Formation, and from what I found, there were (Deinonychus aside) Microvenator and an indeterminate ornithomimid. And in any case the animal looks like a juvenile, so there are 3 options. She didn't specify what species it was. But looking at it I wouldn't say that's an oviraptorid nor an ornithomimid, I would lean towards it being a young Deinonychus (agonistic behaviour?).

[Sim]

It's time for my number six, Buitreraptor gonzalezorum!

By Nobu Tamura, I like the way it's feathered here.
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By Hyrotrioskjan, I love the calmness and wonder of this sunrise and the Buitreraptor being a part of it.
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By ChrisMasna, a nice scene.
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By Lucas-Attwell, I love how the animals, plants and water are rendered here!
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By ZEGH8578, I find this piece striking.
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By Eurwentala, another striking piece.
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By LeccathuFurvicael, this is excellent!
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By Green-Mamba, this is just a very nice restoration of Buitreraptor.
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By Mike Keesey, it's a lovely scene and it's interesting to see a fossil species using the same behaviour an extant animal uses (in this case the black heron).
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By Oddity-1991, a very nice piece.
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By Gabriel N. U., all is great in this piece.
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I don't know who this next one is by, it's very nice and the Buitreraptor looks cute.
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[irimali]

I want to add this beautiful painting of ceratosaurus by Marco A. Pineda-bioimagen on deviantart.



Not sure how to share the full size image from deviantart but here's a link:

https://www.deviantart.com/bioimagen/art/Winter-morning-2002-169762024