Yet another dino fanatic here!

[Enzo_man]

Hello everyone!

My name is Dallas and thanks to Halichoeres for leading me to this site.  I have been having a blast on it so far and I've no doubt I'll continue to do so!

So I've just been accepted into UVA's Chemical Engineering program but my passion, of course, is dinosaurs.  Ever since I was tiny I loved them and dreamed of becoming a paleontologist (probably like everyone else here!).  I guess life changes plans but dinosaurs are still enjoyed.  So instead of collecting fossils, I've started collecting figures and replicas recently.  I always had dinosaur toys growing up but now it's more figures with the highest detail and accuracy I can find.

My other passion is drawing, which I've been doing since I was 3 years old.  29 years later, I still do, though lately it's a lot a machines and robots.  That was thanks to an animatronic dinosaur exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History when I was probably 5 or 6.  At the end of the exhibit there was a dimetrodon robot with the "skin" removed so everyone could see the inner machinery.  I was hooked and on the way home I drew my first robot dinosaur

For anyone interested, I have a gallery on Deviant Art:  http://enzo-man.deviantart.com/gallery/  There are no dinos; all drawing are concepts for a book I've been working on (which happens to be another passion).  Perhaps I'll see about getting some of my dino drawings, new and old, up soon.

I look forward to becoming more active in the forums here and getting to know everyone!

[Jose S.M.]

I checked your artwork and it's really good and interesting   even more because it's part of a bigger project of yours so it's intriguing.  I hope we can get to see those  Dino drawings! 

[Enzo_man]

I checked your artwork and it's really good and interesting   even more because it's part of a bigger project of yours so it's intriguing.  I hope we can get to see those  Dino drawings!

Thanks . I've been trying to collect some of my Dino-drawing to upload.

[Mamasaurus]

Welcome to the forum! 

I'm writing and illustrating a book as well, so I love learning about the projects of fellow writers. We've got to cheer each other on! what is your book about? From the look of your DA gallery, it looks like a pretty cool concept. I'm not much into robots, personally, but I'm willing to experiment with new genres of the story and characters are intriguing

[Enzo_man]

Welcome to the forum! 

I'm writing and illustrating a book as well, so I love learning about the projects of fellow writers. We've got to cheer each other on! what is your book about? From the look of your DA gallery, it looks like a pretty cool concept. I'm not much into robots, personally, but I'm willing to experiment with new genres of the story and characters are intriguing

Thanks!  The book is a sci-fi/fantasy that I'm using the Christian time-line as a jumping-off point and taking it to a whole new level with a world before the one in the Genesis account.  I'm taking LOTS of artistic liberties with that account by adding in elements of other religions' origins stories. I'm trying to push myself out of my comfort-zone because I'm used to writing non-fiction papers (such as research/lab reports or documentations) or some fiction based on science (sort of like Raptor Red).  But it isn't going to be about religion though, I doubt I could do that well without becoming preachy in some way!  It's more about the people dealing with the situation(s) they're tossed in.

Being a man of science, I'm trying to keep even the religious aspects grounded, more or less.  I'm thinking along the lines of the multiverse theory in which their world/universe was created by a being from another universe... if that makes sense... and I'm trying to be vague about it because I don't want to make any statements on any world views.

Most of the drawings you saw are part of the world-building- trying to wrap my head around the 10,000+ year timeline!

Okay, I shared.  Your turn; what's your story about   BTW, I love that little drawing of your raptor chickens!  I had a cat that must've thought he was a Smilodon, LOL!  Little guy loved to chase deer in the back yard!

[Mamasaurus]

Thank you! I'm glad you like my little chicken raptors. Your cat is definitely channeling its inner saber tooth 

Your story sounds pretty cool. I think you might like the Nova Science shows about black holes. Supposedly the gravitational pull inside a black hole is so strong that it rips a whole through the fabric of space/time.  Another really cool phenomenon you may be interested is what may happen to our universe in the next several billion years.

The universe has been expanding since the Big Bang, but it's slowing down, and some suppose it'll then be drawn inward into what they call the Big Crunch.  In theory, something like this could've instigated the Big Bang.  It's rather elegant and timeless I think, how the universe could blow up, shrink down, then start all over again. In my opinion, that doesn't exclude the presence of God at all.

My story doesn't handle anything like the cosmos. I'm working on a series of kid's picture books set in Pete's Paleo Petshop, where anyone can meet a prehistoric friend to take home.

The basic idea is to have a book for each major period in Earth's geological history, such as Jurassic, Carboniferous, or Permian.  I'm trying for a style that is accurate, but still cute. It drives me nuts when I look around at all the kids' books on dinosaurs. They're either only science and facts, with all the super long names parents hate repeating for the 50th night in a row...or the book is super cutesy and illustrated by someone who doesn't have a clue what a "T-Rex" or "Brontosaurus" actually looks like.

I plan on a happy medium. A cute story and characters with accurate dinosaurs, so kids are learning without even knowing it. Kids always absorb things better that way. They don't learn much by spouting facts at them.

Here's a link to the site if you want to learn more

[Enzo_man]

That sounds like a really fun concept there, Mama!  I wish you the best of luck with it

Really, it also sounds like a prime idea for a kids show too!

[Mamasaurus]

Thank you! Haha, a tv show would be awesome. I certainly wouldn't say no to that! 

[Derek.McManus]

Welcome!

[Enzo_man]

Welcome!

Thanks

[DinoToyForum]

Welcome, sorry it is so late!

[Jetoar]

Welcome to DTF new friend  .

[Dinomike]

Welcome to the forum! Your art is really cool! Btw, I have the same experience with an animatronic Dimetrodon - but my experience is from Finland. I wonder if the exhibition toured around the world?