Nice Archaeopteryx

[Sumo]

Look, isn't it pretty? No awkwardly stuck on "hands", no lizardy head... *dreamy sigh* I just had to share it! Would you believe it's from the 1930s?

It's from a book called The science of life by Julian Huxley (et al) that I managed to snag at a library auction. Obviously the science in the book is pretty outdated, but there's some fantastic art. This was drawn by someone called L.R. Brightwell who seems to be a general wildlife artist.


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[Tylosaurus]

Yeah very nice indeed, maybe you or someone from this fantastic board should do a repaint of that art and add color to it, give it more life

[Sumo]

Color?! Eep!  Not me then... Though it would be nice to see one in something other than the standard blue-green-brown combo. (I'm currently repainting one of my Bullylands, and it's orange. )

[Gwangi]

That must be one of the better Archeopteryx reproductions I've seen, especially for its age. Looks more like an actual bird (as it should) instead of some strange bird/reptile chimaera.

[Sumo]

Exactly! It's amazing how rare that really is. Did a quick tour of Wikidino, and... yikes.
And the artists who know what they're doing try too hard to show they've got the anatomy right and end up with these super-skinny, peeled looking critters that in no way reflect how a feathered animal looks. (One of my main quibbles with GSP - there really is no need for him to do life restorations, because they look exactly like his skeletals anyway.)

[Gwangi]

Exactly! It's amazing how rare that really is. Did a quick tour of Wikidino, and... yikes.
And the artists who know what they're doing try too hard to show they've got the anatomy right and end up with these super-skinny, peeled looking critters that in no way reflect how a feathered animal looks. (One of my main quibbles with GSP - there really is no need for him to do life restorations, because they look exactly like his skeletals anyway.)

Good point there on GSP. Feathered animals look very different from their counterparts without them and illustrations should reflect that.

I like to show people these two illustrations when discussing this topic. I think a lot of feathered dinosaur artists should pay more attention to modern birds.





As for Archeopteryx, my personal favorite illustration is this one by Peter Schouten.