Please Suggest Resources For A Primer On - a) Dinosaur Anatomy & b) Dinosaur Art

[kidrow]

Hi all,

Could you please suggest some resources (books, websites/blogs, Youtube channels etc.) that'll help an absolute noob learn about dinosaur anatomy? Specifically, I'm looking for something that helps explain their skeleton, musculature, how they are different from other animals (i.e. comparative anatomy), how they evolved, adaptations to the environment, differences between the species, & the like. So essentially, what makes a dinosaur a dinosaur.

I've come across Scott Hartman's skeletal drawing site. There is also a channel on Youtube (I've unfortunately forgotten the name) that critiques dinosaur toys & explains features of particular dinosaurs while doing so. So I'm looking for some more in a similar vein.

As for art, are there any resources (books, videos, blogs etc. ), tuned towards adults, that teach drawing/sculpting/painting dinosaurs? I think even tutorials explaining modeling & painting garage kits would also help.

Even if the topic isn't directly related to dinosaurs, any discussion that covers similar techniques would prove useful. So, for instance, tutorials/books for painting reptilian skin, scales, feathers etc., or ones that discuss layering paints for realism, or for drawing/sculpting realistic dragons, reptiles, amphibians etc.

Thanks for your time. Good day, .

[tyrantqueen]

I choose this as my #1 reference. I'm not sure if you have read Prehistoric Times, but Tracy Ford is a regular contributor to the magazine. This book is a compilation of his most up to date articles. It goes over parts of anatomy that many artists make mistakes or struggle with.



This one is good for beginners. I liked how encouraging and enthusiastic the author's tone was. It covers a lot of ground too.

For kit building, Ray Rimell wrote a book specifically for that. But it's out of print and it's dated as well (it covers mostly oop Kaiyodo vinyl kits and doesn't talk about resin very much). Most of this information can be found with the aid of a google search, nowadays.

For inspiration/pretty artwork, I would suggest In the Presence of Dinosaurs, by Larry Felder, but there are many others.

[kidrow]

Many thanks! Those look good. Will need to save up for a while to get them. Especially the 2nd one which is a bit pricey, .

[DinoLord]

Here's a tumblr blog with some nice skeletals and general anatomy references. Greg S. Paul's The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs has a lot of skeletals, though his taxonomy can be a bit odd at times. I would also recommend James Gurney's Color and Light as a reference for general artistic technique.

[EarthboundEiniosaurus]

I believe the YouTube channel you're talking about is Your Dinosaurs are Wrong by the geek group. They certainly do have some very good videos, packed full of information and easy to understand. Hope that helps.

Thanks,

EarthboundEiniosaurus

[HD-man]

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/artists-bring-dinosaurs-back-to-life-15707868/?no-ist

[tyrantqueen]

Here's a tumblr blog with some nice skeletals and general anatomy references. Greg S. Paul's The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs has a lot of skeletals, though his taxonomy can be a bit odd at times. I would also recommend James Gurney's Color and Light as a reference for general artistic technique.

That tumblr link is really useful.

[Newt]

You've gotten some good advice already, but here's a little more from me.

DinoLord mentioned James Gurney's book Color and Light, which is indeed an excellent resource for painting. Mr. Gurney has produced many other works that are helpful to paleoartists. His book Imaginative Realism has some specific advice about reconstructing dinosaurs. He has some videos available for download that I highly recommend. There's also a lot of great free content on his blog and YouTube channel. Links below:

Color and Light
Imaginative Realism
Gurney Journey (daily blog)
Tyrannosaurs: Behind the Art (video download)
How I Paint Dinosaurs (video download)
Australia's Age of Dinosaurs (video download)
YouTube channel

As far as anatomy goes, I'm not aware of any good, modern, accessible book on the subject. You just have to pick it up here and there, by reading papers, looking at skeletal reconstructions, and studying living animals. Two classic works by Alfred Sherwood Romer will give you a good overview of the anatomy of dinosaurs and other extinct reptiles; they're dated but will give you a good foundation:

Vertebrate Body
Vertebrate Paleontology

It would be great if some competent modern artist/scientist would produce an anatomy manual for dino artists, similar to the many such manuals around for humans, horses, and dogs, but so far as I know, none has.

[kidrow]

Apologies for the late response. But a big thank you to all for the fantastic replies.

I believe the YouTube channel you're talking about is Your Dinosaurs are Wrong by the geek group. They certainly do have some very good videos, packed full of information and easy to understand. Hope that helps.

Thanks,

EarthboundEiniosaurus

Yes, thanks! 'Your dinosaurs are wrong' is exactly the one I was referring to, & was having trouble finding. Glad to have re-discovered it, with your help, of course.

You've gotten some good advice already, but here's a little more from me.

DinoLord mentioned James Gurney's book Color and Light, which is indeed an excellent resource for painting. Mr. Gurney has produced many other works that are helpful to paleoartists. His book Imaginative Realism has some specific advice about reconstructing dinosaurs. He has some videos available for download that I highly recommend. There's also a lot of great free content on his blog and YouTube channel. Links below:

Color and Light
Imaginative Realism
Gurney Journey (daily blog)
Tyrannosaurs: Behind the Art (video download)
How I Paint Dinosaurs (video download)
Australia's Age of Dinosaurs (video download)
YouTube channel

As far as anatomy goes, I'm not aware of any good, modern, accessible book on the subject. You just have to pick it up here and there, by reading papers, looking at skeletal reconstructions, and studying living animals. Two classic works by Alfred Sherwood Romer will give you a good overview of the anatomy of dinosaurs and other extinct reptiles; they're dated but will give you a good foundation:

Vertebrate Body
Vertebrate Paleontology

It would be great if some competent modern artist/scientist would produce an anatomy manual for dino artists, similar to the many such manuals around for humans, horses, and dogs, but so far as I know, none has.

Thank you. There is one book by Romer available on openlibrary.org as a free ebook that can be borrowed. So I'll give that a go, for starters.

I was aware of James Gurney's books, but not of those videos. Will check them out.

I've been mulling over getting 'Imaginative Realism' for a while. But I'm not sure if it talks about general principles of nature/anatomy that are useful for artists (such as his 'Color & Light'). It seems more tuned towards setting up & using reference. Is that accurate?

Terryl Whitlatch's latest books - http://www.amazon.com/Principles-Creature-Design-creating-imaginary/dp/162465021X

&

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1933492562/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_dp_ss_1?pf_rd_p=1944687442&pf_rd_s=lpo-top-stripe-1&pf_rd_t=201&pf_rd_i=162465021X&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=1MQGNM9T5CY7V08ZGDJB

- seem more in line with my expectations. Is 'Imaginative Realism' in the same vein? If so, I'd pick that up since it's cheaper. Saving for those Whitlatch books is going to take a while, .

I'm currently learning about animal anatomy primarily from Gottfried Bammes' 'Complete Guide to Drawing Animals'. That is a fantastic resource, & I was hoping there'd be something along similar lines (discussing the form simplification as well as anatomy) for dinosaur art. But I guess one just needs to extrapolate that (mammalian) information & make changes with information gleaned from sites such as Scott Hartman's, to arrive at a more realistic/believable rendition.

Here's a tumblr blog with some nice skeletals and general anatomy references. Greg S. Paul's The Princeton Field Guide to Dinosaurs has a lot of skeletals, though his taxonomy can be a bit odd at times. I would also recommend James Gurney's Color and Light as a reference for general artistic technique.

Thank you! That's a very useful link. Will check that book as well.

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/artists-bring-dinosaurs-back-to-life-15707868/?no-ist

Thanks.

Again, many thanks to all for taking the time. Much appreciated.