Jurassic Pet Shop: concept art & fossil studies

[Mamasaurus]

Meet Gulper the Leedsichthys!  He's a pretty laid back sorta guy, but he needs a very, very, very big fish tank (or small ocean if you have one to spare  ).  You can click on his picture to find out more about him.





Making progress!  I'm excited that things are filling out.  Almost ready to send it to the printers to make a little book!

[Dinoreplicas]

Great concept and art. This project deserves wider attention.

Your critters are realistic with just the right amount of anthropomorphic friendliness.
Hope you're not offended if i say I'm reminded of the work of James Gurney.

[Mamasaurus]

@Strick67: Thank you so much!  I'm honored that you think of James Gurney's amazing work when you see my critters.  He's a huge inspiration for me, and I use a lot of his techniques in my work.   I also watch a lot of Pixar movies like Finding Nemo, and how they stylize their characters while keeping a certain degree of realism.  Thank you for your kind comment, I'm glad you like my little (or big ) critters, I certainly have fun painting them!



And for today's critter, we have little Maya the Juramaia.  Don't be fooled by how calm she is now, because once the sun goes down is when the party starts!  You might not get very much sleep...

Interesting story behind this one.  My computer was totally crapped out at the time, so I actually painted her with real watercolor for the first time in forever.  Since I'm going for a bit of a watercolor look in the other critters, it was interesting to see how real watercolor works and looks like.








Oh yes, the page were I have Dippy vs. Ball posted for free on the site?  I finally figured out that there was no way to comment on the page!  I fixed that now.  If you would be so kind to take a few moments to pick it apart, I'd be much obliged.   Constructive critique is always appreciated, especially since I'm in the process of fixing it up for an official print version.  Adding new pages, more info, fixing the map...You can click on the two preview pages below to see the free (short!) ebook.

[Neosodon]

Interesting plant page. Prehistoric plants don't get enough attention. Are ginkgoes related to hardwood trees?

[Mamasaurus]

Thank you Neosodon, I'm glad you like it.   I can honestly say I know almost nothing about prehistoric plants.  I have a few books and there are a couple of reliable websites I look to for which plants thrived in certain areas (in this case the Jurassic Morrison formation).  Then I just looked at pictures of modern species to demonstrate how varied they can be in appearance.  If modern species can have such variety, then surely they were quite diverse in their "heyday"

[WarrenJB]

Brilliant Juramaia! I'd say there's not much rust in those watercolours.

Palaeobotany is definitely not my strong suit either. I'm mildly interested, but also incredibly lazy, and waiting for a palaeoblogger to put out a popular book on the subject. Your page whets that interest, especially the bit about colourful cones, and that leads to a question and small suggestion: what do they look like? Are there any jurassic examples, extrapolated from modern relatives? Can one be shown among the variety showcase?

[vmi]

It's been a while since I've posted any new pictures, but I've been really busy behind the scenes.  Pete's Paleo Petshop is now open!  Or the website is anyway, since we can't really have prehistoric critters for pets.   

Here are a few teaser sketches & snapshots, but you can see the full images at Pete's shop. Just click this text.

Click here to see the full versions of these pictures. The site is a bit messy, but I'm working on making it the best I can as fast as I can.  This community's been such a huge help and inspiration as I'm researching for this project.  Thank you so much! 

awesome

[Mamasaurus]

@WarrenJB: Thank you! I'm glad you like little Maya as much as I do. ☺️  I was definitely planning on expanding the information on the plants and animals in Dippy's neighborhood, including examples of the false fruits on some conifers and cycads.  There is a wonderful series of blog posts with plenty of pictures of modern examples.  The plants shown are virtually identical to ancient lineages, so give a hint for the diversity of shape and color that must've existed throughout prehistory. 

Here is the blog post titled "fruit for dinosaurs", but the rest of the series is excellent as well. ☺️

https://hummingdinosaur.wordpress.com/2014/09/21/fruit-for-dinosaurs-botany-for-paleoartists-part-ii/

The series really provides some food for thought on how diverse prehistoric ecosystems must've been.

@vmi: Thank you! I'm glad you like my little critters

[ZoPteryx]

Loving all this!  Keep up the great work! 

[Mamasaurus]

Thank you!

This week's critter is Skittles the Scutellosaurus!  She's one of my favorites in Pete's shop.  I think out of all the critters in the shop so far, she would be the one I take home.   Good size, not too hard to take care of, nice calm temperament.  She'd have to stay outside though...I don't think she can be house trained.  You can click her picture to find out more about her.





Enjoy!

[irimali]

Your book looks amazing!  I have a 3 year old stepdaughter and we read a lot, and honestly i think Jurassic Pet Shop is something we'd read many times. Your dinosaurs have enough character to be engaging without much anthropomorphizing.  Which is good.  It's hard to find educational kids books that strike the right balance.

I had a couple suggestions as far as plants.  If you're looking for reference/ideas:

https://jasonbrougham.com/author/jbrougham/

There's a few articles on here about bennetites with some reconstructions.  Neat group of cycad relatives, some different shapes/growth habits than modern cycads and pretty widespread but sadly underrepresented in paleoart.

http://www.fernsoftheworld.com/

This is a great site for photos of living ferns and clubmosses.  Lots of variety if you have some time to browse.  and one more:

http://www.arkive.org/explore/species?taxonomy=plantae_tracheophyta_coniferopsida_coniferales

Arkive has some great pics of living conifers, especially the araucariaceae and podocarpaceae. 

[Dinoreplicas]

She'd have to stay outside though...I don't think she can be house trained.

Reckon The shop would do well with a range of king-size vivariums.

Lovely depiction of an often overlooked dino.

[WarrenJB]

Here is the blog post titled "fruit for dinosaurs", but the rest of the series is excellent as well. ☺️

https://hummingdinosaur.wordpress.com/2014/09/21/fruit-for-dinosaurs-botany-for-paleoartists-part-ii/

D'oh! I knew about that blog, even had it bookmarked at one time, but it completely slipped my mind. (The perils of trying to find a decent android browser) Thanks for the reminder.

Skittles looks great. Natural pose, colour, and form. Personality looks and sounds good, too.

[BlueKrono]

The Apatosaurus reminds me of Papo's. Intentional?

[Mamasaurus]

Your book looks amazing!  I have a 3 year old stepdaughter and we read a lot, and honestly i think Jurassic Pet Shop is something we'd read many times. Your dinosaurs have enough character to be engaging without much anthropomorphizing.  Which is good.  It's hard to find educational kids books that strike the right balance.

I had a couple suggestions as far as plants.  If you're looking for reference/ideas:

https://jasonbrougham.com/author/jbrougham/

There's a few articles on here about bennetites with some reconstructions.  Neat group of cycad relatives, some different shapes/growth habits than modern cycads and pretty widespread but sadly underrepresented in paleoart.

http://www.fernsoftheworld.com/

This is a great site for photos of living ferns and clubmosses.  Lots of variety if you have some time to browse.  and one more:

http://www.arkive.org/explore/species?taxonomy=plantae_tracheophyta_coniferopsida_coniferales

Arkive has some great pics of living conifers, especially the araucariaceae and podocarpaceae.

Thank you so much! It's good to hear your little girl would like it, I know my 3 kids do!  It's not even finished yet and they will request the "quiet dinosaur story"

Thank you very much for the resources! I've been looking for sites like these for a while, so it's exactly what I've been looking for.  I'm always willing to hear tips, suggestions, or resources.  Whatever I can get my hands on to make sure I get the illustrations as accurate as I can.

She'd have to stay outside though...I don't think she can be house trained.

Reckon The shop would do well with a range of king-size vivariums.

Lovely depiction of an often overlooked dino.

Thank you very much! Lol, I purposely try not to think about the logistics of the shop.  A bit like the sound museum in the Magic School Bus

Everything else is very practical though. Every critter has it's living requirements, and few are labeled as easy to care for.  I have sketches for safety gear, harnesses, and special saddles and carts for various dinos in my sketchbook. All inspired by the equipment used for anything from dogs to giraffes and elephants.  If Jurassic Park did what zoos do every day, I don't think they would have all their problems.  Safety is always a huge priority of course, for the big herbivores just as much as the carnivores.

D'oh! I knew about that blog, even had it bookmarked at one time, but it completely slipped my mind. (The perils of trying to find a decent android browser) Thanks for the reminder.

Skittles looks great. Natural pose, colour, and form. Personality looks and sounds good, too.

Thank you! It really makes a difference to have a little model to look at. I made one out of the white sculptey that never dries out, took a photo of the pose and angle I wanted, then worked from there.  I think that's the biggest reason she has such a nice sense of form.  She's one of my favorites

The Apatosaurus reminds me of Papo's. Intentional?

Actually yes, the Papo apatosaurus was my reference model.  I really like the figure, so it's a bit of a nod to it as well.  But a few details about the character itself has changed a bit, so he needs an update.  That's pretty low on the priority list at the moment, too many other prehistoric critters to draw!

[WarrenJB]

Thank you very much! Lol, I purposely try not to think about the logistics of the shop.  A bit like the sound museum in the Magic School Bus

Heh! Uses the same tech as the TARDIS, or the changing room in Mr. Benn?

Everything else is very practical though. Every critter has it's living requirements, and few are labeled as easy to care for.  I have sketches for safety gear, harnesses, and special saddles and carts for various dinos in my sketchbook. All inspired by the equipment used for anything from dogs to giraffes and elephants.  If Jurassic Park did what zoos do every day, I don't think they would have all their problems.  Safety is always a huge priority of course, for the big herbivores just as much as the carnivores.

That sounds excellent. I'm looking forward to see some of those items.

Thank you! It really makes a difference to have a little model to look at. I made one out of the white sculptey that never dries out, took a photo of the pose and angle I wanted, then worked from there.  I think that's the biggest reason she has such a nice sense of form.  She's one of my favorites

Sounds like James Gurney's method! It's very effective.

[Mamasaurus]

I was pretty busy last week getting ready for my 5 year-old's birthday party.  Not dinosaur-related, unfortunately, since he's been obsessed with ocean critters and a show called Octonauts lately...but I did get to make some coral out of sugary fondant for his cake, and they've been around forever!





Meet Cassie the Castorocauda!  I always like showcasing Mesozoic critters that aren't dinosaurs when I get the chance. She was actually last week's critter (I'll post this week's critter tomorrow).

[Mamasaurus]

Today's Critter of the Week is Ajax the Apatosaurus.  He's had a few updates since the last time I posted him on here.  As always, you can click on the picture to read more about him at Paleopetshop.com.   I looked to the Papo apatosaurus for reference when I drew this.  Those long necks are hard to figure out sometimes!

[Newt]

I don't think I've commented on this before, but I've been reading along for a while. This is really a fantastic project! You've straddled the line between cute-and-kid-friendly on the one hand and accurate-and-up-to-date on the other with aplomb. Your style is charming. I look forward to seeing the completed book, and hopefully being able to buy it for my nieces!

[Paleona]

Skittles is adorable! You're absolutely right in your blog post- just trying to imagine the sheer amount of time that spanned during the age of dinosaurs... and the gap between that time period and us.. it's just incredible and mind boggling, haha.

Your project is turning out to be very sweet~ I agree with you that having a model helps tremendously for posing ideas! (And is something I should utilize more often, haaa) Best of luck with your pages and everything.