Pheaston attempts paleoart (UPDATE September 2015: 5 new pieces)

[pheaston]

Thanks.  With the Cerato I was consciously going for a lizard-like appearance.  I drew the head with lips and it reminded a lot of monitor lizards, so I went whole hog and gave the legs a more rotund, bulging appearance, rather than the familiar triangular slab that transitions into the caudofemoralis.  For a 10 minute exploration sketch, I'll probably leave it as is, and change things if I find time to do a more in-depth version.


Meanwhile, today was a sick day, so I got to draw another dino:

Citipati osmolskae


Citipati osmolskae by paul heaston, on Flickr

[pheaston]

A digital painting I've been working on: Ceratosaurus, based on the tiny little pen sketch I did recently.


Ceratosaurus by paul heaston, on Flickr

I somehow fell into a common color scheme trope here.  Will try to firm it up over the next few days.

[Gryphoceratops]

Is that color scheme really that common?  Its quite nice either way!

[Jetoar]

Nice colors for you ceratosaurus. I would like to paint my draws because only one has colors  .

[pheaston]

Nice colors for you ceratosaurus. I would like to paint my draws because only one has colors  .

You should!  Choosing colors is the best part. 

[Weaver]

I agree with Pheaston! Coloring artwork is insanely fun until, you learn color theory. Then it turns into something even more beautiful. I love the rusty red-orange and yellows on that Ceratorsaurus there. That you can keep the texture and blending of traditional media in your digital paintings is fantastic.

[pheaston]

Thanks! 

A couple new sketches:

Apatosaurus tonal sketch in blue watercolor:


Triceratops in the woods (redwoods)

[Jetoar]

Amazin draws again.

[ZoPteryx]

So much detail and shading!

[pheaston]

Thanks guys!

Here's a quick en and ink sketch of Ornithomimus.  A bit late addressing the recent finds, but thought I'd throw my sketch out there.  Ostrichy.

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

lol definitely Ostrichy !   Looks neat though.

Is their evidence for the large arm and tail feathers though ? I'm really hoping to avoid putting those on my Struthiomimus..just so much extra work to redo at this point.

[Patrx]

Nice sketch! it looks just like a long-tailed ostrich

There's solid evidence for wings, but I think the tail fan is speculative (and quite plausible). I suppose - though I could be wrong - that Struthiomimus might yet have been a wingless aberration of sorts, but Ornithomimus definitely had them.

[Gryphoceratops]

Saw this on facebook but I'll say again this is really cool. 

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Nice sketch! it looks just like a long-tailed ostrich

There's solid evidence for wings, but I think the tail fan is speculative (and quite plausible). I suppose - though I could be wrong - that Struthiomimus might yet have been a wingless aberration of sorts, but Ornithomimus definitely had them.

Struthiomimus and Ornithomimus seem to be about as much alike as they are different. To quote " Ornithomimus differs from other ornithomimids, such as Struthiomimus, in having a short back, long slender forearms, very slender, straight hand and foot claws and in having metacarpals and fingers of similar lengths."  I'm not sure any of that would matter to feather growth, types, or placement though. I suppose I can take a little comfort in the fact that my restoration though life size isn't an adult either. So perhaps that excuse the arms and tail from not having such large feathers ?

[pheaston]

Thanks all!  I can't think of any other reason for Ornithomimus to have arm feathers other than display-- sexual display, intimidation, both really.    Since ornithomimids seem so far removed from doing any kind of flying or gliding I just went for full-on decorative, "unzipped" ostrichy feathers.  Without the locked barbules, the feathers get real shaggy and loose, and I thought that would be fun.  Plus their arms are so long, it would make for a great display.  Julio Lacerda and Himmapaan have done both better jobs than I, but I thought I'd try my hand.

[pheaston]

Corythosaurus in pencil, and digitally colored:

[Blade-of-the-Moon]

Awesome! Brings back that feeling of wanting to sculpt a hadrosaur again ..

[dinohunter000]

I actually have a photo of a Corythosaurus mummy that, instead of having the serrated frill as you have drawn, actually has a smooth skin frill running along its spine.  Overall this is a fantastic illustration and I really enjoy the beefy-ness of the animals; more along the lines of the hadrosaur mummies.  If you were interested in the photo just PM me and I'd be happy to help.

[Gryphoceratops]

Awesome job!  I like how beefy it is but its still logical.  (cant stand the literal-style-straight-across-neck look)

I actually have a photo of a Corythosaurus mummy that, instead of having the serrated frill as you have drawn, actually has a smooth skin frill running along its spine.  Overall this is a fantastic illustration and I really enjoy the beefy-ness of the animals; more along the lines of the hadrosaur mummies.  If you were interested in the photo just PM me and I'd be happy to help.

Actually if you don't mind could you just post it on a thread?  I would really like to see it too!

[pheaston]

I actually have a photo of a Corythosaurus mummy that, instead of having the serrated frill as you have drawn, actually has a smooth skin frill running along its spine.  Overall this is a fantastic illustration and I really enjoy the beefy-ness of the animals; more along the lines of the hadrosaur mummies.  If you were interested in the photo just PM me and I'd be happy to help.

Amended the frill.  As I mentioned on DA, once upon a time I knew about the difference between lambeosaurine and hadrosaurine frills but I just punted here and goofed it up.  Always happy to go back and change things to get it right.