Dinosaurs!

For almost two months now I've been employed as a dinosaur expert at Dinosaur Quest here in San Antonio, which has renewed my interest in paleontology, especially drawing dinosaurs.  A long time ago (about fifteen years ago actually) I was a huge dinosaur nut.  I drew dinosaurs constantly, imitating my favorite "paleo-artists" Gregory Paul, Bob Bakker, Doug Henderson, and Mark Hallett.  But as time went on I got interested in other things and stopped drawings dinosaurs.  Then this job happened, and I was looking at dinosaur skeletons all day long.  So for the past month and a half I've been drawing dinos whenever I've had a chance.  Here are some of the better ones.  (And if you're waiting for more urban art, don't worry-- I've done some that I haven't had a chance to scan yet, and I'm also going to Dallas tomorrow with Linda to support her new book that came out yesterday, and I hope to do some urban sketching there, so stay tuned.)


Yangchuanosaurus shangyouensis.  This sketch of one of our dinos at Dinosaur-Quest is actually inspired by our mount of another theropod, Torvosaurus.


Allosaurus (Saurophaganax) maximus.  Whether or not Allosaurus is congeneric (the same genus) with Saurophaganax is still a matter of debate by paleontologists, which I am not.

(detail)

Giganotosaurus carolinii.  I restored the skull looking both at our cast and with consideration of Greg Paul's contention that the skull has been restored too long, especially the lateral temporal fenestra (the hole behind the eye.

Paracaratherium (ok, this guy ain't a dinosaur-- he's a prehistoric rhino-- but we have a skull so I did an illustration.
Velociraptor mongoliensis

Giraffatitan brancai (formerly known as Brachiosaurus brancai)

Allosaurus fragilis subadult (drawn directly from one of our skulls)

Protoceratops andrewsi

Chasmosaurus (also drawn from our mount)

I also have been dabbling with some free hand-drawing animation software I found on the web called Plastic Animation Paper and a Wacom tablet my brother lent me.  I did my first-ever animation the other day, of a small theropod dinosaur run cycle!  Pretty weak, but I'm learning a lot as I go.