Greetings readers, and fellow paleo-artists! You might know me from When Pigs Fly Returns, my paleoart/gaming/dinosaur/rambling blog. Craig was kind enough to invite me to partake in this meeting of far-superior-to-my-own minds, and I leapt at the opportunity (Ach! Mein Leapin!). My origins are shadowed in mystery, yet I divulge them only here! I began my paleoart career at a very young age, though what particular age cannot be wrought from the eroding sands of time. I do remember my first drawing pad, and my first drawing on that drawing pad. It was an Ankylosaurus surrounded by palm trees. This is ironic, because ankylosaurs are the most difficult dinosaurs for me to draw these days. I began rampaging through technical literature in college, and my collection of technical papers now fills five large tupperwares (and is ever-growing, thanks to my colleagues). I attended my first SVP conference last year with Scott Elyard and my mind was blown. Although I draw mostly dinosaurs, I am not against restoring other prehistoric critters, including mammals and pterosaurs.
My art philosophy comes down to primary source material. If I can't get good reference material to draw an animal, it's not worth restoring. Furthermore, there must be enough material available to produce a reasonably accurate restoration. So you won't see a Masiakasaurus out of me, but you might get a Carnotaurus. I've always used traditional pencil and ink media, mostly because the computer age has largely passed me by. I once used color pencils to color my drawings, but I've since learned that B&W actually looks better--it doesn't hide my lines. My parents bought me a Wacom Bamboo "Fun" tablet for Christmas, so I've been experimenting with digital media lately (check out my blog for early attempts). I've also developed a nack for pumping out skull restorations, which I really enjoy.
I'll leave you with a few of my pieces. Regular readers to WPF will probably recognize most of them. I look forward to my endeavors with the Art Evolved crew. I might learn a thing or two in the process. I mean, just look at Ville's stuff up there. I think I'm already outclassed! From top to bottom: An Einiosaurus skull draft I'm working on; a Daspletosaurus skull; a Dimorphodon painting (acrylics); a cartoon of a Pachyrhinosaurus taking a mud bath, and; Henodus, a turtle-mimic placodont.
