Tuesday, May 31, 2011

What's Wrong With Deinonychus?

Hi again everyone, I'm here to tease an upcoming post in my (apparently) ongoing series of trying to shed light on potential anatomical errors that many paleoartists, including myself, have trouble trying to address.

First up let me apologize to Nobu Tamura! I'm sorry I keep using your pictures in these examples (last time it was Hesperornis). But, as an excellent and highly prolific artist, odds are that if I need to find an otherwise perfectly accurate picture that happens to illustrate one obscure feature that I just now realized was inaccurate, you'll probably have one ready for me ;)

So, with that said, above is NT's awesome illustration of a Deinonyhcus antirrhopus flock feeding on carrion. In a day or so I'll have a new post discussing something that shows an aspect of this illustration to be inaccurate. Any guesses?

--Matt Martyniuk

Monday, May 30, 2011

Dinosaur Battle Town


Dinosaur Battle Town from Eddie West on Vimeo.

This amazing little piece of animation by Eddie West was discovered on io9.  They appropriately called it Medieval Dinoriders...

 -

VOTE: As an administer, I am fascinated that there is currently a four-way tie for september's gallery (on right)!  Turtles, armoured fish, aetosaurs, and glyptodons are all tied with 9 votes each.  BE THE DECIDING FACTOR and WRITE HISTORY!!!

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

"The Land Before Time" Production Artwork

Hello, All! I figured this would be of interest to the community:

Over at the Living Lines Library, a number of production drawings and animation cels from Don Bluth's The Land Before Time (1988) were recently posted. Click the links below to check them out!

The Land Before Time (1988) - Production Drawings
The Land Before Time (1988) - Production Cels

And while you're there, don't be afraid to explore the rest of the blog. The site has a rich collection of pencil tests, story boards, concept art, and other artwork from a number of animated films. Good stuff!

Sunday, May 22, 2011

September Poll is up!

On our right sidebar you'll find our potential themes to vote on.

Which will you pick? (You can pick more than one at a time, by the way)

There is a theme, but we admins think it is more fun in this case to make you figure it out ;)

Upcoming Gallery

So this alert is a bit overdue (I have a good excuse... I was kind of getting married).

In case you missed the results of our last poll the Carboniferous won. Meaning...

This July 1st, anything and everything from the Carboniferous period is fair game for its own work of art!

If you're new to the site, we accept any and all artwork submitted that is themed around any of our gallery topics. Just send your submission(s), along with any accompanying text you'd like with them, and the link to your website/blog/online picture gallery to our email artevolved@gmail.com, and we'll post them!

Saturday, May 21, 2011

Evolved Encounter: Craig and Peter

Another installment of the new Encounters feature here on ART Evolved. Bringing you the run ins of our very international crew. With artists spread around the globe - from Alaska to Australia, Italy to Brazil - these sorts of encounters should be rare, yet we challenge all you palaeo-artists (AE members and followers alike) if you should encounter another AE regular be sure to record evidence and send it our way (artevolved@gmail.com).

This week's installment (okay honestly these are not likely to be a weekly event :P ) comes to you (again) from Canada. However unlike our first encounter on the eastern side of the country this one is from the west coast (that is a freaking huge distance... 3/4 the width of the 2nd largest country on Earth!) in British Columbia.


This encounter took place a mere week ago on May. 10th 2010 at the Sunshine Coast of BC between ART Evolved cofounders Craig Dylke and Peter Bond. As you might be able to tell from the suits it wasn't a standard random encounter.


No Peter was there to help Craig out doing a fairly big job...

As Best Human at Craig's wedding (note how Bond skillfully holds our Flora of Honour... a proxy for the Maid of Honour who sadly couldn't make it).


Yeah so this is not a low key typical encounter of ART Evolved people, but we still want to know about and see when members of our community (whether proper blog members or just readers/followers of the site) run into one another. Even if you live in the same city or stumble into one another at a far flung conference, please record it and share it with the rest of the community. We might even have to start keeping score (in that case Peter is currently winning at moment... for the moment :P)

Friday, May 20, 2011

Back to building a 3D dinosaur - research

Our subject in the Field Museum, Chicago.


After a brief hiatus I've managed to post the latest in my occasional series on building a 3D dinosaur over at  Paleo Illustrata. This post outlines the research involved before preparing to model a Triceratops in 3D; some of this will be old hat to may of you but hopefully it will provide pointers to anyone wanting to have a go at creating ancient life reconstructions on the computer. This subject is already being covered by some fine artists and inspiration can be gained by swinging by Angie Rodrigues' brilliant blog where she's modelling an Olorotitan which is setting the standard (gulp!) by which all other 3D modellers might be judged, and also have a gander at thoracosaurus.blogspot.com where Evan Boucher created an animated Thoracosaurus neocesariensis for his masters thesis and is a accomplished piece of reconstruction complete with the methodology.

What differentiates all of these blogs is that there are as many ways of constructing a workflow, methodology and artistic experience and creativity to create 3D reconstructions as there are artists, so hopefully I will be adding to rather than reproducing the work of other workers. As ever, comments very welcome!

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Evolved Encounter: Glendon and Peter

I introduce a new (and fairly indulgent) feature here on ART Evolved - Evolved Encounters: photographic evidence of the rare and elusive meetings between ART Evolved members.  In an effort to promote community and, you know, have a bit of a laugh, Evolved Encounters showcases pictures of when members meet each other.  With artists spread around the globe - from Alaska to Australia, Italy to Brazil - these sorts of encounters will be rare!

Glendon Mellow meets Peter Bond outside the Royal Ontario Museum in Toronto, Canada.
February 2011

Monday, May 16, 2011

POP ART: He-Man riding a Triceratops

By the power of Grayskull, io9 has shown us what real awesome is!  "Masters of the Universe toy art will make a He-Man out of you" gives us 80's toy art showing He-Man on a triceratops, Skeletor on a tyrannosaur, and King Randor on a pterosaur!

Do you remember this from the show?!?

Monday, May 9, 2011

The Best and Worst Dressed Dinosaurs

The wondrous io9 has published a definitive list of the best and worst dressed dinosaurs in pop-cultureClick here to see the full article, with images! 

My personal favorite best dressed dinosaur is:
Rex Ready form Penny Arcade
A Tuxedo is always classy!

One honorable mention who didn't make it onto this list goes out to our own friend Traumador the Tyrannosaur!  That sure is one nice red shirt he's got on.
photo credit: Craig Dylke

Friday, May 6, 2011

Input on a Gorgosaurus please!

Hit another point on my Gorgosaurus where input would be lovely. Scientific and/or artistic feedback are both welcome, positive and/or negative. More views of the best available on Weapon of Mass Imagination.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

The Hadrosaur Gallery

Time to open ART Evolved's newest Time Capsule: May's Hadrosaur Gallery!

Hadrosaurs - or more publicly known as duckbill dinosaurs - have been found in North America, South America, Asia, Europe, and Antarctica. They were the cows of the Cretaceous - large, herding, plant-eating dinosaurs, with mouths full of teeth behind broad beaks!  Hadrosaurs were the most advanced types of ornithopods by the late Cretaceous, having evolved into two different groups: Lambeosaurinae and Hadrosaurinae.

Lambeosaurinae hadrosaurs include the hollow-crested and short-beaked Parasauolophus, Olorotita, and Corythosaurus.  Hadrosaurs in Hadrosaurinae include the larger and broad-beaked Edmontosaurus, Gryposaurus and Saurolophus.  Join us as we celebrate all things Hadrosaurs!  Scroll down to view all the beautiful duckbill artwork.  Click on the images to enlarge them.

If you wish to participate in the gallery and have your artwork displayed here, send your work to us at artevolved@gmail.com.

Welcome to ART Evolved's Hadrosaur Gallery:

Lambeosaurinae

An Airing Atop an Olorotitan by Niroot Puttapipat


Lambeosaurus by Scott Elyard


Downhill by Scott Elyard


 Mountain Lambeosaur by Luis Perez


Corythosaur Crossing by Craig Dylke


Tsintaosaurus by Peter Bond


Two Charonosaurus by Julio Lacerda



Cartoon Parasaurolophus Sketch by Evan Boucher


  Hatsunesaurus Mikuius by Bruce-Earl Barr

gee... that Parasaurolophus looks vary familiar!  I just can’t put my finger on it. Oh well! Hadrosaurs are well known for their “singing” ability so I just had to draw this!


Parasaurolophus in Love by Peter Bond


The Gangsters of Love by Patricia Arnold


Selected Hadrosaur ACEOs by Patricia Arnold


Walk This Way by Santino Mazzei

From the underground we are looking the walk of an adult Hadrosauroid dinosaur with his chick. We can also observe the footprints left from the two animals. Unfortunately, from this point of view we can't determine what kind of species is.

Hadrosaurinae -
Thespesius occidentalis by Matt Martyniuk

A huge bull hadrosaur attempts to frighten off an interloper to his magnolia grove in a Lance Formation forest. The bull is based on specimens usually referred to Anatotitan copei, while the smaller individual is based on the "Trachodon mummy" specimen usually referred to Edmontosaurus/Anatosaurus annectens. The skin texture and inflatable nasal structure are also based on evidence from the "mummy" specimen. All Lancian hadrosaurs are probably growth stages of a
single species, the oldest available name for which is Thespesius occidentalis.


Breaking the Curse II by Albertonykus

The curse of the deinonychosaurs ("raptor" dinosaurs) is this: they are so cool that some people think they can kill anything, or at least any plant-eating dinosaur. We see this in TV programs like Clash of the Dinosaurs and Jurassic Fight Club. I've even seen it in some children's books on dinosaurs. I love deinonychosaurs, too. They are among my favorite dinosaurs, but dinosaurs are real-life animals, not sci-fi monsters. This is especially absurd when we talk about troodonts or basal dromaeosaurids - every inch of their anatomy shows they chased after smaller animals. Troodonts may have even eaten some plants. Eudromaeosaurs (derived dromaeosaurids), including Velociraptor mongoliensis and Deinonychus antirrhopus, may have been able to manage slightly larger prey, especially if they were group hunters, which is debatable. However, this doesn't mean they're going to attack something hundreds of times their size like a half-grown sauropod (giant long-necked plant-eating dinosaur) or a large hadrosaur (duck-billed dinosaur). Yet, there really are media out there that show them doing this, or claim that they're capable of it. No kidding.


Edmontosaurus regalis by Peter Bond


Two Gryposaurs by Ingunn Aasland

This is two Gryposaurus having a bit of a squabble and the medium is ink, pencil, and crayon. I don't recall ever having seen any illustrations of interspecies fighting among hadrosaurs but obviously they did - all animals, even the "harmless" herbivorous prey animals, fight for mating rights, food, or social status.

Bear in mind I'm still just an enthusiastic noob - please, for the love of godzilla, let me know if I make mistakes!



Saurolophus by Peter Bond


Brachylophosaurus by Anthony Contoleon

It's a Brachylophosaurus, based off of a Scott Hartman skeleton reconstruction.  I've also included a few inprogress images too.


Five Hadrosaurs by Mo Hassan

Featuring:
top left: Parasaurolophus walkeri with coloration inspired by the hoopoe (Upupa epops)
bottom left: Corythosaurus casuarius with coloration inspired by the southern cassowary (Casuarius casuarius)
top centre: Lambeosaurus magnicristatus with coloration inspired by the mandarin duck (Aix galericulata)
bottom centre: Olorotitan arharensis with coloration inspired by the roseate spoonbill (Platalea ajaja)
right: Saurolophus osborni with coloration inspired by the secretary bird (Sagittarius serpentarius)
Drawn in colour pencil in July 2008. 


Nipponosaurus sachalinensis by Mo Hassan

A Russian hadrosaur from the island of Sakhalin, patterned in the colours of the Russian flag. Drawn in colour pencil in July 2010.




Lambeosaurus magnicristatus by Mo Hassan

Flame-coloured lambeosaur which will feature in a new book about unusual dinosaurs aimed at ten-year-olds. Drawn in colour pencil in April 2011.


Anasazisaurus horneri by Luis Perez



Aralosaurus tuberiferus by Luis Perez

Brachylophosaurus canadiensis by Luis Perez


Lambeosaurus by Angie Rodrigues



Edmontosaurus by Vasika Udurawane

Edmontosaurus, with a juvenile Byachychampsa alligator in the forground on a dead dinosaur.



That brings us to the end of May's Hadrosaur Gallery!  We hope you like it!  If you want to participate and you are a little late, or you have just run across this post and you want to submit, just send in your art to us at artevolved@gmail.com.



After an intense battle between time periods and paleoenvironments, the topic of the next Time Capsule will be the Carboniferous Time Period!  This gallery opens July 1st, and as it is the summer,  and many of us are on holiday and lounging on the beach, this topic is hopefully an easy one to submit to.  If you want to paint a terrestrial amphibian, paint a terrestrial amphibian.  If you want to sketch a giant fern tree, sketch a fern tree.  If you want to 3D model an arthropod, 3D model an arthropod!

Can't wait to see what the palaeosphere artists come up with this summer!  Send in your Carboniferous art to artevolved@gmail.com.