Friday, May 10, 2013

The Thecodontosaurus that Didn't

This was originally conceived around this time last year as my entry for Bristol Dinosaur Project's Thecodontosaurus Illustration Competition. Sadly (though perhaps predictably), I failed to make the competition deadline.

Thecodontosaurus (with sphenodont). Sepia ink on Saunders Waterford hot pressed watercolour paper; 150 x 280mm. I've decided that her name is 'Thesis'. Yes.


Details. Unfortunately, this illustration suffers somewhat from reduction, though it seems to withstand considerable enlargement. Opening the images in a new tab is recommended for best viewing.





My many thanks to Jon Tennant of Green Tea and Velociraptors for very kindly supplying me with the Thecodontosaurus paper (Adam M. Yates (2003)) and Dr. Heinrich Mallison of Dinosaurpalaeo for his input during the progress. I still didn't get the tail quite right, and it is on the whole considerably leaner than I would restore it now. Though as I said at the time: 'I felt like quite the grown-up palaeo artist'.

In the event, Fabio Pastori won the first prize in the professional category with his piece. Though it looks curiously as though his was the only entry in the category, judging by the gallery of entrants and winners; but please do correct me if anybody knows otherwise. Still, I should not have minded coming second to him. Ahem.  

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In an attempt to present a little more of my 'serious' palaeoart -- I mean, palaeontography -- to LITC readers, this entry has been re-posted, slightly amended, from Himmapaanensis, with our great Solomon's sanction (if you miss this joke, why then, you haven't been paying attention, for shame). The mercenary part: prints of this illustration are available. Help a fading little Djinn continue producing its meagre magic. I shall be enormously grateful.

N



15 comments:

  1. "In the event, Fabio Pastori won the first prize in the professional category with his piece."

    Too bad you didn't enter, then, b/c you would've won 1st prize for sure.

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    1. That's very kind of you, Herman, thank you. Though I still think Fabio's is the more accomplished piece. Coming second (even by default through being the only other entry) wouldn't have been so bad, if merely for my vile and fragile ego. ;)

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    2. "Though I still think Fabio's is the more accomplished piece. "

      That's crazy talk. While Fabio's piece isn't bad, there are 2 things in particular that make your piece stand out in comparison: 1) Your Thecodontosaurus looks like a basal sauropodomorph (I originally thought that Fabio's Thecodontosaurs were theropods); 2) Your Thecodontosaurus is in the context of its own environment (I can barely see anything behind Fabio's Thecodontosaurs). Besides that, your piece is much more beautifully-drawn, the near-perfect combination of realistic & stylized.

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  2. Beautiful lines and composition. Minor quibble but unfortunately there are compression artefacts along pretty much all of the edges, particularly noticeable around her mouth and hands. Depending on your software, you can usually choose not to compress jpgs, or even save in another format.

    Lastly, I like that your signature is subtle and almost appears to be part of the scene. Is it really just defined by where you didn't draw?

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    1. Thank you, Mark. Ah, yes, I wonder if that might have been the result of my using a watermark software (that's the 'signature' you're referring to, which isn't on the original drawing itself), or indeed it could be the result of the compression; or both. I'm afraid I'm very poorly informed about digital image optimisation. On the other hand, I wonder if it could also just be the pencil lines beneath the ink which I had neglected to erase fully.

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  3. I may have to get a print of this, that I may selfishly pillage the landscapey treasures within. And don't get all charitable with me Natee, or I'll buy two more.

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    1. I may have to feign charitableness, therefore, so that you may make more purchases.

      Thank you so much, Paul. Your opinion always means an immense deal to me.

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  4. Oh my goodness. Wonderful! May I ask a question or two? What size & kind of paper were you working on, and what kind of tools did you use, pencils, some kind of marker, something else?

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    1. Thank you, Diana. The description just beneath the main illustration lists all of those things. ;) I use a very fine Chinese brush to ink in the pencil sketch. The last picture shows this progress stage.

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  5. I had to go ahead and make this my desktop background. Emily's Eosinopteryx had a nice run.

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  6. We don't need no stinking DEADLINES!!!

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    1. I often wish I could tell my publishers that.

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  7. Awesome work! What kind of pen is that?

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    1. Thank you, Ross.

      That isn't a pen, but a brush. A very fine Chinese brush, the left one in this picture.

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