Monday, November 30, 2015

The 2015 Dinosaur Gift Guide

The winter solstice rapidly approaches, and the advertising world's constant hum has risen to an insistent howl. If you've got an enthusiast of prehistory in your life and are looking for something special to give them, Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs has you covered. Last year, I posted a three-part guide to independent paleoartists (parts one, two, and three) who all deserve attention and patronage, and whose work would delight fans of paleontology. Since most of those listings are still active, go check them out.

This year, I'm featuring a fresh assortment of individual products, some from paleoart veterans, some from new names. As usual when I do list-y sort of stuff, I'm not pretending to enshrine a definitive List To Rule All Lists. These are cool dinosaur gift ideas that caught my fancy, and I think they have a fair chance of catching other fancies, so let's let the fancy-catching begin.

Ricardo Delgado's "Age of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians"

Ricardo Delgado has returned with a new batch of Mesozoic comics, this time focusing his eye on Cretaceous Egypt. The collected Age of Reptiles: Ancient Egyptians is now available for preorder, with a release date of January 19.

Fred Wierum's "The Amazing Age of Dinosaurs" coloring book

Fred Wierum has been on an impressive paleoart streak this year, with a bunch of great work for #drawdinovember, his tyrannosaur resting in golden light, and a recent stunning tribute to Pixar's The Good Dinosaur. So pick up a copy of his coloring book!

Levi Hastings' "Claws, Spikes, and Dinosaur Stripes" coloring book

Since one totally excellent dinosaur coloring book is never enough, purchase a copy of illustrator Levi Hastings' tribute to mesozoic fauna, Claws, Spikes, and Dinosaur Stripes. More abstracted in style than Wierum's work, it's full of dynamic compositions begging for pigmentation.

John Davies' "Cucumbertops and Other Animals of the Veggiesaur Kingdom"

Even more fanciful than Hastings' work is the charming book by Jon Davies, Cucumbertops and Other Animals of the Veggiesaur Kingdom. Perfect for that vegetarian paleofanatic in your life.

Juan Carlos Alonso and Greg Paul's "Ancient Earth Journal: Early Cretaceous"

None other than Gregory S. Paul has returned to the bookshelves with his illustrations for Juan Carlos Alonso's Ancient Earth Journal: The Early Cretaceous. And if that's not quite enough GSP under the tree, grab one of his "Your Inner Dinosaur" calendars.

R.A. Faller's "Genderfluid Jobaria" illustration, from the "Pride Dinosaurs" series

This year, illustrator and character designer R.A. Faller created a series called "Pride Dinosaurs", celebrating the diversity of human sexuality. They are available on a wide variety of formats at Redbubble, but to just pick one, how about Polyamorous Prosaurolophus on a laptop skin?

Matt Martyniuk's "Ascent of Birds" illustration

Matt Martyniuk runs a Redbubble shop for his PanAves publishing imprint. I especially love the Proto-Birds and "Ascent of Birds" posters.

Brynn Metheny's "Saur" calendar

If your dinosaur-smitten loved one also nurses a serious astronomical obsession, Brynn Metheney's "Saur" calendar will do the trick, featuring a year's worth of astronaut dinosaurs.

Angela Connor's Kaprosuchus with boars illustration, from her "Copy Croc" collection

Angela Connor (ICYMI, read my April 2015 interview with her) has made an adorable set of prehistoric croc mugs, featuring Pakasuchus, Laganosuchus, and Kaprosuchus. They're fun plays on the animals' nicknames: cat-croc, pancake-croc, and boar-croc.

Gareth Monger's "Yi qi Express"

Gareth Monger has a bunch of cool stuff at his Redbubble shop, and my favorite is definitely this toon Yi qi. Hilarious, perfect, would be pretty great on a mug. A WWII bomber art-inspired depiction of a notorious weirdo of a flying dinosaur? What a time to be alive.

The cover of "Mammoth is Mopey," by Jennie and me

Finally, the children's book I published this year with my wife, Jennie, is raising money for the Jurassic Foundation, so half of your Mammoth is Mopey purchase goes to funding the researchers who make all of the delightful depictions of prehistoric life you've seen in this post possible. Every limited edition hardcover order comes with an expanded ebook. You can order them here.

2 comments:

  1. I'd like to see you guys review these books (especially Alonso/GSPaul's).

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you for featuring my book! It means a lot to me. :) I should mention that 50% of each book's profits go directly to the Roy Castle Foundation for lung cancer research.

    ReplyDelete

Trolls get baleted.

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.