tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107291904794625632.post1915369356562726638..comments2023-10-29T06:50:22.166-04:00Comments on Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs: Vintage Dinosaur Art: The DinosaursUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107291904794625632.post-2187507400369752692017-08-19T18:17:12.933-04:002017-08-19T18:17:12.933-04:00William Stout is also a good entry point for Art N...William Stout is also a good entry point for Art Nouveau - his lettering and borders are very reminiscent of the Paris undeground signs, while some of his simpler drawings have something of Alphons Mucha's posters. Preiss/Stout's "The Dinosaurs" blew me away as a child, confirming everything that was vital and important about dinosaurs and got me into Art Nouveau at the same time.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04619970680344261645noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107291904794625632.post-22392321422073229642016-01-08T05:55:36.109-05:002016-01-08T05:55:36.109-05:00Hey, he is a comic book illustrator by trade and b...Hey, he is a comic book illustrator by trade and boy does he do a great job!<br />Ged Daviehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13253538144181233799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107291904794625632.post-12667328310682262512016-01-08T05:54:58.534-05:002016-01-08T05:54:58.534-05:00William Stout - we love ya!William Stout - we love ya!Ged Daviehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13253538144181233799noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107291904794625632.post-90098938989515990302013-02-27T08:30:36.164-05:002013-02-27T08:30:36.164-05:00Thanks for dropping by Bill, and leaving such a hi...Thanks for dropping by Bill, and leaving such a highly informative and interesting comment. Like I said in the post, it's clear that you were doing the work, and the book is highly praiseworthy for the innovation (I really can't say that word enough!) and well-placed chutzpah on display.Marc Vincenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01894846069567096349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107291904794625632.post-25873785796888692602013-02-23T14:01:22.846-05:002013-02-23T14:01:22.846-05:00Hi Mark,
I think you've given a pretty fair as...Hi Mark,<br />I think you've given a pretty fair assessment of my work in The New Dinosaurs (published in 2000). Your valid concerns seem primarily focused on the center core of The New Dinosaurs, which is my original 1981 book The Dinosaurs–A Fantastic New View of a Lost Era (for The New Dinosaurs, I expanded my 1981 book with 32 new pages of pictures and text; 16 up front, 16 in the back of the book). <br /><br />The research for the book took about a year and a half (although I had been studying dinosaurs years prior pretty intensely from the moment Don Glut asked me to contribute to the updated version of his book, The Dinosaur Dictionary) with part of that spent in Europe (I tried to meet Burian in Prague but he was on vacation); the art was produced in a VERY concentrated nine months. New discoveries were being made (particularly in dinosaur anatomy and musculature) while I was creating the art. While trying to incorporate as much of what was being found as possible, that meant that my book is full of anatomical inconsistencies with some animals more accurate than others. I was the beneficiary of huge breakthroughs in paleobotany at the time as well (made possible by the study of prehistoric pollen), so many of the plants depicted were hitherto unknown in previous reconstructions.<br /><br />I've learned a lot since then (which I hope is obvious, especially to the museum goers who experience my mural work) and, thanks to the annual SVP meetings, my education is ongoing. Note my own revision of the book cover's Parasaurolophus above and compare it to the (very skeletal) vision of the same animal on the first edition's cover.<br /><br />I'd love to redo "Brothers and Sisters" now that we have quite a few representatives of tyrannosaur growth patterns (I gave all of these youngsters small adult heads rather than their differently formed juvenile heads).<br /><br />I consider the art in the 1981 version of my book to be hit and miss --- but, nevertheless, it was the best I could do at the time, knowing what I did back then. More than the pictures, I am proudest of the ideas I put forth in that book (my goal was to have an idea within every picture --- not just a portrait of the animal, something I wish I had done with my subsequent book, Dinosaur Discoveries), plus my accumulated presentation of what was going on in the paleontological world that was not reaching the public except in dribs and drabs, here and there. My desire was to collect all of these new and changing views of dinosaurs into one source for public consumption.<br /><br />The illustrations also reflect my passion for my artistic heroes from the Golden Age of Illustration. As Niroot pointed out, the dying Triceratops picture is an homage to Harry Clarke. Other influences throughout the book include N. C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, Arthur Rackham, Edmund Dulac, Alphonse Mucha, Edward Detmold, Franklin Booth, Hokusai, Frank Frazetta, Jean "Moebius" Giraud, Charles R. Knight (of course), Zdenek Burian, Maxfield Parrish, William Heath Robinson, Abbott Thayer, Frederic Remington, Anton Seder, Antoine Louis Barye, John Bauer and Thomas Moran. I used all of these influences and worked in different styles throughout the book because I feared my reading audience might get bored with just one style over the course of the entire book (or that I might get bored repeating the same style over and over). Eventually, because of the book's deadline, I ran out of time and just had to create pictures in rapid succession; no time left for aping other artists' styles. What happened as a result took me by surprise. From that last concentrated output, my own style emerged.Billhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12175176789551383392noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107291904794625632.post-57943604439099313792013-02-19T14:51:24.566-05:002013-02-19T14:51:24.566-05:00This was one of my favorite books growing up. In r...This was one of my favorite books growing up. In retrospect the dinos are a bit, well, svelte. But some of it is really gorgeous. In particular I love his more formal elements. Like the background circle/vignette in the first illustration. I also remember being impressed by an illustration of a small herbivorous dino in the style of a Japanese watercolor. I'll have to dig this book out again.Shannon Hubbellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09763626848286090167noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107291904794625632.post-30354144554994642862013-02-18T23:25:40.518-05:002013-02-18T23:25:40.518-05:00@Marc Vincent
Many thanks for taking my suggestio...@Marc Vincent<br /><br />Many thanks for taking my suggestion!<br /><br />BTW, you know what would be REALLY cool? If Stout's "The New Dinosaurs" was remade by Steve White the way Watson/Zallinger's "Giant Golden Book of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Reptiles" was remade by Bakker/Rey.Hadiazhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10805346627826158173noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107291904794625632.post-58940019657492235762013-02-18T17:46:35.031-05:002013-02-18T17:46:35.031-05:00My biggest pre Greg Paul influence for paleo art, ...My biggest pre Greg Paul influence for paleo art, and certainly one of my biggest influences art wise. Certainly in a completely different league to Paul as well.<br /><br />If you get the chance check out Bill's more recent work, including some quite amazing museum murals. http://books.google.com.au/books/about/William_Stout.html?id=r8CzNwAACAAJ&redir_esc=y<br />He's moved with the times and while he has a flair for the fanciful, he strives for accuracy too.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107291904794625632.post-40835747640329460452013-02-18T16:24:16.536-05:002013-02-18T16:24:16.536-05:00I will be the first to admit that I am a complete ...I will be the first to admit that I am a complete William Stout fanboy. I have bought many a comic book simply because William Stout drew the cover. I personally like the "gnarled" style he brings to his illustrations,especially present in his ink and water color paintings. That having been said,I think Stout draws better monsters than he does dinosaurs.Don't get me wrong,I think his dinosaurs a great,but in the same way I think E.C. Comics artists like Wally Wood and Al Williamson are great-they are both rich and detailed, but sometimes a bit removed from what is thought of as 'realistic".Stout has an exciting, graphic style that puts me in mind of early Heavy Metal magazine, and I can fully concede that that style seems to come first,while attention to science and anatomy seems to be more of an after thought. William Stouts dinosaurs are,in my opinion, best appreciated when they are doing battle with Tarzan or King Kong. Not exactly textbook material,but still an awful lot of fun.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06564763609301961567noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107291904794625632.post-46564564997034986132013-02-18T13:41:58.319-05:002013-02-18T13:41:58.319-05:00Also, I want to add that I think this is a thoroug...Also, I want to add that I think this is a thoroughly fair assessment of Stout's work. I found myself looking afresh at the gnarly emaciated animals and recognising them thus when I had easily overlooked that aspect hitherto, simply because I had been so excited to discover a palaeo artist whose influences and affinities were close to mine. I knew of no other (in the palaeo world) who drew so strongly from Golden Age illustration.Nateehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15869685234493116483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107291904794625632.post-68317457972997202942013-02-18T13:36:40.331-05:002013-02-18T13:36:40.331-05:00I probably should've asked you again about tha...I probably should've asked you again about that...Marc Vincenthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01894846069567096349noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107291904794625632.post-23784953219782188062013-02-18T13:30:32.690-05:002013-02-18T13:30:32.690-05:00I want to observe again, as an illustration nerd a...I want to observe again, as an illustration nerd as much as a palaeo one, that the wonderful dying Triceratops is a wonderful nod towards Harry Clarke.<br /><br /> Nateehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15869685234493116483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9107291904794625632.post-82270885582520667552013-02-18T13:22:23.282-05:002013-02-18T13:22:23.282-05:00This book has been a huge influence on me and my a...This book has been a huge influence on me and my art - I would love to get my hands on a copy of the re-issue with the new artwork.alaskanimehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08299289638870579061noreply@blogger.com