Vintage Dinosaur Art: Jim Conaway

Janet Riehecky's series of dinosaur books stretch the "vintage" thing a bit, having been published just about twenty years ago, but I'm not sweating it. I previously wrote about her Tyrannosaurus rex title, illustrated by Diana Magnuson, and ended the post with a teaser for this one: Baryonyx. This one is illustrated by Jim Conaway, a veteran illustrator who mainly has worked in childrens and Christian lit, as well as doing marketing and advertising work.





Like Riehecky's T. rex book, this one is pretty solid, scientifically. It reflects much of what was known about Baryonyx in the late eighties, and seems to have been selected for the dinosaur's piscivorous diet. The conjectures are usually pretty tame. There are nits to pick, but overall, it's a worthy addition to a child's library.



One thing I found funny was that a few illustrations depict Baryonyx in social groups. You'll often see illustrations of "pack-hunting" behavior, or perhaps multiple carnivores gathering to scavenge a carcass, but Conaway's Baryonyx seems to be a pretty social beast.

I'm not as crazy about these illustrations as I was about Magnuson's, but it's certainly a worthy title that gives the spotlight to a dinosaur who doesn't often recieve this sort of attention. I'd love to have the full set, and I'm interested to see what Conaway has done with another of may favorite theropods, Troodon.

Finally, we'll close up shop with the obligatory "Damn, he's biting my neck!" illo.



No dinosaur book is complete without one, really.

Vintage Dinosaur Art: Tyrannosaurus by Janet Riehecky

The Child's World published a series of dinosaur titles for young readers in the eighties, written by Janet Riehecky. I got my hairy little primate hands on their Tyrannosaurus title recently. It features illustrations by Diana Magnuson, a veteran children's book illustrator. Magnuson doesn't have a whole lot of paleoart on her resume, but she illustrated about half of the books in this series. Judging by the watercolor pages she did for this title, she did a fine job.

The colors aren't lurid, sticking to muted greens, grays, and browns. Naturally, most of the book depicts the Late Cretaceous which T. rex inhabited, but an early spread accurately depicts a Jurassic environment with an Allosaurus, some Camptosaurus, and a Stegosaurus. A keen-eyed child would easily be able to differentiate the Allosaurus from T. rex, by virtue of its lighter build, bulkier, three-fingered hands, and smaller head.

This one has to be one of my favorites, if only for the gore factor. I'm pretty sure that the stance would have been impossible for a T. rex. But what the heck. That's a big hunk of neck-meat.

Throughout the rest of the book, T. rex is depicted with the correct, horizontal-backbone posture. Riehecky is a bit of a dinosaur nut, and she consulted with the Field Museum to ensure the accuracy of the information.

I'm really eager to find more titles in this series - what's most intriguing is that Riehecky strays from the big names, devoting titles to Hypsilophodon, Saltasaurus, Baryonyx, and Oviraptor. I just found a used copy of the Baryonyx book on Barnes and Noble, by a different illustrator. Look for that one soon...