Stefan Steps Down

As regular readers will have noted, often, the smallest seed of a picture will plant itself in my head from the vaguest of references, and I would find myself unable to resist realising it in illustrative form.

So it is with this drawing, which perhaps will only have any real significance for the members of the Dinosaur Toy Forum, but which I nevertheless hope will afford you a moment's visual entertainment.

Stefan (the Therizinosaurus), one of the long-standing members of the forum staff (and Dinosaur Toy Blog author), has decided to step down from the team. And although he still remains as a regular member on the forum, the news was a rather sad one. Here, the team says goodbye. They are, from left; Adam (Rhomaleosaurus -- who, by the way, is able to swim through the air much in the manner of the whales in the Pines of Rome sequence from Fantasia 2000), our forum admin and plesiosaur expert, whom you've encountered here before; Lisa (Coelophysis -- scaled up, because this is all in fun); Ashley (Amargasaurus); yours truly (Diplodocus) and Chris (Allosaurus), whom we also welcome as the newest recruit to the moderating team.

And here is an even larger copy of the image.

Another Allosaur

Yet another gift (really, you folks don't know how spoilt you are...) for another friend and DTF member, Joey Fells, who also happens to be a fellow freelance illustrator. 

Watercolour on Fabriano hot pressed watercolour paper, 8.5 x 11.5cm. The full view is almost three times larger than the original (dear readers, if you don't do so already, I recommend right clicking the images to open in a new tab, rather than viewing it in slideshow mode). Again, I took a few photographs with a penny for scale.

I feel obliged to repeat the oft-uttered truism among artists that 'the original looks better than the scan'. 

The DTF ACEOs

There are too many abbreviations in that title.

Last June, a small gathering of a few members of the Dinosaur Toy Forum (which readers may recall my mentioning in a previous entry) took place at the Natural History Museum in London.  Prior to the event, I asked those who would be attending what their favourite dinosaur (or prehistoric animal) was, with an aim to surprising each of them with a small gift.  As it happened, I ended up staying awake the whole of the night before the meet-up, feverishly finishing off these ACEOs.

Protoceratops for Lea.

Brachiosaurus for Andrew.

Attenborosaurus for Adam.

Allosaurus for Rob.

T. rex for Marc (this piece was featured once before on its own).

Each of these measures 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

As it turned out, I was more than rewarded for my work (and loss of sleep) by the company of all those present. I had of course been gradually becoming acquainted with them all in a virtual manner via the forum, and any hopes I had formed of their being brilliant people were happily answered when I at last met them in person.  Reporting back to the forum afterwards, my exact words were 'I had a really wonderful time.  Everyone was so lovely and kind.  I don't recall when I last felt so at ease among a [large] group of people as I did here.  In the words of the awesome Po: "I love you guys".'  As a socially inept and painfully shy creature, you may be sure of what a gift that was to me, and that I meant every word.

From left: Marc (who surely needs no introduction), Andrew (from New Jersey, USA), me (kill it with fire!), Lea with her boyfriend, Jasper (from the Netherlands), Dr. Adam Stuart Smith (palaeontologist and marine reptile specialist extraordinaire and founder of the DTF and blog -- I can scarcely thank him enough) and Rob (who most helpfully distinguished himself with a carnation 'buttonhole' and a copy of Prehistoric Times).  An extra special thanks to Marlies, Adam's girlfriend, who was also present and who took this picture of us (looking, in Stefan's words, 'like a bunch of random scientists about to enter a time machine'. Though 'a bunch of scientists and one clueless wannabe artist' would be more accurate...).  She is next to Adam in this picture below!

(I took this one, which accounts for everyone's wan expression and poor picture quality).