The Soul of Gentleness

I am the very soul of gentleness, as everybody knows (cough). But if you push the right buttons...

Such as certain quarters on DeviantArt who fail to understand what 'illustration' is and call it by a certain dreaded 'f' word, for instance. Ahem...

1:72 Scale T.rex Model by David Krentz

This model was sculpted by the extraordinary David Krentz as part of his Antediluvia series and measures roughly 6.5cm tall and 15.5cm long.  I painted it as a birthday present for Marc Vincent of Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs, using this little study as a colour guide.  Readers may notice from his comment on the drawing that he was happily deceived as to which model it was actually intended for, which meant that the gift still managed to surprise.  Hopefully.

As the lighting seems to have turned out differently in each photograph, I've decided to include several pictures of the same angles to hopefully give a better idea of what the actual model looks like.

You may have also noted that I decided to omit the red markings I had originally planned for the flanks.  I felt they might prove too intrusive on a model of this scale and that I would be gilding the lily rather.

I think this may be my favourite picture of the set.  It seems to be the most faithful too.

In many ways, I think that this side turned out a little better than the 'display side', which is most inconvenient...  But there we are.

Happy birthday, Marc!

Another Mediocre T.rex

I'm afraid so.  Though this small drawing is in fact only meant to be a study for a colour scheme which I'm hoping to paint on a model, and was done relatively quickly. 

I will of course post pictures of the model too when it's done.

The Mighty Handful

Bonus points and a whole steamer of bean buns for any reader who might have thought that I was referring to this five in the post title.

In a more serious follow-up to the last post, a group of Ornithomimus edmontonicus fend off a marauding young adult Albertosaurus sarcophagus by mobbing it.  You are free to imagine that there are at the very least half a dozen more beyound the picture frame, though I am quite ready to believe that a mere handful are more than capable of disconcerting a tyrannosaur in the right circumstances.  ;)  

I have now also remedied what I mentioned two posts ago about not having drawn an Albertosaurus before.  Hurrah.  Though I'm realising rather too late that I'd neglected to adorn it with more scutes, spiky bits, etc.  I may try to see if anything can be done about those at some point.  I may also have made the brow horns too pronounced and too allosaur-like.   Though mightn't there be something said for keratinous structures such as these being more sizeable than the skull shape alone might suggest?

 I'd also like to point out once again that DeviantArtist Pilsator has another version of his Gallimimus vs Tarbosaurus in progress.

       

Ornithomimid Triumphant

The great David Orr of Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs (whom I really think we ought to start calling 'Solomon') mentioned in his latest Mesozoic Miscellany that he wished to see 'An ornithomimid triumphant over a tyrannosaur'.  I do not think this was quite what he had in mind...

I had originally hoped to draw a Kinnareemimus teaching a Siamotyrannus a lesson, but what with both creatures being represented by highly fragmentary remains and Siamotyrannus now being considered a probable carnosaur, I decided against it.  On the other hand, given the absurdity of this scene, I don't suppose it would have mattered much...

And I'm afraid there is a second part to this.  Yes.

In the meantime, however, for a perfectly plausible and far superior version of a triumphant ornithomimid, I highly recommend this excellent drawing by DeviantArtist Pilsator.  I also know that Durbed is working on a 'Deinocheirus jabbing a tyrannosaur in the eye' at Marc's suggestion as we speak. 

Happy Birthday, T.Rex

Peter Bond over at ART Evolved informs us that it's the 106th birthday of Tyrannosaurus rex and Albertosaurus sarcophagus today.   

My playful disdain for tyrannosaurs (and larger carnivores in general) aside, I have sadly not yet had a real opportunity to quite do justice to T.rex and its kin (inasmuch as I can be said to have really tackled anything with seriousness; the Citipati may be the best of the very few examples so far).  But I think this may be as good an excuse as any to share what few sub-par things I do presently have of the king.

This sketchbook spread of T. rex studies is in fact my first saurian work since I resumed drawing dinosaurs  in earnest a little over a year ago, after many years' gap of not having drawn any dinosaurs at all.  Chief among the many wrongs are the too fine and too numerous teeth, and the lack of jaw muscle.  I am perhaps a little embarrassed to be showing this piece now, but I suppose I'm duty-bound to do so for archival purposes, etc...  

'Everybody Loves T.rex' was tangentially inspired by this article by Brian Switek, and by Marc's series of posts based on his undergraduate dissertation (for which he received a first, you know), but for the most part, it is my own gentle and affectionate satire on T. rex mania among the general public and dinosaur enthusiasts alike.  By the by, that's Marc himself clinging on to the tail...  

In between those two pieces, there was this little ACEO, part of a series of gifts drawn for the members of the Dinosaur Toy Forum (more about these another time).  I don't think there is much to be said about it, I fear.  Except that the full view of it here is much bigger than the original, which is 3.5 x 2.5 inches. 

I'm afraid I have never yet drawn an Albertosaurus.  I hope it will forgive me.  But I wish it a very happy birthday nevertheless.