Cetiosaurus oxoniensis - The Herd

These two sections belong to one whole- annoyingly, I can't scan the whole thing or piece it together in potoshop without a seam appearing in the picture.

A local jurassic dinosaur herd depicted here. Remains of Cetiosaurs have been found in Oxfordshire England and can be seen in the Oxford University's Natural History Museum.

This painting was constructed for the ARTevolved sauropod gallery. Check it out for more gigantic beasts.

9. FINISHED CAMARASAURUS

Bloody hell it's done. I never want to see another scale again.

8. NEARLY THERE

Teeth in and ready for action. Coming together now.

7.NO TEETH!

Gumasaurus! He lost his teeth in a fight last night- and his tongue apparently

Gave the background another coat of paint so lost the teeth. They weren't quite right anyway. The tongue was wrong wrong wrong- so I took it out. More scales.

Been working at this since about 8.30 this morning. 10 o'clock am now. Really looking forward to seeing what the guys at ART Evolved are going to be doing today.

Right- let's put those teeth back in shall we!?

6. AND MORE SCALES

Well I've been at this now for 6.5 hrs- give or take a tea break or 5. There's no way I will finish this today as the light is beginning to fade and I can't mix colours in electric light. That's where computer artists have the upper hand.

Anyway it's getting there. I won't post again today but will be back 10 am tomorrow GMT.

Tara for now. Glass of wine is calling.

5. MORE SCALES

75 scales, 3 cups of tea and a cheese roll later.

4. STARTING TO ADD THE DETAIL

Just starting to add scales now. Very fiddly and time consuming. This is where I'm glad I didn't do a larger piece. At this point normally I start doubting myself. It's difficult to carry on until I reach a point where I can see it all coming together. Not quite there yet.

This is the no-mans land stage of painting.

Be back soon. need food.

3. FIRST GOUACHE COLOUR WASH

Just a wash- Gouache is opaque unlike watercolour so I've kept it quite thin so that I can still see a feint pencil line through. This keeps me from losing track at an early stage. He's not too handsome at the moment- you wouldn't want to take him to meet your mother just yet would you?

2. INITIAL DRAWING

I really must get some heavier paper. Slightly ripped it again in the paper stretching process but this painting is quite small- just under A4- so hopefully wont notice :-/

Outline drawing done. I've kept this simple so that I've a chance of completing it today.

LIVE ART BLOG - FOR ART EVOLVED- 1. PRELIMINARY -CAMARASAURUS HEAD

It's 10 in the morning here in England and my first Live Art post for ART Evolved is my working sketches that I scribbled earlier this week. I generally read around the subject and gather info on the skull/skeleton which helps determine shape and contours. Habitat and dietary details all help with gaining an insight into colouring of skin, hair etc. and dental shaping. I've not made my mind up yet about colours so will be experimenting today. Will keep you updated.

I'm off now to stretch my paper- always a anxious affair... and work on the drawing ( Gonna grab some breakfast too ) Next post -coming sooooon.

Cetiosaurus oxoniensis

Working preliminary drawing for the next Art Evolved gallery- Sauropods- This large beast roamed the mudflats of Oxfordshire, England at the end of the Jurassic.

Hurdia & Aysheaia

Not my best piece of work but the cause of the most interesting research I've undertaken in a long time. Instigated by the Art Evolved Anomalocaridid gallery, I've been sucked in by these Cambrian creatures. Fascinatingly diverse and more complex than I ever imagined.
I've tried to mix arty background techniques with scientific accuracy in the creatures and it hasn't really worked. Too fussy and the compostion doesnt work at all. Hay ho- the first a many Cambrian- Burgess Shale works though. .never give in....

Darwinius Masillae

Gouache on paper A3

This little creature is a primate from the Eocene epoch. There is only one known fossil discovered in 1983 at the Messel Pit in Germany.It's believed by many to be a significant link between anthropoid primate lineages.

I've placed her in her native tropical rainforest (said to cover the Messel Pit area 47 mya). The scene depicts daytime feeding, although her large eye sockets may suggest that she was nocturnal. (But there's no fabulous colours to paint in a night time scene!)

Dimorphodon

Gouache on paper A3

Just a small fella in Pterosaur terms. Dimorphodon, as the name suggests had two types of teeth and is thought to have lived on the coast and also in woodland near rivers and lakes. Although the shape of the teeth suggest that Dimorphodon would have eaten fish I have depicted him as an opportunist feeder - Snapping up insects on the wing as a snack before a breakfast of fish and small amphibians .Mmmm.

Cotylorhynchus Romeri

Ink on paper A4

An early Permian Synapsid that could reach up to 6 meters in length and weighed up to 2 tons. It had a disproportionately small head and fingers that could flex and grasp like our own.