Gurney Journey

BBC / Apple TV teased a sneak peek of Prehistoric Planet, narrated by David Attenborough. It mixes what appears to be live-action footage of hatchling turtles with computer-generated dinosaurs.

The dinosaurs are introduced out of focus as they were captured by a lens with shallow focus. The animators showed the killer instinct of the young T. rex as ice timing and storytelling, too. The animation shows a convincing sense of weight and momentum, not always easy to achieve in CGI.

Thanks, Josh Sheppard 

Car-sized monster amphibian Koolasuchus has been chosen by public vote as the state fossil emblem of Victoria, Australia.

It was one of the subjects of the "Australia's Age of Dinosaurs" stamp issue that I designed for Australia Post.

Museums Victoria: Victoria's 'kool' new State Fossil Emblem Koolasuchus cleelandi

I made a quick maquette of the little hatchling out of Sculpey and made the two halves of the shell using Magic Sculpt, a two-part epoxy sculpting compound. Photographing the setup in a bed of moss gave me plenty of visual information to incorporate into the oil painting. 

This dinosaur is called Thanatotheristes, which means “reaper of death.” 

Before launching into the finished painting I try out various background treatments on a small preliminary sketch—the sketch in the upper left of the array of four color sketches below. 

The sketch lets me try out color combinations before launching into the finished painting. 

By the time I’m ready to start the final, I feel more confident about my color choices.

Here's the page in the next issue of Ranger Rick. I left that arbitrary dark shape for a background to the type.

GUMROAD VIDEOS about dinosaur art: 

The bearded vulture feasts mainly on bones, which it digests with the strong acid in its stomach. They acquire a reddish tinge either from the blood of a carcass or reddish dirt, which they're instinctually attracted to rubbing into their feathers.

However these carrion feeders have been known to be good human companions in captivity.

Photo via Mental Floss and 41 Strange

Thomas Littleton Powys, the 4th Baron Lilford (1833-1896) raised a couple of bearded vultures at his home estate and found them to be "tame and perfectly harmless; indeed, with the exception of a few playful attacks on trousers, gaiters, petticoats and boots, I never heard of any malice on their part towards any living creature."

Here's a new teaser for the upcoming article about T. rex coming up in the April issue of Ranger Rick. (Link to YouTube)


I do two quick sketches in gouache before launching into the final oil painting. I paint them over a scan of the line drawing, greatly reduced in size, printed out on my copier, and sealed with acrylic matte medium.

In a shallow stretch of a freshwater stream, an adult Tyrannosaurus rex introduces three juveniles to the water and supervises them while they bathe.


I develop the scenario after watching YouTube videos showing the bathing behaviors of ostriches, emus, and cassowaries, plus a lot of kinds of birds. First they squat down into the water, then stretch upward and shake, followed by self-preening. The juveniles still have their light coloration and haven't yet molted into their adult layers of feathers.



The feathers are based on the fact that all members of the tyrannosaur group which have been found with detailed fossils (such as Dilong and Yutyrannus) show feathers. Among my scientific consultants was tyrannosaur expert Steve Brusatte, who said: "I am particularly really moved by the one of the adult and juveniles bathing in the stream. It brings these predators to life in a way that hunt scenes don't--it makes them seem more like normal animals, not monsters."

This oil illustration is coming up in the April issue of Ranger Rick magazine. (Link to video)

My oil painting "Kosmoceratops" will be one of the paintings in the Gold Medal Exhibition of the California Art Club, which starts this weekend.


The painting was published in Scientific American magazine and received a Jury Award at the Focus on Nature XIII exhibition in Albany, NY. It was also the subject of my first downloadable tutorial video, "How I Paint Dinosaurs."


(Link to video on Facebook)

The scene is a forest pond, with several croc-like metoposaurids called Koskinonodons basking in the shallows, absorbing the warmth of a patch of sunlight.