Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals have always fascinated people but they pose vast problems for the artist. How do you go about recreating the anatomy and behaviour of a creature we've never seen? How can we restore landscapes long lost to time? And where does the boundary between palaeontology - the science of understanding fossils- and artistic licence lie? In this outstanding book, Mark Witton shares his detailed paintings and great experience of drawing and painting extinct species. The approaches used in rendering these impressive creatures are discussed and demonstrate the problems, as well as the unexpected freedoms, that palaeontological artists are faced with. The book showcases over ninety scientifically credible paintings of some of the most spectacular animals in the Earth's history, as well as may less familiar species. Mark explains how each image was created with details of the artistic process, scientific grounding and collaborations between researchers and discusses the methods and goals of palaeoartistry - the recreation of extinct animals and landscapes in art. This book will be of great interest to palaeontological artists, researchers, museum curators, dinosaur enthusiasts and fossil hunters. Superbly illustrated with 90 paintings.
"A world made by the Eight Creators on which to play out their games of passion and power, Paradise is a sprawling, diverse, often brutal place. Men and women live on Paradise as do dogs, cats, ferrets, goats, and horses. But dinosaurs predominate: wildlife, monsters, beasts of burden--and of war"--Amazon.com.
Text and art portray over 100 prehistoric reptiles of land, sea, and air, including the reptiles that preceded the dinosaurs, the dinosaur giants of the Mesozoic Ear, and the large reptiles of the age of mammals.
Come along with Ackerley the Acanthostega to visit the Triassic and Jurassic periods, 203-145 million years ago. Watch the first dinosaurs appear. See them grow in size and numbers to dominate on land, in the air, and in the oceans. Discover the facts, fossils, and fun science behind Earth's earliest dinosaurs, as well as flying reptiles, mighty sea beasts, and the first birds. This second part of the exciting story of life on Earth unfolds through amazing lifelike illustrations and fascinating diagrams, all narrated by a friendly prehistoric guide.
McGowan attempts to solve some of the enduring mysteries about dinosaurs and other prehistoric reptiles, making fascinating comparisons between living and extinct animals, and drawing on science and engineering concepts to explain the similarities between the aerodynamics of pteradons and Spitfire planes. Illustrations.