The Past Portrayed

This is a compilation of several pieces of paleoart made for several clients. Many of these are representations of individual prehistoric animals in their natural environment, reconstructed in a way that is accurate to the current knowledge available about the animal and its habitat. A few of these pieces diverge from that premise, as a few clients have requested the creatures be placed in more fantastical settings.

Thankfully, illustrating extinct animals comes with a fair bit of artistic liberty. The parts that we don't know are far more abundant than those we do, so certain aspects like colors, patterns, and display structures can be a creative process while still staying in the realm of possibility.

Here you'll see animals with colorations largely inspired by animals alive today. Especially in this Opthalmosaurus, which exhibits strong black and white countershading. This is a trait seen in nearly all animals and especially in marine life. This helps them blend in with the darkness when viewed from above, along with the light sky when viewed from below.

Inspired by works of Rudolf Hima and older paleoart pieces, I wanted to try a more painterly look with one of my pieces. Experimenting with different brushes in both Krita and Photoshop, I was able to get a very unique feel.

This is less scientifically inclined, but is still very much influenced by research along with real animal and plant life.