Much is discussed about dinosaur integument for art, but more important is reading published literature and accounting for various unknowns. Hence why here, it is baked in shadow: there’s a wide range of possibilities we need to embrace and be comfortable with. Rather than focusing on the life reconstruction, I wanted to highlight a little more of the process from the ground up, highlighting the fossil itself as the cornerstone and phylogeny as the bridge between.
But art is more than just being able to draw facts or hypotheses. It is a technique and a craft, one which I am still honing. Because of this piece’s resolution, I wanted to limit some elements, like the fossil, to one layer. A challenge for sure, but what came of it was something more tactile, like it was actually painted on a canvas.

As someone who has only recently made paleoart for more than just a hobby, I recognize that the goal needs to be more than just outreach. The emotional response is just as (if not more) important. Art that can accomplish both are what I hope for my natural history art to be, but an engaged or emotional response in the viewer is far more crucial to me moving forward.