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Description
An old Triceratops prorsus bull flops down after a long day of being a total badass.

In preparation for my illustration of Tyrannosaurus and Edmontosaurus tucking in for a nap, I read this article by Dr. Mark Witton: markwitton-com.blogspot.com/20… . The majority of the article is about the resting positions that dinosaurs may have assumed, but it was one of the last paragraphs that I was particularly drawn to. In it, Dr. Witton points out that we have a tendency to depict animals, and dinosaurs in particular, with a majestic, pensive, and ferocious tone. In reality, dinosaurs were like any other animal and would have had plenty of awkward and undignified moments, and these moments should be captured in paleoart too. With that in mind, I've drawn a short series of sketches of dinosaurs getting through the day in clumsy and lazy ways.

Cheers, folks!

-Keenan

*anatomical notes: the shape of the horns is based on another article by Dr. Witton, in which he uses the precedent set by other cornified horns that horn shape can't morph, so the upward-curling shape of the youngster's horns would be reflected in the adults. I know some have suggested that they shed the sheaths as they grew so the horns may have conformed more closely the shape of the bone at any given growth stage, but I'm with Dr. Witton on this one. He discusses this at length here: markwitton-com.blogspot.com/20… . The animal's skin is based on unpublished scale impressions of the related species Triceratops horridus as seen here: img00.deviantart.net/c20c/i/20…

Description
An old Triceratops prorsus bull flops down after a long day of being a total badass.

In preparation for my illustration of Tyrannosaurus and Edmontosaurus tucking in for a nap, I read this article by Dr. Mark Witton: markwitton-com.blogspot.com/20… . The majority of the article is about the resting positions that dinosaurs may have assumed, but it was one of the last paragraphs that I was particularly drawn to. In it, Dr. Witton points out that we have a tendency to depict animals, and dinosaurs in particular, with a majestic, pensive, and ferocious tone. In reality, dinosaurs were like any other animal and would have had plenty of awkward and undignified moments, and these moments should be captured in paleoart too. With that in mind, I've drawn a short series of sketches of dinosaurs getting through the day in clumsy and lazy ways.

Cheers, folks!

-Keenan

*anatomical notes: the shape of the horns is based on another article by Dr. Witton, in which he uses the precedent set by other cornified horns that horn shape can't morph, so the upward-curling shape of the youngster's horns would be reflected in the adults. I know some have suggested that they shed the sheaths as they grew so the horns may have conformed more closely the shape of the bone at any given growth stage, but I'm with Dr. Witton on this one. He discusses this at length here: markwitton-com.blogspot.com/20… . The animal's skin is based on unpublished scale impressions of the related species Triceratops horridus as seen here: img00.deviantart.net/c20c/i/20…