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Description
Well this is certainly an....interesting illustration. Shuvuuia deserti was a feathered dinosaur from the Cretaceous of Mongolia. Its most distinctive features were its arms, which were small but powerful, with the fingers reduce to one massive claw next and two tiny, possibly vistigial, nubs. The thick arm bones and muscle scarring indicate that the arms were used for digging-- possibly for ripping into insect nests.

Here we see a dominant male defending his small harem from a younger rival, who shows submission by tucking his head between his legs.

I did a lot of experimenting for this one and not all of it worked out so well. The weird head ornaments are based on the satyr tragopan, a kind of pheasant native to the Himalayas. As in the modern tragopan, they're wattles of skin that can be inflated in a threat or mating display. I didn't originally intend for it to come out this goofy, but now I actually rather like the look; there are plenty of silly-looking real-life birds, after all-- just look at ducks, or spoonbills, or lovebirds (which my wife calls "big, derpy-faced parakeets"). The digging claws, by the way, are hidden amongst the feathers, though you can see the tip of one poking out of the dominant male's stomach.

The biggest problem with this piece is the coloring. For some reason, I just can't get a good orange/green combination. I tried adding in some red (which didn't scan so well), and that helped a little. But it still looks weird. I suspect it may be because the green is too scattered. I was trying to recreate the scrubland of the American southwest, but couldn't quite get it right. If anyone can point me towards a good orange/green painting, I'd appreciate it.

I also tried to add some contrast by painting in white scraggly scrubs with acrylic, but I'm not sure how well the effect worked.

Oh well, it was good practice.

By the way: a llama badge to the first person who can identify that stone arch in the background.

Description
Well this is certainly an....interesting illustration. Shuvuuia deserti was a feathered dinosaur from the Cretaceous of Mongolia. Its most distinctive features were its arms, which were small but powerful, with the fingers reduce to one massive claw next and two tiny, possibly vistigial, nubs. The thick arm bones and muscle scarring indicate that the arms were used for digging-- possibly for ripping into insect nests.

Here we see a dominant male defending his small harem from a younger rival, who shows submission by tucking his head between his legs.

I did a lot of experimenting for this one and not all of it worked out so well. The weird head ornaments are based on the satyr tragopan, a kind of pheasant native to the Himalayas. As in the modern tragopan, they're wattles of skin that can be inflated in a threat or mating display. I didn't originally intend for it to come out this goofy, but now I actually rather like the look; there are plenty of silly-looking real-life birds, after all-- just look at ducks, or spoonbills, or lovebirds (which my wife calls "big, derpy-faced parakeets"). The digging claws, by the way, are hidden amongst the feathers, though you can see the tip of one poking out of the dominant male's stomach.

The biggest problem with this piece is the coloring. For some reason, I just can't get a good orange/green combination. I tried adding in some red (which didn't scan so well), and that helped a little. But it still looks weird. I suspect it may be because the green is too scattered. I was trying to recreate the scrubland of the American southwest, but couldn't quite get it right. If anyone can point me towards a good orange/green painting, I'd appreciate it.

I also tried to add some contrast by painting in white scraggly scrubs with acrylic, but I'm not sure how well the effect worked.

Oh well, it was good practice.

By the way: a llama badge to the first person who can identify that stone arch in the background.