Dinosaur of the Week



  • I like dinosaurs. (Did you notice?) I draw them in idle moments at work and stick them up on my desk drawers. I showed you guys some already.

    I also like showing them off, especially if people are interested enough to comment (honestly, that made my day in the Office Space thread). So...

    Allosaurus, now with dynamic action pose!
    0_1508167853856_allosaurus.jpg

    Also with feathers! Previous Allosaurus was featherless based on my researchgoogle results some time ago. Current thinking seems to be that almost all therapods probably had some feathers, although we have no feather impressions and some scale impressions from Allosaurids.

    Discussions about my drawings, drawing dinosaurs in general, or dinosaurs in general, all cool. Equally cool: your dinosaur drawings, if you happen to have any. Less cool: random dinosaur drawings you found that someone else did (unless they're particularly good or interesting).


  • :belt_onion:

    ... please don't tell me I'm the only one who found the angle and placement of the right leg briefly confusing. (Hint: To the tune of thinking I was in the NSFW thread.)



  • @heterodox Look, dynamic action poses are harddifficult, OK.


  • Considered Harmful


  • :belt_onion:

    @carrievs said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    @heterodox Look, dynamic action poses are harddifficult, OK.

    :giggity:.

    Not a criticism, just a commentary on the perversions of information technologymy mind.

    @pie_flavor said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    obligatory
    Was (Not Was) - Walk The Dinosaur – 03:35
    — WasNotWasVEVO

    Damn you, that's going to be stuck in my head for my whole afternoon workout now.



  • @heterodox But that foot isn't quite right, so if it doesn't look like a foot at first glance that's a valid criticism.

    I just gave up on trying to get that leg just right because I had everything else done and I kept damaging bits that were right when I was rubbing it out.



  • @carrievs said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    when I was rubbing it out.

    :giggity:



  • @hungrier Get your mind out of the gutter. What other verb am I supposed to use?


  • kills Dumbledore

    @carrievs said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    What other verb am I supposed to use?

    Erasing?



  • @jaloopa I guess since I'm talking mostly to USAliens then I could have used that.



  • My four year old niece drew a dragon dinosaur in my birthday card. Or so I am informed :)

    It seemed to have a rather large number of legs for either a dragon or a dinosaur, but hey, what do I know about dragon dinosaurs?

    I'll upload a scan if I (a) remember and (b) can get a decent one. It wasn't exactly done in a contrasting colour to the inside of the card so this might be difficult.



  • @scarlet_manuka said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    It seemed to have a rather large number of legs for either a dragon or a dinosaur, but hey, what do I know about dragon dinosaurs?

    If a human's dragon has 4 legs and 2 wings, then it follows a dinosaur's dragon would have at least 12 limbs. Using logic.



  • @carrievs said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    @hungrier Get your mind out of the gutter.

    Hey, some of us like having our minds there!

    @carrievs said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    What other verb am I supposed to use?

    No! Leave it alone.

    P.S. rubbing it out really shouldn't damage bits, if you find that to be a problem you might want to take a breather from it.



  • @anotherusername said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    Hey, some of us like having our minds there!

    My thread my rules :p

    But honestly, 'erased' didn't occur to me because we don't use that term on this side of the pond. Rubbing out just is the accepted expression, no implications. Erasing, on the other hand, has a whole other set of connotations that I try hard to avoid as a self-identified Northerner with an RP accent.

    (Best not tell them that the object they know as an eraser is called a rubber over here...)



  • @carrievs said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    My thread my rules

    Point of order! None of the rules in OP said we couldn't :giggity:.

    ...okay, okay, :giggity: doesn't really fit in (:giggity:) to the list of things that you said to talk about, I'll give you that. But we are sort of discussing your drawing, albeit indirectly...

    @carrievs said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    Best not tell them that the object they know as an eraser is called a rubber over here...

    They're both made out of latex. 🤷♂

    (I'll stop hijacking your thread now, unless you're entertained by it.)



  • @anotherusername I used the :p emoji didn't I? By all means carry on. Keeping it vaguely tangentially related to the actual topic would be fine but I'm not gonna fly off the handle if you don't.


  • kills Dumbledore

    @carrievs said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    I'm not gonna fly off the handle if you don't.

    :doing_it_wrong:


  • kills Dumbledore

    What is the current thinking about feathers on dinosaurs? Is it still thought that they first evolved for helping to keep eggs warm and later were co-opted for flight?


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @jaloopa I think “what people think is in flux” is a good summary. However, some form of “keeping warm” is likely to be involved, since that makes good ecological sense as it allows creatures with even a marginal improvement to expand their ecological niches. They were probably coopted for things like mating displays relatively rapidly too; those sorts of things crop up over and over as they evolve really quickly.

    Flight feathers appear to be much later, and this is an area where lots of people are looking for more evidence. :)


  • kills Dumbledore

    @dkf so, no flying velociraptors?


  • Discourse touched me in a no-no place

    @jaloopa No idea. But there are dinosaur-descendants out there that are mean enough without the flying.

    0_1508320718277_602646cf-f03a-49c3-9e6d-3658ddede646-image.png



  • @dkf said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    There are dinosaur-descendants out there that are mean enough without the flying.

    FTFY

    A couple of modifications to the snout and tail of Exhibit A there, a few more feathers, and you're not too far off a dromeosaurid.

    However, some small dromeosaurids are thought to have possibly been capable of gliding or even powered flight.

    According to an hour or so of research tonight, heavily involving Wikipedia but I did try and find some possibly reliable sources to confirm all this:

    Velociraptor is not thought to have had this capability, so far as I can work out, but there is a school of thought that Deinonychus, the real animal behind the raptors portrayed in Jurassic Park may have been capable of some form of flight as youngsters.

    It's also thought possible that flight evolved in ancestors of dromeosaurids, and if Velociraptor et al were flightless they must have secondarily lost the ability.



  • Reach for the stars, Diplodocus, don't let Walking with Dinosaurs keep you down.

    0_1508528439031_diplodocus.jpg

    I did a fair bit of research for this one, and there's a few things that were inaccurate or outdated in the previous Diplodocus picture. Most noticeably, turns out that most sauropods held their necks high after all. Damn BBC.

    I can't pretend I'm not slightly disappointed though. There was something very pleasing about the symmetry of a horizontal diplodocus.

    I also remembered sometime after starting this thread that the post I linked in the OP isn't accessible to everyone, so if anyone couldn't see it and wants to, this is the picture I posted there


  • Considered Harmful

    0_1509580375222_1509571816602.jpg



  • Smile for the camera, Stegosaurus:

    0_1509700359447_stegosaurus.JPG

    Attempted to draw this one looking towards the viewer, with mixed results. In the end I got a bit fed up and called it finished. Improvement over the old Stegosaur at least.

    I have a feeling it's more likely he's about to thagomise the cameraman than to say "cheese."



  • @carrievs I'm confused by the front legs. Are they legs, or more like arms? Their size/position relative to the body makes me think "tiny arms" (like cartoon T-Rex), but their shape and what I know of Stegosaurus points to "legs".

    Anyway, nice drawings, I would be unable to do even the "crude" ones you had before!



  • @remi Stegosaurus is understood to have been pretty much fully quadrupedal (I imagine it could have reared up, maybe even taken a step or two, like almost all quadrupeds) so they are supposed to be legs.

    However like most Ornithiscians it did have larger and longer hind than forelegs, and I tried to draw that. (They're not that much smaller, are they?)

    As for the position, firstly most animals don't stand with their legs entirely straight, so I did put some flexion in the near foreleg as I did in the hind legs. In fact with Stegosaurus restorations most of them seem to draw it with the shoulder and elbow even more flexed than that, so it's standing in a crouch with the chest low to the ground. I don't like that, but I did angle the humerus backwards somewhat because of that.

    Secondly, I goofed and drew the foot a little above the nearside hind foot, and by the time I realised I'd done a lot of work on the picture and would have had to start almost from scratch to fix it, so I didn't.

    Thirdly, I've been trying to depict more varied (and more challenging) postured than 'standing still, side-on.' I don't think I showed it too well, but imagine if you will that this animal is looking at you, nervous (he's a reptile of very little brain), and almost on tiptoe as he braces for action: shifting his weight, sidestepping and turning as he displays the plates that make him look more fearsome and draws his tail back in preparation to give you a really nasty wallop if you don't back off. The off-side foreleg is raised and mostly hidden by the body (you can just see the elbow, behind the other leg, if that helps.)



  • @carrievs said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    However like most Ornithiscians it did have larger and longer hind than forelegs, and I tried to draw that. (They're not that much smaller, are they?)

    A little bit, but not much, no. That's not what makes the picture a bit weird in any case.

    As for the position, firstly most animals don't stand with their legs entirely straight, so I did put some flexion in the near foreleg as I did in the hind legs.

    Meh. I trust you on the restorations, but the stance depends on the animals, I think. A cat/dog does indeed look like their hind legs are almost always somewhat flexed, but not so much the front ones. A horse/cow standing up has all 4 legs straight. But a crocodile/komodo dragon has flexed legs, mostly because they're not jointed to the body in the same way (they stick out on the side), which may be closer that what you were aiming for?

    Secondly, I goofed and drew the foot a little above the nearside hind foot, and by the time I realised I'd done a lot of work on the picture and would have had to start almost from scratch to fix it, so I didn't.

    Yeah, I think that's the part that looks weird. It's too high and because of that we don't see much of it. Also, the other front foot looks like it is a bit too high as well, which might be an illusion caused by the first one, or might be the expected position with perspective, but that reinforces the impression that it is actually somewhat standing on both hind legs and raising both front ones. Maybe that other front leg should be a bit lower, and more visibly braced to support the weight of the body?

    Thirdly, I've been trying to depict more varied (and more challenging) postured than 'standing still, side-on.'

    That is also what I imagined (and I applaud you for going for more challenging things!). But something in the rest of the posture doesn't quite fit with that, I can't put my finger on it. Maybe the fact that most of the body is straight? It's just the head that is turned, there is no visible curve in the spine, which you would expect (at least to shift the weight of the body)? Or the 3 other legs that look firmly stuck in the ground instead of being... I don't know, more flexed? Asymmetrical? Something else?

    Anyway, again, I'm not trying to be mean or anything, I really think it is nice. I'm just nitpicking because that's what we do here ;-)



  • @remi said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    But a crocodile/komodo dragon has flexed legs, mostly because they're not jointed to the body in the same way (they stick out on the side), which may be closer that what you were aiming for?

    Absolutely not. Dinosaurs' legs did not stick out: it's one of their key features that distinguish them from (other) reptiles. I take your point, there are plenty of animals that stand - when still - with legs near to straight. But also as you say plenty that don't. A flexed stance is what I seem to see for most dinosaurs - sauropods excepted - even if they're not in motion, so that's what I draw.

    @remi said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    Yeah, I think that's the part that looks weird. It's too high and because of that we don't see much of it. Also, the other front foot looks like it is a bit too high as well

    By 'the other foot' I think you mean the one I was talking about there. The nearside foot, its left, the one that's nearest you. It's meant to be on the ground but I drew it slightly high. The offside foot, the one that's obviously raised, is exactly where I meant it to be.



  • @carrievs said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    By 'the other foot' I think you mean the one I was talking about there. The nearside foot, its left, the one that's nearest you. It's meant to be on the ground but I drew it slightly high. The offside foot, the one that's obviously raised, is exactly where I meant it to be.

    Oh. Yes, that's the one. The one in the back (of the drawing i.e. front right of the animal) is high but that is expected given the stance you were going for, and the one in front (of the drawing, i.e. front left of the animal) is indeed a bit too high.

    Keep drawing, I can't wait for the next one!


  • 🚽 Regular

    I serendipitously browsed into this. I believe it aligns with your interests.

    Possibly old news, but you never know.



  • @zecc That's pretty awesome. I also liked the other fossil the article mentioned, a similarly-preserved ankylosaur which the discoverers named Zuul crurivastator - Zuul, destroyer of shins.

    I haven't got an ankylosaur of any sort at the moment - next on the list after I replace the last of the old biro drawings.



  • @zecc Wow, that's amazing!

    It will be interesting to see how much this fossil changes what is known about dinosaurs: in a sense, it is a validation point for many theories about how body parts looked or worked, so if many of those are invalidated, this would mean that we don't really understand how dinosaurs worked. If, on the other hand, it mostly adds small details to the picture, then this means other reconstructions were already pretty accurate.



  • Deinonychus wants to give you a hug...

    0_1510830771431_Deinonychus.JPG

    Best run.

    It may surprise you to learn that you might have a fair chance: although Jurassic Park's "Velociraptors" were said (at least in the book) to run at "cheetah speed," they're currently thought to have been an ambush, rather than a pursuit predator, and no more than reasonably quick. I've seen the figure of six miles per hour bandied about, which many humans could outrun. I imagine it would give up fairly fast if you got a clear start.

    Since my last picture I've discovered a great YouTube series called Your Dinosaurs are Wrong (no link because I'm at work), which I've learned a lot from. I'm now quite mortified about some of my drawings - my Spinosaurus in particular. I've taken particular care with the accuracy of this one.

    This one was the biggest challenge I've set myself so far, by some margin: the most heavily feathered dinosaur in my repertoire, a dynamic pose, and my first attempt at a face-on drawing. Oh and mouth open - insides of mouths are hard, I find. It's not perfect but I'm pretty pleased.


  • 🚽 Regular

    @carrievs said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    Your Dinosaurs are Wrong (no link because I'm at work)

    TIL YouTube playlists don't (currently anyway) embed.

    https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLaCDmykyjVw_B983AQ2iGuZOA3ZLJ8Sry


  • Notification Spam Recipient

    @carrievs said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    but I'm not gonna fly off the handle if you don't.

    If you do, I bet you're rubbing too hard.


  • Notification Spam Recipient

    @pie_flavor said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    0_1509580375222_1509571816602.jpg

    That's amazing! But it wear out on my probably after a week...


  • BINNED

    @tsaukpaetra said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    wear out

    stop grinding your chair



  • @carrievs said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    Secondly, I goofed and drew the foot a little above the nearside hind foot, and by the time I realised I'd done a lot of work on the picture and would have had to start almost from scratch to fix it, so I didn't.

    You could also try to "fix" it by adding a rock under the foot. Also some ground would help with perspective. Anyway, the dinosaurs look cool ☺️



  • Carnotaurus is in a hurry...

    0_1520339908175_Carnotaurus.jpg

    Probably one of the fastest dinosaurs, apart from the ornithomimids (the ones that are basically giant ostriches with tails). Also, pretty weird looking.

    It's been a while since I've put anything on here I know. They'll probably be infrequent from now on because I'm no longer allowed to work on my drawings during odd moments at work. I'm not supposed to have odd moments, as there isn't a time code for "taking a couple of minutes to myself to stop my brain from switching off."



  • @carrievs Do you work in a panopticon?



  • @blakeyrat No. But my line manager's desk is next to mine.


  • Notification Spam Recipient

    @carrievs said in Dinosaur of the Week:

    because I'm no longer allowed to work on my drawings during odd moments at work. I'm not supposed to have odd moments, as there isn't a time code for "taking a couple of minutes to myself to stop my brain from switching off."

    That sucks, sorry...


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