William O’Connor - The Great Hall of Dinosaurs: An Artist’s Exploration Into the Jurassic World

Sign up for our newsletter and receive special offers, access to free content, and information on the latest new releases and must-have art resources! Plus, receive a coupon code to use on your first purchase from NorthLightShop.com for signing up.

or visit us online to sign up at

http://artistsnetwork.com/ebook-promo

Thanks for all the great support and reference over the years.

Welcome to the hall of dinosaurs! This year, the American Institute of Natural Sciences is proud to unveil the most astounding display of dinosaurs in the world! Larger than a football field, this new Hall of Dinosaurs has been conceived as a natural continuation of other astounding halls of animals in the Institute. The amazing dioramas within combine both science and art into a unique learning environment.

The American Institute endeavours to present and display dinosaurs with the same natural beauty as the animals in the other halls of the museum. So much of Hollywood and popular culture has turned dinosaurs into terrifying nightmareswe can easily forget that they were living, breathing creatures with the same grace, beauty and complexity as the animals that we study in the world today. Through a combination of paleontology, science, art and imagination, the Hall of Dinosaurs hopes to bring these magnificent creatures back to life.

Dinosaurs are considered one of the most successful groups of creatures to ever roam the planet. The word dinosaur directly translates to terrible lizard. For almost 200 million years this huge class of animals consisting of thousands of documented species ranging from tiny swift hunters to massive lumbering grazers evolved to dominate the planet. Their popularity remains in equal measure to their superlatives as the biggest, fiercest and fastest.

As many readers may be aware by reading my other IMPACT works, I place a lot of importance on morphology. This is a fancy word that simply means an animals design. Why does T-rex have small forelimbs? Why does stegosaurus have a spiked tail? Why do sauropods have long necks? Over time, weve discovered that all species in the dinosauria class had a similar morphology: a common pelvic structure similar to birds (making them ancestors), an endothermic metabolism that differentiates them from reptiles (also known as warm blooded), and the ability to lay eggs.

Paleoart is a branch of art and illustration that brings to life prehistoric creatures based upon contemporary paleontological studies of these animals. In its strictest sense, paleoart concentrates on the anatomical and scientific accuracy of paleontology. In this book we are not limited to contemporary paleo science. We can use our imaginations to not just learn about dinosaurs, but also to dream of worlds and scenes that may have existed millions of years ago, and animals we have never seen before.

Please note that there may be scenes in this book that depict dinosaurs of different regions or even different eras in the same scene. This has been done with the intent of creating imaginative and engaging images.

There are three basic elements to creating believable nature scenes of paleoart: the background, the subject and the foreground. In each of the demonstrations in this book these three key aspects are used to create believable images, depth and the illusion of the space. All of the images are from human perspective. The horizon line and point of view are roughly the same as if you were standing there observing the dinosaurs in their habitat.

The background landscape should illustrate a broad environmental ecosystem that the dinosaur would live in, whether mountains, forest, desert, jungle or seashore. The background should establish the weather, lighting, time of day and overall world in which each dinosaur lived. Search online for visual reference of landscapes, or even better, explore nature to take your own photos. Drawing en plein air will also give you a better sense of the natural environment.

The subject of each diorama is the dinosaur itself, whether alone or in a group, and is the focal point of your nature scene. For this element, you will need to gather a great deal of dinosaur anatomy reference. The dinosaur does not belong in the center of the design, but should be central in the overall composition. Placement of the dinosaur is crucial. Try to position the dinosaur so that it is interacting with its environment, whether looking off into the background or moving into the foreground. This will help enhance the illusion of space and depth.

The placement of a foreground element in the design helps frame the composition. Including rocks, plants and small animals in the foreground adds believable detail and helps scale the drawing. This framing technique also helps set the dinosaur more naturally into the landscape. Try to carry the details of the background into the foreground. For instance, if there are palm trees in the background, litter the foreground with fallen dried palm fronds.

Imagination and a pencil are all you need to bring to life the ancient creatures of the Mesozoic Era. All of the drawings in this book can be completed using nothing more than a simple no. 2 pencil and some paper. What is commonly referred to as a no. 2 pencil actually contains HB lead. This is a perfect balance of softness for dark marks and blending, and it has good hardness to hold a point for detail. I like to keep several sharp pencils on hand so I dont have to keep going back to the sharpener.