Griffin Art- 3/8/12 Microraptor

[foxilized]

Sept 15, 2009 0:12:18 GMT Griffin said:

Very beautiful. I like your sketches a lot also, looks like you totally have the anatomies under control. I can imagine you drawing a comic book with all these guys.

Do you have any more complex dino illustrations like these of the griffin, you Griffin?

[Horridus]

Oct 22, 2009 5:17:28 GMT dinonikes said:

the ceratosaur looks very striking with the yellow on gray-

Agreed, it's a great portayal of the animal.

[Griffin]

Hey thanks everybody. Really glad you all like them.

foxilized: Those watercolors are pretty old. I did those griffins at least five or six years ago and haven't really picked up the ol brushes much since. However, I am going home this weekend and plan to bust them out again and do a nice painting of the styracosaurus with the stripes I sketched on the last page so well see how that turns out.

[sid]

Oct 22, 2009 4:42:42 GMT Griffin said:

joshwennes on the forum is having me illustrate some jurassic dinosaurs for him. I thought this ceratosaurus came out pretty nicely and thought I would share.

What i like most of this Cera is that red spot in the postorbital fenestra which looks a lot as a "false eye"

[Griffin]

Haha yeah that was the idea. Glad you caught that!

[Griffin]

Huge sale on art supplies today so I bought a nice pad and some new pencils. Then I went to work. Basically I'm going to be designating each page of this book to a different dino or other prehistoric critter of my choice as I think of them when I feel like it. I decided to start off with my favorites from each main group of dinos. Enjoy.

Hadrosaurus Foulkii



Dryptosaurus


Unenlagia


Triceratops



Pachycephalosaurus



Stegosaurus



Barosaurus

[Meso-Cenozoic]

These are great, Griffin! I always like the movement and expressions you put into your sketches. Even in the "still" Ceratosaurus. There's still so much life in his eye and claws. You can imagine that he's probably spotted his prey of choice and is studying the best advantage point of his attack.

Your sketches always give a brief glimpse into their lives. Good job!

If I had to get real picky, I might shade-out/blend-out from the creases of the muscles in the legs of the Hadrosaur. Also, the end of the neck of the Barosaurus, up towards the head, looks a little too thin to me. Actually, the head looks a tad too small also. Was it really able to turn like that?

Anyway, overall, they are great. I also like the color usage in these, very nice and original. Well, except for the Stego. He's back to Christmas colors again. Heh, heh! But, I happen to like those colors on him. And, they're perfect for the season we're in! ;D

[Griffin]

Thanks meso! Yeah the baro was a little weird to do because I wanted to fit its whole body in the frame but at the same time didn't want it to be too small so I decided to make him looking to the side. And you are right maybe his neck looks kind of thin but it could be an illusion since he is looking towards us. As for the curvature of the neck I referenced this drawinig.

scienceblogs.com/laelaps/Barosaurus%20Colour%20Vignette.jpg

I duno. In the future when I do other sauropods maybe I'll try doing them at a different angle.

As for my steg. I am fully aware people are tired of the green and red/orange color scheme. I really like the look though I think it suits the animal really nicely.

Thank you so much for the kind words!

[Horridus]

I like the little touch of the bird perched on Triceratops. Really brings it alive and also helps give a sense of scale (by way of comparison with modern megafauna).

[Griffin]

Thanks horridus. I love putting little birds and pterosaurs perched on large dinosaurs. I think its a good way of giving a window into what life really could have been like for them and putting a reference to scale in at the same time. Much appreciated.

[stoneage]

Great stuff even though I can see some erasure marks. You could illustrate a book on Dinosaurs. Of course I think there still may be some areas for you to work on. I liked the color as compared to just pencil, it gives it more life. All and All really great!!!!!

[Griffin]

Thanks for the kind words. Here are some more I did today.

Dilophosaurus


Parasaurolophus



Brachiosaurus


Tyrannosaurus Rex




Enjoy

[Radman]

I really like your drawings. You have an exceptional talent.
Keep 'em coming!

[[][][]cordylus[][][]]

The tyrannosaur is adorable.

[bokisaurus]

Great as always! I wish I could draw ;D
Have you submitted any of your drawings to Prehistoric Times Mag? They are always looking for new stuff, and yours look waaaaayyy better than 80% of the artworks used!
Check out whats coming next.... Keep up the good work!

[Griffin]

Thanks everyone for the kind words. Yeah, Cordy I made sure to put tiny beady eyes on the rex and it did end up with a sort of cute dopey look haha. And boki I never really considered submitting it to prehistoric times. Honestly I was never a subscriber. Maybe I'll look into it. I'll put up more soon.

[Horridus]

Another thought - the Giraffatitan really reminds me of Greg Paul's work. He tends to draw them slimmer than other people.

[Griffin]

Dec 13, 2009 20:31:27 GMT Horridus said:

Another thought - the Giraffatitan really reminds me of Greg Paul's work. He tends to draw them slimmer than other people.

I love greg paul's work. Especially his pterosaurs. Its funny because when I do these drawings I never really had the motive of making the sauropods lean like that its just the way they turned out. Ironically I think my pachy and hadrosaurs turned out a little on the beefy side.

[Horridus]

Yeah, I'm a fan of his work too. Meant it very much as a compliment.

[Griffin]

Thanks so much