Allosaurus, Ammonites, Ichtyosaur...

[Koss1959]

I haven't posted in a long time. I used to draw the occasional prehistoric beast but looking back, they always left a lot to be desired. Anyway, I have honed my craft and have since started a drawing degree. I don't do much paleo related drawings as the accuracy needed to be really good scares me! So while I've tried to keep mine reasonably accurate, they are always just for my own enjoyment. Here's a few I've done over the last year or so.

 

First off, something special. This ichthyosaur skull was drawn from life in the Lyme Regis Museum. It was drawn with Jurassic squid ink that was extracted from a fossil found in Lyme. Not easy to draw with as it's quite pale and I couldn't get the contrast I usually like, but a very cool thing to have done.

 

Next up we have a Promicroceras ammonite drawn in brown ink. 

 

An Allosaurus skull drawn in ink and copic markers. Quite pleased with how this came out.

 

And finally one I did for part of my degree, my Apoderoceras ammonite. This was done in pen and coloured pencil and was drawn from life. This piece is as accurate as I could make it to the original and was drawn full scale.

 

Hope you like them!

 

Edit: Ignore the order, the pictures came out in the wrong order!

 

 

[Darktooth]

Nice work! Keep it up!

[LordTrilobite]

Lovely style.

[Bobby Rico]

Very nice work. 

[The Amateur Paleontologist]

Beautiful artwork

-Christian

[Dinoguy89]

Great work, I really like the Ichtyosaur

[Captcrunch227]

These look great!

[Heteromorph]

Great work! Especially on the ammonites, although I am a little biased.

 

5 hours ago, Koss1959 said:

This ichthyosaur skull was drawn from life in the Lyme Regis Museum. It was drawn with Jurassic squid ink that was extracted from a fossil found in Lyme. Not easy to draw with as it's quite pale and I couldn't get the contrast I usually like, but a very cool thing to have done.

 

Wait, this is possible? Do you have more information on this process? I have never heard of such a thing. Not doubting, just really curious. 

[Koss1959]

11 hours ago, Heteromorph said:

 

 

 

Quote

 

 

Great work! Especially on the ammonites, although I am a little biased.

 

 

Wait, this is possible? Do you have more information on this process? I have never heard of such a thing. Not doubting, just really curious. 

Yes it's entirely possible but not very practical. The fossil squid in Lyme can be so well preserved the ink sack is still present. Unfortunately to get the ink, you need to destroy the fossil, so it's not a common thing to do. Once you have got the ink, you grind it up into a very fine powder and add water and gum arabic. It is then possible to write with it. However, I had such little ink (about a half teaspoon) I had to add more liquid than I would have liked, which reduced the intensity of the colour. The drawing was originally a soft desaturated lavender colour but has since turned more brown interestingly. 

 

Thanks all, I'm glad you like them! 

[Peat Burns]

Wow! 

[olorotitan]

Very cool! The color contrasts are really great in your drawings- they almost look 3D.

[Koss1959]

8 hours ago, olorotitan said:

Very cool! The color contrasts are really great in your drawings- they almost look 3D.

Thank you. Creating a convincing form is always my top priority. Glad you like them! 

[Koss1959]

A few more I've done recently. Plesiosaur vertebra drawn in markers and coloured pencils, an Asteroceras ammonite in pen and a number of icthyosaur verts, a piece of shark fin spine and a coprolite.

 

 

[Kane]

Very nice! I appreciate the patience required to go for the stippling effect in the B&W illustrations. 

[Tidgy's Dad]

Beautiful! 

These have an almost Edwardian feel to them, somehow. 

[Koss1959]

On 13/03/2019 at 12:08 PM, Kane said:

Very nice! I appreciate the patience required to go for the stippling effect in the B&W illustrations. 

Thank you. Stippling is fairly new to me so I'm still learning.

[thebluecatapilla]

Very nice work!

[Koss1959]

Thank you! 

[Fossildude19]

Very impressive work, sir!

 

[Pagurus]

Wonderful drawings. I particularly like the vert done in marker and colored [or coloured] pencil. Exquisite!

I've occasionally done a drawing in modern squid ink, but nothing very good. I used to do squid dissections with school kids and they enjoyed writing their names with the ink.

I remember reading about Mary Anning, I think, using fossil ink. Your drawing is terrific. Keep it up!

[3depix]

Beautiful fossil drawings!

[Koss1959]

I've been doing more scientific drawings lately so here's an A4 sheet of ichthyosaur fossils I drew. 

 

[Coco]

 

Coco