Halloween This Year

Berlin Brachio...er... Giraffatitan Reconstruction

Giraffatitan brancai Restoration - The New Berlin Mount

With ART Evolved's Sauropod Gallery up in all it's glory, I quietly added one more piece from me - a brachiosaur in pen-and-ink with dot-shading. Officially, it is a reconstruction of the new mount of the Berlin Brachiosaurus ...err... Giraffatitan branchai.

Giraffatitan. A name just not as cool as ol'Brachio. If you're interested in why this specimen was renamed, check out here and here. My interest lies not in the new name, but with the new mount.

Back in the summer of 2002, I traveled around Europe by train (good ol'Eurorail!), checking out the many museums and beer halls the UK, Ireland, France, Spain, Italy, Belgium and Germany has to offer.

Besides the beer, wine, rich food and chocolate consumed, one of my favorite things I found in Europe was the Berlin Brachiosaur - yes, still Brachiosaurus in 2002 - at the Museum für Naturkunde Berlin. It was huge - a mighty testament to an amazing animal as well as to the scientists who discovered, prepared and mounted her. Umm, created her mount. Yeah.

Still the tallest mounted skeleton in the world, the Berlin Brachiosaur was updated when the museum underwent renovations. Gone were the elbows-out arms and draggy tail. Now she strides elegantly in lovely Greg Paul-style, head held high and arms underneath.

You can see the transformation from the original pose in these 2002 pictures (before digital panorama ability!) and the new pose in the Wikipedia picture at the top of the post. Next to that new mounted Giraffatitan is my pen drawing of the animal reconstructed. As you can see, I moved the positioning of the back legs, to make it look more stable where it stands.

I love this specimen - one of my favorites out there, and when sauropods became the next ART Evolved gallery, it seemed right to reconstruct the Giraffatitan. (Though she'll always be the ol'definitive Brachiosaurus to me.)

Having delved into these old European museum photos, I feel the need to share them. And so begins a new series here on Bond's Blog - A Photographic Tour of Museums I've Been To: Europe - Part 1: Berlin. Coming soon...

The Sauropod Gallery is UP!

Check out the HUGE Sauropod Gallery over at ART Evolved - it really is as gigantic as the beasts we reconstruct!

Sauropod Liveblogging 15: FINISHED (for now)

Here we are with the finished piece - well not quite, but it is as much as I am going to do today! 2:00 am and time for bed. That was a blast, a whole day - 15 hours of painting and blogging. All it needs now is a name: Rearing in the Rain. Umm... maybe. With that, I bid you goodnight.

Music: none, except for the sounds of snoring...

Sauropod Liveblogging 14: Rain Splashes

Dinos in the Rain. Does this work? I don't think it is too much, do you? Maybe need more rain shafts and perhaps blur out the forest more...

Music: I Gotta Feeling by Black Eyed Peas, Numb by Linkin Park, Stockholm Syndrome by Muse.

Sauropod Liveblogging 13: Rain

So here is an hour's experimenting with rain. Certainly makes the piece more moody...
Will be continuing with the rain, hopefully not adding too much...
Midnight here in the rainy city...

Music: All Apologies by Nirvana, Better Man by Pearl Jam, Vertigo by U2, Smile by Lily Allen

Sauropod Liveblogging 12: Scales

Scales now...just dots, but they work! 11pm here and craving food. Think I'll finish tonight? That's the plan. At some point we will be bringing the rain. Anyone know the best non-digital way to add the impression of rain?

I am back to listening to music: Tango Shoes by Bif Naked, Grey Street by Dave Matthews Band, 1234 by Feist

Sauropod Liveblogging 11: Spines

Spines were added to the back of the barosaur and need to be continued down his tail. Starting to slow down...need coffee and a kick in the pants!

But the Canucks WON!!! 2-1 against the Wild!

Sauropod Liveblogging 10: Details Details...

Details in the allosaur were added with pen, and its tail has been placed over the barosaur's tail. I like where this is going. Need to make the piece more menacing... Maybe I'll add some rain.

1-1 all tie right now in the game! Go Canucks Go!

Sauropod Liveblogging 9: Mud Puddles

So this time, we've added detail to the millions of mud puddles/footprints. They should be looking more 3-D (though you may need to enlarge the pic to see it.) Time for some dinosaur detail!

Vancouver 0 - 1 Minnesota : End of the 1st Period. COME ON VANCOUVER! SCORE!

Sauropod Liveblogging 8: Darkening

Here I have darkened the dinosaurs, and I am trying to figure out the shading and where the shadows fall... It's a rainy evening, and the last light seems to be coming from behind the mountains in the background. So the shadows should fall towards the "camera," right?

Let's try it!

Vancouver vs Minnesota: Puck drops now! Score 0 - 0.

Sauropod Liveblogging 7: Forest Detail

Added more detail to the background forest, which I am liking much more. I really love the moment where the painting starts to leave Glendon's Ugly Phase and starts to become nice to look at. I'm not quite there yet.

Time to delve into the dinosaur detail. My style tends to be bright and colourful, and I am trying to move away from that - so these animals will be becoming darker...

Vancouver Canucks hockey game starts in about an hour, so I'll be updating you on that as well!

Sauropod Liveblogging 6: More Mud and Deeper Colours

Defining and darkening the ground and the dinosaurs. Need to go in and do the forest details. Had lunch.

Sauropod Liveblogging 5: Mud

Let there be ground! So I've begun to do the muddy, water-soaked ground, as I plan to have it raining. Need some shadows and shading. Usually not my strangest aspect of painting, so I want to focus on it.

Music I am listening to right now: Baby Beluga by Raffi. Sung by Craig...please stop.

Sauropod Liveblogging 4: Dino Colours

So the dinosaurs get a base colour. I had to physically remove the red from my brush for the allosaur (who just has to be red! Why? I don't know!) Trying to get away from the norm...

I am listening to right now: Craig's voice on skype. He's begun his liveblogging, so check him out here.