Month: May 2016

Critter of the Week: Ichthyosaurus

| Patricia Bujard

Meet Flipper.  He’s a happy-go-lucky critter who likes to play.  He’ll do just about anything to get you wet and in the pool, so be sure to wear your swim suit around him!  Bonus points if you happen to have a treat of fish. 😉

 

Flipper the Ichthyosaurus

 

I got quite a bit done around the site this week.  Mostly small tweaks that no one will ever see, but will help the site be more easily found.  That’s always a good thing.  No good having a website if I’m invisible. 🙂  I also got a few pictures up!  My dear Hubby and I had a lot of fun taking the pictures over the weekend.

I know I promised hopefully two critters this week, but I’ve had a couple of set backs.  So soon in the game, and already delays!  D:  ‘Tis the way of the things.  🙂

The computer I do most of my work on won’t turn on.  It’s the only one with Photoshop, the art program I use for my illustrations, so it’s definitely a set back.  No worries though!  That doesn’t mean I won’t update!  Dear Hubby is letting me use his laptop for these posts, and I’ll just have to do the illustrations the old-fashioned way.  🙂

So I have little Juramaia (I’ll call her Maya) ready and waiting for her que.  🙂  She’ll look different than the others so far.  I’m not sure I can get the same profile effect I have on the other profile pictures, but I’ll have her come out to meet you anyway.  Then I can fix her to look like the others (text, footprint, etc…) once I have my poor computer up and running again.  🙂

So little Maya will see you next week!  In the meantime, take a quick jog over to the about page and check out the new picture. 🙂

Setting up Expectations

| Patricia Bujard

 

Pete’s Paleo Petshop is set in a world where you can visit the shop to meet your very own prehistoric friend.  At the moment time has stopped in the Jurassic period, the “golden age” of the dinosaurs, but this is only the beginning.  Over time we’ll explore every period of Earth’s history, and meet all sorts of cool critters- even plants and bacteria are amazing if you take a closer look!

The first picture book will look through the eyes of 4-year-old Danny as he goes to the pet shop with his family.  They’re looking for a pet that’s small and quiet- hard to find in an age of giants!  But picture books are harder to make than you’d think, especially since I want to do it right.  So we’ll get to explore the world, meet the characters, and have other adventures (like short stories) while I work on writing and illustrating the book.  🙂

As a reader, I’ve always loved diving into the world.  I was (and still am) a huge fan of Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter.  I was the sort of girl who memorized all the spells in Harry’s spell book, tried learning Elvish, and pinched my ears in the hopes they might get just a tiny bit more pointy on the ends.  😛 True story.

I fell in love with the worlds between the pages, and I wanted more of that.  I’d like to give you that same experience.  (Ok, I kinda wish I had my own pet dinosaur too.)

I have so many ideas for exploring the world!

  • Interviews with Pete & the critters
  • Adventures at the shop with Pete & the critters
  • Pamphlets and flyers from the shop to answer important questions on prehistoric animal care.  Just like in a real pet shop 🙂
  • Pete’s Postcards from the shop.  Get a peak into Pete’s mailbox and his weekly tips on handling your prehistoric pet.  This way you won’t miss any new posts, and you’ll get a look behind-the-scenes as I work on the book.
  • And more!  I have lots of ideas, but this list is a good start.  Of course, I’d love to know what you want.  🙂

 

It’s always great to learn something while we’re having a little fun.  So the blog will be a place we can chit chat a couple times a week about anything prehistoric or artistic.  But just so I don’t get too carried away, here’s the jist of what I’ll be sharing with you.

  • Learn about prehistoric critters, and why do they matter anyway?
  • Practice art techniques, especially as they relate to paleoart.
  • Cool stuff I find in my research.
  • Updates on my process and (hopefully) progress as I work to success!
  • Reviews on books or other things that I use and love.  They help inspire me and help me do what I do.  And if it’s something you would like too, then all the more reason to spread the love.  🙂

That about sums it up.  But really, I just want to create a little something that will brighten your day.  There’s plenty enough darkness and despair in the world, and life is too short and precious to dwell on it.  I’m not saying to ignore it entirely, but why not take joy in the beauty of life!

What do you like about dinosaurs and art?  What would you like to talk about?  Let me know in the comments!  I’d love to here from you.  🙂

Critter of the Week: Archaeopteryx

| Patricia Bujard

Hi there, and thank you so much for joining me here on my little corner of internet!  Last week I posted that my goal for the week was to add a profile to the critter page.  Here we have archaeopteryx! His name is Tango because he loves to dance and fluff out his feathers.  🙂

 

tango

 

I also took note of your advice, and I’ve added a quick word blurb on the home page.  Hopefully it’s more clear what the site is about.  I’m working on a better post or page that’ll explain it all properly (the long version).  But hopefully the quick blurb will do for now.  🙂

 

My goal for next week…

  • First official blog post!
  • one (hopefully two!) critter profile picture.  I’m thinking…something furry, and something with flippers.

Pete’s Paleo Petshop: Beta is Underway!

| Patricia Bujard

A lot’s been going on in the past few months.  I’ve been keeping things pretty quiet so far, but I can’t stand it any longer.  It’s about time we get out of the shell and hatch already!  Now the website is about as naked and ugly as a newly hatched parakeet, but everybody’s gotta start somewhere right?  So I’ll get right to the point and tell you what I’ve been up to around here.

 

  • Lots of critters on the critter page, with pictures!  I still have profiles to update and pictures to add, so come back once a week to see another critter (I’m planning Mondays or Fridays, not sure yet).
  • I have an about page!  I plan on tweaking this to be a “start here” sort of page as I write more blog posts.  How much do you want to know about me anyway?  😛
  • Home page. A peak into the shop.  This picture is a messy placeholder until I can polish it up with shading and all that good stuff.

 

This week’s goal…

  • add another critter profile picture.  I’m thinking something with feathers…can you guess which one it is? 😀

Bonus Question:

Any thoughts on the image above?  Maybe all it needs is some lighting to tie it all together, but what do you think?  I want to represent many critters from many time periods.  🙂

 

Thank you so much for visiting my little corner of the internet.  It really means a lot to me.  🙂