Critter of the Week

Critter of the Week: Plesiosaurus

| Patricia Bujard

Meet Nessie.  This curious undersea critter is always looking for an opportunity to nab a treat.  You’ll never see her coming!  Her favorite game is hide-&-seek. 🙂

nessie

Look at that smile, I think she wants you to chase her!

Nessie loves a good game of hide & seek.  She’ll find a good spot in the sand, bury herself with those powerful flippers, and wait until an unsuspecting fish or squid comes by…

Snap!  Up comes her head, and the squid is lunch before it knows what’s happening.

Other times Nessie likes to be the seeker instead, and come up to a school of squid.  It’s hard to tell exactly how close she is…the squid are easily tricked into thinking that she’s further away than she really is, so that long neck of hers can dart in for a quick bite.

Her neck is actually quite stiff, more like a fishing pole for extra leverage than the swan-like curviness you usually see on the Loch Ness monster.  But Nessie can put that leverage to good use.

There were more squid and squid-relatives than fish in Jurassic oceans, and one of those relatives are ammonites.  If you’ve never heard of an ammonite (am-oh-night) before, then you can think of them as squid with snail shells.

The big difference (aside from not being related to snails)… Continue reading →

Critter of the Week: Pliosaurus

| Patricia Bujard

Meet Tigger. This big guy is always ready to flash a big, toothy smile, especially at mealtime.

 

Tigger plio

Look at that giant, toothy grin.  He’s sure happy to see you!  He’s looking for a treat or two (or ten), so that’s what this stinky bucket of slimy deliciousness is for.  Tigger has a huge appetite, and he’ll eat anything that fits in that giant mouth of his.  Even dinosaurs if one of them decides to go for a swim.  (you heard right, dinos can swim, we have tracks to prove it)

Now when I say dinosaurs, I don’t mean swimming critters like Tigger.  If you want the nitty gritty on what a dinosaur is or isn’t, you can quiz yourself on “Which One is the Dinosaur?”. 🙂  But even though Tigger wouldn’t mind a dino snack on occasion, it wasn’t usually on the menu, since he has plenty of turtles, squid, ammonites (think squid with a snail shell), fish, and marine reptiles to chomp on.

I say marine reptiles, because that’s what this big guy is.  Tigger isn’t a dinosaur at all, but a pliosaur.  In fact, his species, Pliosaurus, named his whole group!

The other marine reptiles swimming around here are ichthyosaurs and plesiosaurs.  My little girl calls them “icky-saurs” and “pleasy-saurs”. 😛

 

 

 

Making progress… Continue reading →

Critter of the Week Dilophosaurus

| Patricia Bujard

Meet Picasso.  This quiet softie loves spending time with his special person.  Snuggling under the tree to hear a good story?  That sounds like a lovely way to spend a warm afternoon. 🙂

picasso_update

Picasso looks very happy to see you, and he wonders very much if you like his red crest.  He’s very proud of it, you see, and he’s been strutting around the field like a very large rooster.

He marches up and down the fence line with his chest puffed out and his neck arched like a stallion.  He watches over his patch of yard like the duke of the land, and if something doesn’t look quite right, he’ll stand as tall as he can and show off those blue feathers- just so you know he has things under control.

Oh yes, feathers!  Now we don’t know for sure if this critter had feathers or not, and the whole subject of feathered dinos deserves it’s own series of posts, but there’s a definite possibility. 🙂

If you want to find out more about dinosaurs and feathers, here’s a post on what makes a feather, and here’s a post on figuring out which dinos might’ve had them. 🙂

I’ve given Picasso a coat of feathers similar in texture to an emu’s, which gives him the furry look.  His fingers and feet are feathered too, like a snowy owl, but they have pads on them for walking and grabbing.

If you’ve watched a lot of Jurassic Park, take note that Picasso has awesome grabby hands that are good for hugs.  Not dangly zombie bunny arms.  What good are those for? 😛

 

Making progress…

 

Happy New Year!  I hope you’ve been having a good holiday season.

I have big plans for the new year…Here’s a basic list, kinda in the order I want to accomplish it.

  • officially set up Mailchimp so that I can launch Pete’s Postcards from the Shop.
  • Finish Dippy vs. Ball so I can publish my first book (ever.)
  • Earn my first 99 cents from said book. 😀
  • Prep Dippy vs. Ball to make a print version available.
  • Create more Critter Cam episodes until I have enough for the anthology, which will also be available in print.

And…

  • Publish “Little, Quiet Dinosaur” (working title) by my birthday this year!  We’ll see how realistic a goal that is later, but I’ll try my best to have it at least finished (if not ready to publish on Amazon).

I have a strategy in mind, to make sure this happens.  Once Dippy vs. Ball is published, I’ll then work on an illustration for the picture book.

With an illustration complete, I’ll prep Dippy vs. Ball so that it can be available in print as well.

Then another illustration for the picture book…then I’ll start a second Critter Cam episode…you get the picture. 🙂

This way I hope to have more books out there (and therefore more easily seen, so future readers know I exist) while still making progress on the picture book. 🙂

P.S. – In case you didn’t notice, Picasso got an update!  

  • He looks more like most of the other critters now, style-wise
  • He’s more balanced over his hips now, and doesn’t look like he’s about to fall on his face
  • His head crest is shorter, and more like the latest skeletal drawings
  • His body is leaner, since I gave his feathers a slightly shorter, more fur like look.

Here’s the older picture for comparison. 🙂

picasso

Coming Next Week…

This big guy is always ready to flash a big, toothy smile, especially at mealtime.

Share your guess in the comments! He’ll be one of the critters over on the critter page. 🙂

Critter of the Week?

| Patricia Bujard

Oh no! I opened the back pasture gate to let Picasso up the hill this morning, and Pete and I just can’t find him anywhere.  A bit odd that he didn’t come for his treat.  I hope Skittles doesn’t mind.  I did see Picasso playing tag with her once…

 

I’m sorry about that.  You never know with critters…they can have the most predictable habits, but sometimes things turn out differently.  He probably found a lizard or something in the brush and ran after it.

Picasso is a Dilophosaurus, a leopard-sized predator of Jurassic Arizona.  He’s quite good at catching small, slippery snacks, so it might take Pete a while to find him in the brush.

While we wait, here is a Youtube clip that squashes a lot of misconceptions about Dilophosaurus.  Enjoy! 🙂

 

Critter of the Week: Ornitholestes

| Patricia Bujard

Meet Opie. He’s a happy little fella who loves to curl up in your lap, so it’s a good thing he’s about the size of a big dog!

Opie.jpg

Yes, Opie seems to think he’s a big lapdog, and he loves it when you stroke his feathers.  Where is he off to now?  It looks like he’s going to show you his favorite toy…Opie carries Teddy around everywhere.  He’s gone through quite a few “surgeries” to poke the stuffing back in after Opie nibbled on him.

Opie's bed copy.jpg

Oh! That’s Miss Kitty peaking around the corner.  She’s a little shy after Opie tried playing a game of snatch with her.  He’s just a big softie though, and he only wants to play.  He’ll get a little droopy when Miss Kitty doesn’t understand.  So he’ll curl up in his bed to snuggle with Teddy, and he’ll chirp happy chirps when he snuggles.  He sounds a lot like this…

Speaking of soft and cuddly, those feathers are rather like those on an emu or kiwi.  Looks a lot like fur, doesn’t it? 🙂

3431551945_36359b2e90_z.jpg
Emu feathers.  Photo courtesy of Amanda Slater (2009)

Making progress…

Getting along spiffily (is that a word?) on my little storybook, Dippy vs. Ball.  Here’s what I have so far on one of the spreads.  A handy little map so we can take a little stroll around Dippy’s hometown to meet the neighbors.

Continue reading →

Critter of the Week: Camptosaurus

| Patricia Bujard

Meet Copper & Daisy. These gentle giants are always happy to meet new friends.  They love being part of the group.

copperndaisy update.png

Copper is a strapping young bull, and never leaves the side of his lovely lady.  He’s very much the gentleman with her, and any friend who joins the herd.  Just keep a close eye on your pockets if you have treats!

You can’t hear him, since it’s a picture of course, but Copper is chirping to Daisy.  He’s found a good patch of something tasty, and he’s telling her to follow him.  Many dinos could probably make a lot of noise without ever opening their mouths, like the gurgly hum Copper is making here.  But you can see his lovely red throat all blown up like a bullfrog. 🙂

I imagine him sounding a lot like this…

 

Making progress…

 

I’m making progress like a ninja tortoise on my little project.  If you want to see what that looks like, here’s a surprisingly fast tortoise I found on Youtube. 😛 (I love how everyone in the clip makes such a huge deal on how fast this tortoise is)

So here’s what I’ve got…

  • line work for the comic is complete. (though it needs a couple of updates, I found a paper describing the soft spines on Dippy’s back, and I’ve been drawing them wrong.)
  • first page color nearly complete.
  • thumbnails for front and back cover, and a few other pages are done, so I just need to finish the line work there.

Here’s a quick look at the first page.  I’m going for a simpler style that’s animation friendly later on, so aside from a few tweaks on the background, this is just about done.  Do you prefer the simpler, more suggestive backgrounds, or a little more detail?

dippyvsball_pg1_flatcolor

Personally, I’m thinking of very minimal background, similar to the Wall-e and Big Hero 6 shorts. 🙂  Those short clips have pretty much no background, but the little scene at the bottom of the page is closest to what I’m going for.  Very minimal.

Here’s a look at the Wall-e and Baymax clips, so you see what I mean.

 

What do you think?  I would love your feedback! 😀  Just leave a quick word or two (or three) in the comments. 🙂

 

Coming Next Week…

This little dino is a bit shy, but she’ll come out of the bushes for a sweet hug and a small treat. 🙂

Share your guess in the comments! She’s one of the critters over on the critter page. 🙂

Critter of the Week: Compsognathus

| Patricia Bujard

Meet Twig. He’s a lot more travel-sized, if you’re looking for a dinosaur that’s not a bird.  He makes up for his size by being extra fluffy and huggable.  Can you resist that fuzzy tail?

Twig.jpg

Twig may be small, but he’s not nearly as teeny as most “educational” sources would have you believe.  Almost all the dinosaur books I’ve come across claim this little guy as the smallest dinosaur. “As big as a chicken” is the phrase often used.

Twig would have you know he’s the size of a turkey, not a chicken (makes a big difference if you’re standing right next to it).  All those other reports are actually based off a German fossil of a juvenile compy, not an adult.  Another well-preserved fossil was discovered in France in the 1970’s, but paleontologists weren’t sure it was a compy until more recent years.

Twig doesn’t mind the confusion though.  He’s not really bothered by much as long as he can snatch a lizard or two out of the bushes. 🙂

Just for fun, here’s a picture of Jurassic Park’s Compsognathus.  This picture is from the Jurassic Park Wikia, but did not have any credit associated with it.  It looks like it was cut from a screenshot of Jurassic Park: The Lost World.  It’s really quite a nice little puppet, and the film makers were able to give it the very lifelike, birdy movements described in the first book of the series.

thrash

The model has a few glaring inaccuracies, but I really enjoyed watching it in the film anyway.

  • Shrinkwrapped skin on muscle on bone, with no soft tissue in between.
  • Two fingers instead of three
  • Broken bunny arms
  • The lack of feathers is not technically inaccurate, because some relatives preserve feathers, and others preserve scales on the tail. So it’s a coin toss really, at least until we can find more data.  🙂

 

Making progress…

Got this done while the kids where happily playing with cars…well, they didn’t play with cars the whole time, but they were playing together, without fighting!  It was a rare blissful morning I tell ya.  😀

dippy comic progress.jpg

Of course it still needs work, but I thought I’d share my progress with you as I work on this.  I was hoping to have the eBook done by Christmas, but that was before I realized it’s almost impossible for me to not add detail.

See, I was going for a style like the size comparison critters in this chart.

dippy-page-copy

 What would you prefer?  The simpler, cuter, faster to draw style, or the more detailed sketchiness I’m currently going with.  It’ll take a bit longer, but I’ll keep you posted regularly on my progress!

Coming Next Week…

Why, oh why must everyone call her ugly?  I really don’t know.  She may not be winning any beauty contests, but she’s a real sweet heart with anyone she meets. 🙂

Share your guess in the comments! She’s one of the critters over on the critter page. 🙂

Critter of the Week: Ichthyosaurus

| Patricia Bujard

Meet Flipper.  He’s a happy-go-lucky guy who’s only ambition in life is to cruise the water for a bite of squid.  He loves to greet new friends with a friendly splash.

 

Flipper the Ichthyosaurus

It’s a dolphin!  It’s a shark!  It’s a…dinosaur?

Flipper is part of a unique-snowflake group of animals called Ichthyosaurs (think Ick!-theosaurs).

Way back when his great-great-great-great-super-great grandaddy (some lizardy thing at the time) started spending a lot of time in water.  So much time, that he got really good at it, so now Flipper is basically what a dolphin or fish would look like if reptiles started an aquatic lifestyle.

At least that’s the theory.  No one’s found this hypothetical, reptilian, super-great grandaddy so far, and there’s a lot of discussion when it comes to figuring out Flipper’s closest relatives.

Flipper here doesn’t think too much about all that though.  He’s just happy with the bucketful of squid Pete brings him.

 

Making Progress…

With the Holiday Season upon us, I’ve decided that I’ll be slowing down the weekly posts.  After 6 months of developing the habit, it’s going to be tough to come up on Monday and not have a post up…but that doesn’t mean I’ll be slacking!

The time I would normally dedicate to a new post will be used to finish my mini-comic book.  Once that is up on Amazon I’ll then be ready to set up the sign-up forms for Postcards from the Shop, and really get to work on the picture book itself.

It’s time to stop procrastinating in the research and build-up phase, and actually get it done!

I still plan on continuing with our Critter of the Week every Wednesday, but there won’t be any new pages for a while.  At least not until I get the eBook up on Amazon.

You’ll see an Art & Science post every now and then too, since there are still things I don’t know much about, and definitely need more research on.

Here’s what I’ve been working on the last couple of days.  Pretty cool what a few focused nap times can accomplish! 😀

Just for comparison…here I have the current home page, the update I showed you last week, and the most recent update…keep in mind It’s not complete, so there’s lots of places that still need work. 🙂

home page picture

homepage-progress

Here I’ve finished the drawing and I’ve started putting down some basic color. 🙂

homepage progress color.jpg

Coming Next Week…

The oft-proclaimed smallest dinosaur in the world is!…not as small as you might think.🙂

Share your guess in the comments! He’s one of the critters over on the critter page.🙂