Critter of the Month: Yi Qi

The dragon of the Jurassic! A mysterious creature that many portray as a monstrous frankenstein of bat and bird features…may actually not look so strange afterall.

This handsome little fellow was only about the size of a pigeon or perhaps a crow. The one and only fossil preserves beautiful details about its feathers, the skin membrane between a few fingers, and even the structures that hint at color. But fossils like these can often lead to even more questions than one started with! Let’s take a moment to unpack what I mean…

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Critter of the Month: Archaeopteryx

Meet Tango. This bird likes to party, and loves being the center of attention even more!

Last year I wrote a little story about Tango and Twig, but it was posted in two halves. Tango and Twig would be much happier if I posted the whole story in one place, so enjoy this silly little tale about Tango the Archaeopteryx and Twig the Compsognathus.

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Critter of the Month: Archaeopteryx

Meet Tango. This bird likes to party, and loves being the center of attention even more!

We’ve been working on my big boy’s reading skills, and he’s been struggling to focus on some of the stories in his workbook. To be perfectly frank, they’re not really stories so much as exposition on a particular topic. What’s exposition, you ask? In a word…boring! So I thought I’d write a few silly stories of my own for him to read!

Here’s the first little section. I’ll have it finished and post the complete story with the next critter of the month. Keep in mind this is for a beginning reader, so some sight words and words that he can sound out lol šŸ˜€

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Critter of the Month?

Ooh, what are the mysterious eggs for? I’m sorry for the wait, but Pete and I are having a bit of trouble finding Elmer. I think he heard the rumor about getting a check-up with the vet…

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this little preview sketch, and the picture below is probably pretty close to what Elmer’s habitat might’ve looked like. Only instead of grass there would be drought-hardy ferns, and cycads that look a bit like giant, prickly pineapples scattered about. šŸ™‚

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You’d think it would be easy to find a giant browsing in a savannah of ferns and araucaria trees! See you in a few days! I hope to have Elmer back here by next week at the latest. šŸ™‚

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Should be easy to find a giant the size of a whale in this stuff right??

 

Critter of the Month: Hoplosuchus

Meet Skippy. Ā Seven inches of pure ferocity, stouthearted loyalty, and sheer tenacity! No stair is too tall, no living room too large! This little guy will skip after any cricket you toss for him.

 

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He basked in the warmth of the sun, armored scales like a double row of polished stones. Eyes closed, mouth open with glistening teeth, he listened to the stillness. He could hear the distant calls of flying creatures as they gossiped about their day, the faint rustling of a summer breeze through scraggy conifer branches high above, the scratching chirp of a far away insect. The beating of wings. Continue reading

Critter of the Month: Camptosaurus

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

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Daisy opened her beak and let her tongue hang lose in a gaping yawn that stretched all the way down her spine. She shook her head, and her scaly skin rippled as she shook the yawn down to the tip of her long, rigid tail.

Satisfied with her shake down, she lowered her head and nosed the conifer needles and knotted roots along the ground. She shuffled the foliage to one side with her hands- scraping at the dirt with the claw that was her thumb, grasping twigs with two strong middle fingers, brushing needles and dried ferns into a pile with the stubby and clawless end digits…She patted the patch of ground one last time, and eased her body down front end first, like a cow. She sighed and, after taking one last look to make sure her herd-mates were shuffling nearby, closed her eyes, neck arched comfortably over her shoulders.

A deep, short, croaking noise by her head made Daisy open her yellow eyes, and she stared at the disturbance.

He was standing over her, his deep red throat bloated and vibrating with each croak. In his beaked lips he held a conifer branch, the tender kind with soft, scaly needles all along the branch, and he brushed this down Daisy’s neck and flank. Daisy just closed her eyes. She didn’t want anything to do with this nonsense, but Copper softened his croak to a coo, dropped the branch at her feet, and tapped his beaked nose against her dappled green side.

Daisy tossed her head and grunted a quiet warning, and Copper backed away with his head low. He looked sideways at her, silent, and Daisy arched her neck and closed her eyes. She heard shuffling, heavy steps, and she allowed her mind to wander as she relaxed into her patch of dirt and ferns. The sun felt warm and soothing on her green, pebbly scales, and she breathed in the tang of sap and spice of crushed cycad fruit.

Shuffling steps moved closer. Thud, thud, thud…and the rustling of dried needles and ferns. A warm weight settled beside her, dry and pebbly as she, and she opened one eye. Copper lay next to her, his back against her brown belly, and his three-toed feet stretched out like a giant bird laying on its side. If he noticed she was looking at him he didn’t show it, because he kept his eyes closed and yellow neck arched like he was sleeping.

Daisy draped her head across Copper’s shoulders and shifted her weight against him, closing her eyes as his rhythmic breathing mingled with the ever-present shuffling of feet in the undergrowth.

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In case you’re wondering what Copper’s “love song” sounds like… šŸ˜€

 

 

Making progress…

I’ve been delightfully busy this month!

Baby Girl is sitting up, taste-testing food, and crawling down the hallways now, so she’s a little bundle of excitement around here. A solid night’s sleep is still pretty rare, but nap times are a little more predictable, and even if she’s awake she is easily entertained. So some days she “helps” me with my artwork. šŸ˜€

Here are a few things she’s been offering her raspberry critique on…

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So now that this “quick” project is done and in my redbubble shop, here are a few things I’ve learned…

  • Never underestimate a particular art form because it looks “simple”.
  • “Fast and easy” art, like patterns or simple designs for t-shirts, are much more complex than you’d think. Nothing is “fast and easy” if it’s the first time you’ve ever done it.
  • Time taken for a “fast and easy” side project is mostly procrastination and time taken away from the larger project. However…
  • “small” projects can provide some mental space and rest from a much larger project

 

Working on Dippy’s updated image also taught me a few things. Especially…

  • Don’t procrastinate, just start!
  • Sometimes we struggle on something we thought should be simple, and that’s ok. Sometimes we just need to see it from a different angle.
  • Don’t waste time making a reference model perfect, or even 80% accurate. Good enough is good enough. šŸ™‚

Now that I’ve finished this little ammonite pattern and a few critter updates, I am ready to jump back into the picture book again with fresh energy. šŸ˜€ Dippy’s reference model taught me that a reference model doesn’t need to look good to do what you need it to, so I will apply that lesson to finishing Steggy’s habitat. šŸ˜€

Hopefully I can make some real progress there over the next month! In the meantime, I hope you like Copper and Daisy’s quiet little adventure. šŸ™‚

 

Coming Sept 1st…

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

Share your guess in the comments! She’s oneĀ of the critters over on the critter page. šŸ™‚