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! 🙂
Meet Rosie. She’s a bit shy, and might need a little encouragement to come closer. A few treats should do the trick. Before you know it she’ll be perfectly content to snuggle close and put her head on your lap. 🙂
Meet Elmer. He’s a little shy, and likes staying in his comfort zone, but he’ll be your best giant friend if you give him some greens and a big hug.
The best way to a dino’s heart is through his stomach, as they say. Well, that’s not really the phrase, but I’m sure it’s just as true, especially when it comes to these long-necked sauropods. 🙂 I think the rough estimate is a solid cube- 5ft x 5ft – of vegetation in a single day to feed one of these guys.
Oh, there’s Elmer, browsing on a few of the trees that grow here in the pasture. You’d think you’d see him right away, he’s so big. But his striped pattern is surprisingly good camouflage in that grove of tall conifers.
What’s he looking at…? Oh, here comes Pete on the Kabota. He’ll be joining us here on the platform to feed Elmer. If you lean over the railing a bit and look down, see that row of big boxes kinda spaced along the wall? That’s where the big bunches of conifer branches and ferns will go. They’re in the big shed behind us, the one to the left of the stairs we came up.
And here comes Elmer. My goodness, he’s fast. It looks like he’s moving slow, but with those long legs he sure covers ground quickly! And so quiet…You’d think there’d be the big stomping footsteps you hear in Jurassic Park.
Hey there Elmer! We have a friend to see you today. 🙂
I just can’t get over how big he is! What are we, 30 feet up? 40?
It’s hard to grasp how big these guys really are until you’re right next to them. Come to think of it, that’s the way it is with most animals.
To think that Elmer is as heavy as 5 elephants. Five! And not just any elephant. 5 bull African elephants, which are about as big as it gets when it comes to land animals walking around today.
Here’s a video that helps put that into perspective…
So five of those guys is about as heavy as the average humpback whale. Yes, Elmer here is every bit as big as a whale, and he’s not even the biggest sauropod out there!
Oh, hi Pete, we have a visitor today!
There you are, friend, a nice bunch of ferns you can give Elmer. Just grab it at the end here, and make sure your fingers are in a nice, tight fist.
That’s it.
Elmer’s teeth are like pruning shears, so we don’t want to lose any fingers today by mistake.
I think he likes you!
Making progress…
I’ve been working on actually finishing the homepage image for a bit now, and I thought I would share my progress so far.
It’s an important part of the site, since it’s the first thing you see, and it’s the “front window” of Pete’s Paleo Petshop.
But it’s also a test.
A test for style, to make sure I’m happy with it, and it’ll have the feel I’m going for.
A test to see how long it takes me to complete a full illustration. (so far two weeks, but that’s in between the margins of everything else)
And a test to make sure you like what you see as well. After all, this may be an ambitious idea and project, but the long-term goal is to earn a passive income in a way that doesn’t take time from my family.
So here is two weeks of sporadic sketching between posts, child herding, and making sure the house doesn’t fall apart. 😛 (I exaggerate, but truly, being a stay-at-home mom takes quite a bit more work than a lot of people think 🙂 )
Compared to the current homepage…You’ll notice the little saber-tooth cub lost his fangs. They’re just hidden behind extra large lips. Turns out only tusks are exposed, so all saber-tooth cats should have their teeth nicely sheathed. 🙂
I did look at reference pictures, but research was kept to a minimum since most of these animals are not in the Jurassic period. I’ll update the picture as I get to the appropriate periods, which may take a while. 😛
Coming Next Week…
I hope you don’t mind getting wet, because this swimming critter loves to splash! 🙂
Meet Tango. This bird likes to party, and loves being the center of attention even more!
Tango is a pretty good example of when you should check with your neighbors before you choose your pet. Of course, if you live out in the sticks like I do, then it doesn’t matter so long as you don’t mind going deaf.
Ok, ok, I exaggerate. But really, unless you like a whole lot of this going on, I’d reconsider a quieter critter.
Making progress…
I’ve got profile pictures for all the critters on the critter page! (I’m super super excited, because that’s the most obvious sign of my progress so far XD )
Speaking of profile pics, notice how Tango got a shiny updated one? (hint hint, nod nod)
Now I’m starting on their official character pages. You can go to the critter page and click on Tango (or if you’re lazy, just click here 😛 ) It’s pretty basic, and not very shiny yet, but hey, it’s a start. 🙂
I also got Tango’s card done. One more dinosaur to complete the series, and I’ll open up the official sign up for Postcards From the Shop!
Coming Next Week…
This guy will chase after anything that moves, or smells good… 😉
Meet Gulper. He’s the biggest, most easy-going fish in the sea. All he wants in life is to drift through nice sunny waters. He’d love it if you joined him for a swim, and you’re welcome to hitch a ride on his fin. 🙂
Gulper has a giant mouth, but don’t worry, all he eats are tiny sea critters called plankton- just like whales. 🙂
Also like whales, this guy is enormous! Here’s a short video of a whale shark and diver, just to give you a hint on how big they are.
As big as the shark is, Gulper is even bigger. 😀
Probably not much bigger, and most reports you’ll find are greatly exaggerated. But hey- whale shark size is still huge, and anything bigger than that is just about mind blowing!
Just for fun, here’s another clip. This one is from the TV show River Monsters. I’m not a fan of the way he talks about these fish as monsters- Gulper is pretty laid back- but it’s still interesting. Keep in mind the length of the fish is probably exaggerated in the clip. 🙂
Making progress…
This week was better for staying on track. 🙂
I rather like having the A&S posts every two weeks, with a shorter sort of preview post in between. It gives me more time to research on the chosen critter. Good research makes sure the critters are accurate to science, but also lets me know what I can speculate on the details.
So you can look forward to more youtube videos and possibly links to other awesome posts. 🙂
Coming Next Week…
He’s a flying ace! He’ll swoop, dive, and swim anywhere for a shiny fish. 🙂
Hi there! Terry is here with us today, a rather odd looking critter isn’t she? If I asked you to tell me what she is, what would your answer be? Flying dinosaur? Terradactyl? Pterosaur?
If you said Pterosaur then clearly you’ve done your homework. If not, don’t feel bad (I’m not pointing fingers), because the sad fact is that most books, movies, toys, and pretty much anything to do with dinosaurs always lump Terry and her many relatives into the same pile.
Terry is a Pterosaur (Don’t mind the P there, it’s confusingly silent), a group of flying reptiles closely related to dinosaurs. To be specific, her wild cousins are Pterodactylus kochi. Pterodactylus is thepterosaur, where we get the name for the whole group. So now you know she’s special. 😀
1. Is that…fur?
Terry, like all pterosaurs, is covered in a fuzzy layer of pycnofibers. They’re made of the same keratinous proteins as our hair and fingernails. But they appear to be hollow inside, which makes them much more like feathers than fur.
I say “appear to be”, because not everyone agrees. Most of the fossils are a bit squashed, and even the 3d fossils can be hard to tell if what fills the space inside was part of the living animal or just more of the fossil (or a part of decomposition after the critter died, but before it fossilized).
Terry and her many relatives are related to dinosaurs in the same way that crocs are related to dinosaurs (They are all Archosaurs). A bit like a great aunt.
Since many dinosaurs are known to have feathers of various kinds, it would be pretty significant if pterosaur pycnofibers are determined to be feathers as well.
How significant? More fluffy dinosaurs! It’s possible that the earliest dinosaurs had a coat of fur-like feathers. 🙂
2. Hard Beak or Fuzzy Snout?
Terry & Ron are both pterosaurs, but look very different from each other. Fuzzy snout vs. hard beak. The difference in texture of fluffy pycnofibers is my own speculation. We don’t really know what these might’ve looked like in life.
Now I’m not quite sure where I first heard of the idea of hard-beaked pterosaurs…I think I remember Petrie from The Land Before Time had a beak. Come to think of it, I guess there are plenty of interpretations with beaky pterosaurs, but I’m not sure how many are based on fossil evidence.
Terry’s friend on the left is a Rhamphorynchus (that’s a mouthful, sorry, let’s call him…Ron). Some illustrate Ron and his wild relatives with just the toothless tip of his snout with a beak, but I’ve based mine off of Mark Witton’s lovely illustration.
Honestly, it’s hard to imagine those crazy teeth with any kind of soft tissue, and that seems to be the argument for a hard beak over the bone.
3. The original pole vaulting masters
Pterosaurs had powerful wings, but their legs weren’t really strong enough to jump up to fly like birds. So does that mean they’re helpless on the ground?
Not at all, look at Terry scamper around!
Pterosaurs were Earth’s first pole vaulting masters. Their powerful wing-arms were strong enough to push their bodies (even the biggest ones) up into the air. Mark Witton proposes that even the largest, giraffe-sized pterosaurs could lift off from the ground. Many could probably take off from the water!
Helpless? I think, not. 🙂 Here’s a quick video so you can see it in action. 🙂
How is it possible?
Unlike birds, pterosaurs have most of their muscle dedicated to their wings. Birds need enough muscle in their legs to jump up before flapping, while pterosaurs pole vault into the air with the same power they use for flying.
So no need to jump off a cliff or wait for warm updrafts of air. 🙂
Quick Question: Ah, the nostalgia of so many movies and documentaries…I must say I still rather like the leathery, cliff-clinging bats in Fantasia (so many great retro-saurs in that one). Are there any pterosaurs from books or movies that have colored how you see these animals? 🙂 I’d love to hear your answer in the comments!
Meet Bella. She’s big, she’s loud, and she’s really happy to see you! She’s happy to see anyone really, except Alfred, but can you blame her? There’s about a-bazillion years of conflict going on there…
There she is! She is the most accommodating of Pete’s very large camarasaurus herd- voted least likely to accidentally trample the equipment. They can be an excitable bunch, and don’t always pay attention to what they’re bumping into. I’ll just say that when Pete finally got her separated from the herd there was a tractor, some flags, an air horn, and a rubber chicken involved…
These Camaras are more closely related to the smaller wild species, C. lentus (there are 3 🙂 ), which are only about 49 feet long. But that’s still a lot of sauropod on the move, especially when you multiply it by 80!
Why so many?
Paleontologists may call Bella the ugliest sauropod, but they’re pretty popular for anyone with plenty of pasture. Their friendly and calm, cow-like attitude makes them an easier alternative to the larger giants like Elmer.
If only they weren’t so loud! But some may call Bella’s singing endearing. It’s lovely to hear their chorus far out to pasture.
Have the video play in the background while you look at Bella above, I can’t help laughing at the mental picture of 50 or 100 of these fat, happy sauropods calling to each other constantly. In a herd of such large animals, you don’t really need stealth. 😀
Making progress…
The past couple of weeks it’s been tough to keep up. I need to rethink how I do things, or get better at more efficient use of my time during the day. One of the two. 😛
I’ve kind of fallen into the bad habit of keeping right on the posts. It feels a bit like plugging holes in a leaky dam. As I get one done, then I’m scrambling to get the next one done, half afraid I won’t be able to keep up.
I’m not saying this to complain of course, just as a way of evaluating where I’m at, in a way that I can look back later and remember where I came from. 🙂 Looking back at earlier posts has been the best way for me to see my progress, slow as it’s been. It keeps me going by knowing how far I’ve come. 🙂
Speaking of earlier posts, I used to have a list of future posts, and I would update information and write little snippets whenever I could. I’ve been kinda scrambling ever since I wrote all the posts on the list.
Time to write up another list! And perhaps have a couple of posts with relevant youtube videos like Monday. If you like those, I can do it a little more often. 🙂
Coming Next Week…
This giant likes to bask in warm, sunny waters. He’d be super easy to care for if only the tank didn’t need to be the size of the Mediterranean…
A sneak-peak for this week’s critter of the week. I’m afraid I’ve had a bit of trouble wrangling Bella. She won’t leave her friends when they’re in the middle of choir practice.
Maybe it’s the squarish shape of her snout, her stout proportions, and that thick, kinda stumpy neck (for a longneck anyway)…but for some reason poor Bella is often quoted as the “ugliest of sauropods”.
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and Bella certainly doesn’t care about beauty contests. She’d much rather sing with the other hundred Camarasaurus in the herd.
Just imagine hearing a hundred of these first thing in the morning… XD
Just sit tight and listen to those busy longnecks gossip. I’m sorry to keep you waiting, but just like any animals, these dinos can be a bit of a handful to handle. I’ll have to see if Pete will help me with the tractor…I’ll be back with Bella as soon as I can!
We interrupt our regular Monday program (The Art & Science of Pete’s Paleo Petshop) to give you a bit of quick behind-the-scenes sneak peak. I’m deep in the heart of picture-book production, and I’m at the point where I want to have the front cover all nice and shiny, so it can be the proverbial carrot at the end of the stick for me.
If I have a clear image of what I’m headed for, then it may be easier to keep heading that direction. 🙂
I would like it very much indeedy if I could have a bit of feedback. Doesn’t have to be much, just enough to help me steer in the right direction. 🙂
First though, a quick (and brief!) rundown of what’s needed in a picture book cover.
Visually appealing- obvious is of course obvious. What’s your first reaction when you see it? A resounding yes! Or…not quite hitting the mark?
Gives hints about the story- it makes you want to know what happens.
Gives you a “feel” of the story. Style, general mood, if it’s funny or serious, etc…
Text is clear, and can be read from a distance, or at least get you to take a closer look.
Would you buy it if you saw it on a shelf?
There’s more to designing a book cover, but those are the basics. So I have a couple of questions for you…
What’s your first reaction when you see the picture?
Would you pick up the book if you saw it on a library shelf? Please tell me why or why not. 🙂
Are there any questions you have about the characters or the illustration? Does it make you want to know more, or know the story behind it?
With those questions in mind then, here is the sketch.
And here is the colored version as I have it now. It’s only colored as much as necessary to get an idea of style and general look. It doesn’t have fine details yet.
Thank you for swinging by my little corner of the internet, and thank you for taking the time to chat with me today. 🙂 I think it’s pretty awesome that indie publishing is an option, and that you can be a part of this.
Here are those questions again, and it would be most helpful if you could answer the questions for each image above. Whichever ones work best for each picture. 🙂
What’s your first reaction when you see the picture?
Would you pick up the book if you saw it on a library shelf? Please tell me why or why not. 🙂
Are there any questions you have about the characters or the illustration? Does it make you want to know more, or know the story behind it?
Thank you again for taking the time to help me give you something better. 🙂 I love to read your answers in the comments! 😀
Pete's Paleo Petshop 