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Franz-Josef73 — Fighting Dinosaurs--Velociraptor and Protoceratops
Published: 2013-09-03 14:53:30 +0000 UTC; Views: 5213; Favourites: 108; Downloads: 2
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For a few years now, I've wanted to do a restoration of the famous Mongolian fighting dinosaurs found in 1971 during the Polish-Mongolian expeditions. I've done a few pencil sketches, but nothing I was particulalry fond of. I saw them years ago in the exhibit at the American Museum of Natural History and was struck by just how small they actually are compared to how I always envisioned them. I got to thinking about them again after flipping through a book last week, so over the Labor Day weekend, I finally did a color piece. The animals are rendered in Adobe Illustrator and the background is a photo of my back yard. Thanks for looking!Related content
Comments: 26
Yes! Absolutely love the fossil and your reconstruction!
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I've seen theories that the raptor wasn't hunting the proto, but rather that the proto was trying to eat the raptor's eggs (yeah, ceratopsians are now thought to be omnivorous, like pigs), and the raptor was defending its nest.
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Could be. Or maybe they were fighting over the last donut.
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Why is this not up for critique? This is critique material
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To this day, one of the greatest fossil finds of all time, famously named "The Fighting Dinosaurs" remains the only prehistoric moment frozen in time. Many artists have recreated the Velociraptor and Protoceratops locked in suicide combat. The realistic background with the animals digitally added may divert some viewers but when looked at objectively, is great in every way since the dinosaurs are the focal point. The shadows follow the bodies flawlessly as well as the colors. You can almost feel the intensity between the two animals, probably moments away from death. Overall, a fantastic piece and a welcome addition to any dinosaur enthusiasts favorites.
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To this day, one of the greatest fossil finds of all time, famously named "The Fighting Dinosaurs" remains the only prehistoric moment frozen in time. Many artists have recreated the Velociraptor and Protoceratops locked in suicide combat. The realistic background with the animals digitally added may divert some viewers but when looked at objectively, is great in every way since the dinosaurs are the focal point. The shadows follow the bodies flawlessly as well as the colors. You can almost feel the intensity between the two animals, probably moments away from death. Overall, a fantastic piece and a welcome addition to any dinosaur enthusiasts favorites.
Vision:
Originality:
Technique:
Impact:
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Awesome! Nice style, and I really like the way you drew the Velociraptor's rectrices - more extensive than in microraptorines. The more I think about it, the more likely it looks to me that the rectrices being restricted to the tail tip could be a microraptorine apomorphy - the fossil record is kinda ambiguous here :/
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Thanks very much. I used Archaeopteryx as a model. The terminal fan of feathers seems over-done to me and looks a bit goofy on larger dromaeosaurs I think.
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i actually really like all of it, i even like the cartoony look, because while bringing these beautiful creatures to like it's also showing in a sense, that they don't exist anymore and can only be shown in this way (do u get what i mean>)
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Well thank you indeed. I agree with your sentiments that we can't ever really restore these animals with absolute accuracy, so the slightly loose and more stylized way of doing it seems a fair compromise to me. Plus I dig the way it looks.
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Very nice. Personally I think the photo background clashes too much with the fairly cartoonish style of the drawing, but other than that, looks great! I like the velociraptor's facial markings, particularly the blue around the eye.
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Thanks. I've always liked the look of anachronistic things in a real setting. Cartoon beings in live action settings and that sort of thing...plus, I'm lazy and din't feel like redrawing a background. I need to start mucking around more with Photoshop to learn how to better "paint" using it, rather than messing around with vectors in Illustrator.
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very cool, but when did the Fighting Dinsaurs visit or come to stay at the American Museum of Natural History? i never saw them there during my visits.
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Thanks. That was fall of 2001 and spring of 2002, when the museum had their big Gobi exhibit with the restored dinosaurs and fossil specimens.
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thought so. they should put a replica of it in the museum so that others can see it.
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You have caught the moment perfectly, just pity that they both fought for nothing, to qoute :iconsporemastehimpo: " And then came the sandstorm"
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Thank you kindly. It really is an amazing specimen and shows the futility of most endeavors.
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Indeed, velociraptor is one of my fave dinosaurs.
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