Sorry…I don't mean to tell you how to draw Realistic Teryx, I just thought you might appreciate the tips.
Awwww, it's no problem. I really do appreciate those tips, as I would certainly need as much help as I could get. Plus..... I love the notion of fluffy-ness.
Well, I’m glad to hear that. Thanks.
Here’s a couple more tips, then, in case you want them: remember that
Archaeopteryx had a rather thin and pointy snout. I’m still unclear on what’s the correct way to reconstruct an
Archaeopteryx skull, though I’m guessing that
this picture is a fairly accurate example. (
This artist draws some exceptionally adorable archies, even if they aren’t completely up to date.) As for the wing and leg feathers,
this picture provides a pretty good reference.
It’s great that you love fluffy dinosaurs, because evidence suggests that a lot of them were even fluffier than previously thought.
For example, here’s a page
here’s a page that discusses how to accurately feather a
Velociraptor; this has been my model for feathering raptors (allowing for differences between species) ever since I first saw it. (On the same blog there’s
a post warning paleoartists of how
not to draw
Archaeopteryx, but unfortunately it doesn’t go into much detail on the
right way to do it. The author does have his own reconstruction of
Archaeopteryx here.)
I think it's pretty awesome that we're seriously discussing raptors and similar dinosaurs playing video games!! My life is almost complete now!! 
Agreed. One thing I love about talking with you is that we have these kinds of wacky conversations.
And yet no matter how goofy and random they get, we still discuss them with (at least some degree of) logic and scientificness, the same as any serious-minded discussion. We've got spazziness down to a SCIENCE!
:
Yes, I have never relished the prospect of an angry Archaeopteryx latched onto my face. Though it is an experience I have fantasized about inflicting on my characters, sadly.
Just like your poor dinosona!! 
Except it was from a whole bunch of angry Archaeopteryx!!
Now how is it that I almost forgot about that? My dinosona got off easy: those
Archaeopteryx were just mobbing him, trying to drive him away, not do him any real harm. However, I think I’ve envisioned a scene in which my walrus character (the same one from the “Pillrus” picture), while dealing with a scared and grounded archie, becomes the unfortunate wearer of a live
Archaeopteryx mask.
Most of the lines were hand drawn, but in the case of the countertop that's closest to the viewer, I had a little help from MS Paint (it finally proves useful for something 
). And I totally agree that the oven part didn't look right. But when I was drawing this, I thought it was the door itself that's the problem and I kept erasing it and trying to make it look better to no avail before I finally just gave up. Looks like I've been focusing on the wrong thing the entire time 
Thanks for pointing out the true source of the off-ness (again! )!!
You’re welcome.
I wish I could have done that while you were actually drawing the picture, though. Then my observation would have been of some actual help.
By the way, I got your e-mail with the "Pillrus" picture attached, and sent you a response. You received that, right? Just checking.
Yup, I did get your response. I've just been avoiding my yahoo account lately...
Uh-oh, have you been having problems with your e-mail account? :unsure: Do you think you’ll have to get a new one or something? (If you do, you could always try Gmail; my brother has had both Yahoo! and Gmail accounts, and he tells me Gmail is much better. The emoticons are vastly inferior, though.) Sorry, just being panicky. I really want us to be able to continue our e-mail conversations!
I got the punching bag picture done today!! It's not too good as its primary purpose (other than having some fun with the concept ) was to practice drawing a Domehead from a different angle (I really am hard-set on practicing for my AMV, now that my Guilty Until Proven Innocent story is complete).
Hoo boy…I saw that picture on your DeviantArt account earlier, and positively cracked up.
Upon closer inspection, I decided that the picture was a mix of terrifying and gut-bustingly hilarious. Now that you've described the situation in detail, though…I'm not sure I should be laughing at all. :unsure: Geez, Tero is
frightening. :blink: I don't think I'm gonna need a reminder in the RP not to tick him off; when Tero shows up, I'm hiding behind your dinosona (and taking Guido with me).
Tero is SEVERELY pissed off, moreso than usual at least. Nobody knows why (though the fact that he just got home from an Anger Management session probably holds a clue; aren't those sessions supposed to be helping him with his problems 
?!).
Hmm…is his anger management group mostly made up of humans? I would think that being the only
Pachycephalosaurus there wouldn't make things easy for him. Or maybe he just can't stand the other members of the group, and lost his temper at the session? To imagine an even worse scenario, perhaps Cepher, Pacia, and Rus showed up at the same session? (I'll tell you one thing: if I had to choose between dealing with those three on a good day, or dealing with an angry Tero, I'd choose Tero.)
Now here's one for the imagination: what if the other attendees at Tero's anger management group were
all bad-tempered characters from various movies, cartoons, books and the like: Sierra, Ozzy, Lord Shen, Rattlesnake Jake, The Lizard, Goth, Raptor Red’s sister (not villainous, but certainly temperamental; she attacked
ice, for crying out loud
), the aforementioned domehead trio, Captain Gutt from the new
Ice Age movie, maybe even some of your other OCs. One thing's for sure: putting all of them in one room would be like holding a Fourth of July party in a gunpowder factory.
And poor, poor Teryx.
I didn’t even recognize him at first; when I saw him, I wondered, “Who’s the speckled yellow lizard in the corner there?” (I always feel really bad for animals in cartoons that lose their fur or feathers in some way, even if it’s played for laughs. I feel even worse when this happens to real-life animals.)
Hmm…do you have any knitting supplies in your house? Maybe Tiki could make Teryx a sweater to wear until his feathers grow back.
(For some reason, I can very easily imagine a rainbow face using a pair of knitting needles.
) Perhaps Clubbie could help by standing nearby with balls of yarn stuck to his spikes? (For some reason I also envision him rolling one ball of yarn back around on the floor between his forefeet, like some sort of giant, armor-plated kitten.
)
And look at that in the corner. Yup, a punching bag graveyard. Tero goes through a LOT of 'em. I had him wearing boxing gloves cuz everytime he uses his hands, it's not to punch, but to slash the bag right open. But alas, even with the gloves, Tero still destroys the bags via his nose-horns.
You know, I didn’t even think of that when I suggested the boxing gloves. That’s brilliant! :! And the punching bag graveyard is genius.
I love how you can see slashes from Tero’s claws on the deceased bag; it hints at the learning experience that comes with each punching bag Tero destroys (Bag #1……Cause of death: claw slashes……Solution: make Tero wear boxing gloves). Ooh, and you even put his name on the gloves; that’s so cute!
Is Tero going to need a glove for his nose now?
Or, in perhaps the ultimate example of irony for a creature whose skull is adapted for headbutting, a helmet? (Doubly ironic in that the helmet wouldn’t be to protect Tero, but the punching bag, though it would have to be strapped to his snout rather than his head proper.)
It must be a lot of work cleaning up all that spilled sand. I’m guessing you’re reusing the sand in new punching bags, otherwise the floor of your garage would probably look like a beach by now.
I think the lesson we can take away from this (besides the obvious “
NEVER get on Tero’s bad side”) is, “if you invite Tero to a birthday party, don’t let him have first go at the piÒata”.
And yes, that picture of Teryx's face was drawn and colored by Tero himself!
*sigh* If only Tero could channel his rage into making artwork instead of beating up other dinosaurs… I’d be afraid to look at his drawings, but at least he wouldn’t be physically hurting anyone. (Though I imagine he’d create a lot of confetti if he ever got frustrated while drawing.
)
Anyway, I drew this without any references during my lunch break and my 15-minute break at work. I'm not particularly pleased with it, but it's certainly better than my other attempts!!
No references at all?
Because this picture is really good! The punching bag and boxing gloves look very realistic and are easily recognizable (for some reason I find myself mildly mesmerized by the knot in the cord holding up the bag). The picture of Teryx taped to the punching bag is exactly what I imagined Tero would have there, and the feathers around it are really,
really well done.
(Honestly, I can’t express how accurate they look, especially the red ones.) Even plucked Teryx is surprisingly well drawn. And though I agree that Tero’s torso could be improved, I think you did a great job drawing him from this angle. I especially like the look of his head and foot (his whole lower leg, really). His pose is very dynamic; it
feels like he’s moving in to hit the bag. As for improvement, I’m not sure how to help you with this one, as I’m completely clueless on how to draw dinosaurs from this kind of angle. My suggestion would be to look at references (if you can’t find suitable views of domeheads from the back, try other bipedal dinosaurs in LBT), focusing on any creases or other details that indicate curvature of the spine and give the body three-dimensionality, since I think the main issue here is that most of Tero’s back looks like a single broad, flat surface. I’d also look at how the hind legs attach to the body from this angle; I would expect that more of Tero’s right hind leg would be visible where it connects to his hip. I could be wrong, though.
