Palaeoartist's Handbook: Recreating Prehistoric Animals in Art

by Mark P. Witton

Extinct worlds live again in artworks of fossil animals, plants and environments carefully reconstructed from palaeontological and geological data. Such artworks are widespread in popular culture, appearing in documentaries, museums, books and magazines, and inspiring depictions of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals in cinema. This book outlines how fossil animals and environments can be reconstructed from their fossils, explaining how palaeoartists overcome gaps in fossil data and predict 'soft-tissue' anatomies no longer present around fossil bones. It goes on to show how science and art can meet to produce compelling, interesting takes on ancient worlds, and it explores the goals and limitations of this popular but rarely discussed art genre.|Multiple chapters with dozens of illustrations of fossil animal reconstruction, with specific guidance on fossil amphibians, mammals and their fossil relatives, and a myriad of fossil reptiles (including dinosaurs).Explores how best to present diverse fossil animal forms in art - how best to convey size, proportion and motion in landscapes without familiar reference points.Explains essential techniques for the aspiring palaeoartists, from understanding geological time and evolutionary relationships to rebuilding skeletons and muscles.Suggests where and how to gather reliable sources of data for palaeoartworks.Includes a history of palaeoart, outlining the full evolution of the medium from ancient times to the modern day.Examines stylistic variation in palaeoart.Showcases diverse artworks from world-leading contemporary palaeoartists.

Genres: Nonfiction, Dinosaurs, Art, Palaeontology, Science

224 pages, Paperback

Published September 6, 2018

Reviews

[Yasmin Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

If Witton’s ‘Recreating the Age of Reptiles’ was the beginners guide to palaeoart, then ‘the Palaeoartist’s Handbook’ is the advanced stage. Here Witton goes into incredible depth on anything you would want to know in reconstructing extinct animals. I should note, this is not a ‘How to Draw Dinosaurs and other Extinct Animals’ guide, like those that you see that reduce animals to shapes and line-frames. You’ll need some already exsisting drawing experience if you want to use this book as a particle guide. This book is all about using fossil evidence to glimmer clues on what the animal looked like and, if fossil evidence is lacking, using educated (and I stress educated) guesswork by using current animals, nature and just good ole’ sense. Everything from the skin to the environments into which you place the animals have dedicated chapters, as well as the more artsy stuff such as composition, mood and tropes/mistakes that you might have sewn onto your perspective of palaeoart and can do with being scratched off.

After reading through this and seeing all the hard work that goes into good palaeoart I have a new appreciation for this genre of art. Skill and technique isn’t everything. Witton has wisely peppered palaeoart from other artists among his own work and they differ from his in style, all the more to show case that you don’t have to be able to paint photo-realistically to have a piece of art that has more substance than a poorly researched highly detailed piece that is decades behind on what we know about the prehistoric world.

You don’t even have the use this as a particle guide to art. There is enough interesting science in here even for those that just enjoy finding out more about extinct creatures.

[Douglas Summers-Stay · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not often any more that I read a book and realize, "this is the first book I have ever read on this topic, and it is a topic that has always fascinated me."
I mean, the most similar book I have read on the topic was Lee. J. Ames "Draw 50 Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals" when I was 8, and even that wasn't at all similar because all of the work that Witton (one of my favorite paleontologists and paleoartists-- mom, you have a copy of his book about pterosaurs) talks about in this book was already completed for you in that book. How do you go from scattered fossilized bones to living creatures? What do the tracks tell you about behavior? What can we learn about the relationship of soft tissues to bones from modern animals? How can we use bracketing to guess at integument? What cliches should we avoid? How do you decide what colors to use on their skin? How do Triceratops horns change as they age? What should we be copying from elephants, what from crocodiles, and what from birds? And on and on. Of course I've looked at a lot of paleoart, and used to make a lot of it, but I never knew how it was done. It's like going to a lot of magic shows your whole life and then getting your first how to do magic book.

[Rykon · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun & informative, even for those who don't draw dinosaurs:)

If you are a paleoartist, this is a must have. The book covers pretty much everything you need to know and a lot more.

I'm not a paleoartist, i can't draw a decent T. rex even if my life depends on it. But I found the book amazing nonetheless, especially the chapter that covers the history of paleoart.

[The Inquisitive Biologist · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic and unparalleled book showing how to research and prepare artwork of prehistoric life forms. See my full review at https://inquisitivebiologist.com/2018...

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really cool book; I wish I had had time to read it more in depth!

[Daniel Morgan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely outstanding. This book is not a guide for how-to-draw (although the author does point the reader to resources for how to practice that), but rather is a guide for the process of recreating ancient animals that we cannot observe as living organisms. The goal is to produce scientifically credible and defensible artwork, grounded in physics, mechanics, anatomy, animal behavior, etc., that is also beautiful artwork. The author explores topics like skin, scales, fibers, and integument; mood, composition, scale, style; the collaborative process and professional practice between scientist and artist; and many more topics relating to how to create paleoart. Even if (like me) you are not an artist, this is still a great book because the artistic process shows how we can use available evidence to reconstruct and infer features about these animals.

[Jeffrey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful book full of beautiful illustrations and fascinating information. Highly recommended even if you're not an artist but are interested in what extinct organisms may have looked like. See my full review here: https://norfolknaturalist.ca/2021/04/...