Rough Sketches to Finished Paintings

I haven't done an art post in a while.  Lets do an art post!  Often times when I'm in the process of creating a painting I go through a lot of rough ideas first.  Sometimes I get ripped apart critiqued by professionals kind enough to lend me some insight on accuracy and sometimes I'm just not happy with my own ideas.  Today I will show you the early stages of some images that have appeared on Jersey Boys Hunt Dinosaurs in the past.

Lets start with the sketch for the painting that I chose to be the banner of this site featuring Jersey Boy's Hunt Dinosaurs' unofficial mascot, Dryptosaurus as well as Hadrosaurus and an unnamed nodosaur.

I ended up changing a few things including the Hadrosaurus' tail and the angle of the nodosaur.  It more or less remained the same scene, though.

A few years ago I did a painting of my favorite pterosaur, Dimorphodon that was eventually utilized on this site for a Prehistoric Animal of the Week.  Below is the original sketch I had prepared.

Looking back I sometimes wish I would have stuck with this idea honestly.  I ultimately opted for a different angle focusing on one individual with less background.  Below is the final version!

Next up is a painting I did of the small feathered dromaeosaur, Microraptor ambushing a sleeping early bird called Confuciusornis. Below is the initial sketch.

Even though I still think the original idea's angle is more dramatic, I really wanted to show more of Microraptor's wings so I ended up opting for a slightly different angle instead. Below is the final version.  It was featured on on my post about dinosaur feather colors.

This next one gave went through a lot of changes.  Its the painting of Plateosaurus males fighting for mating rights.  I did this piece for when Plateosaurus was featured as a Prehistoric Animal of the Week.  Paleo-artist, Bruce Mohn was kind enough to lend me some constructive criticism along the way.  Below is the first draft.

Not bad but all the dinosaurs in this scene are being viewed from the side. Lets change the angles a bit!

Definitely more dynamic with regards to the poses but lets make the two that are fighting closer like when modern monitor lizards fight.  Also lets make that spectating female in the background not so in a hurry to move on.  These two guys are competing for her attention, after all.  The least she could do is watch!

Almost there.   Why don't we make this fight even more exciting by adding some biting and movement in the legs.  The opportunity to mate is a big deal and a bachelor male needs to give it all he's got!

 

Nice!  Before finally applying paint i decided to go a little easier on the dewlaps, changed the tails so that they didn't all look so swishy, switched the movement in the feet a around and added some plants in the foreground.  Below is the final piece! 

 

One day when during my lunch break at my job at the zoo I decided to take my sketchpad and doodle some of the animals from life.  I noticed that the Greater Rheas sometimes would rest on their foot bones.  It made me think that maybe some extinct dinosaurs could have rested in a similar manner especially since they had long tails to help support them as well.  Here is a sketch i did applying this posture to a Struthiomimus.  

I eventually illustrated Struthiomimus for a Prehistoric Animal of the Week and went forward with this posture all thanks to the Rhea!  

That's all for this week!  As always i would love to hear feedback from you in our comments below or on our facebook page!