skrimbled asked:
Your Rdr2 dinosaurs are incredible!!! How do you draw dinosaurs in tack so well?? I have an area in my dnd that has dino mounts, so i'd love some advice ^^
Bass Reeves | Dilophosaurus
Since the theme for my snail mail club this month is the Wild West, I thought I’d also do some extra illustrations based around that! This one features Bass Reeves, who was a very accomplished lawman; he’s credited with over 3,000 arrests and is likely the inspiration for the (whitewashed) Lone Ranger.
I haven’t gotten the chance to read it yet, but if you’re interested in learning more, there’s Black Gun, Silver Star: The Life and Legend of Frontier Marshal Bass Reeves by Art T. Burton!!
Buffalo Bill’s Wild West | Tenontosaurus
I’ve been working to combine a few of my interests into a single concept these past few months! I love history just as much as I love prehistoric creatures, so, I’m drawing the two together. In this case, you’ll find the cavalry drill section of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West (featuring Roman riding specifically), and four Tenontosauruses (as their fossils have been found in the western United States).
You can also find a research video about Buffalo Bill’s show on my TikTok because I don’t want to fill up your feeds with an essay :’D
If you’re interested in the project, you can check it out at The Paleo Post. I’ll be sending out new prints/stickers each month, and they’ll be connected to a different period of history each time! Here are a few early concepts of what you might see in future months:
- A bestiarii fighting a Deltadromeus during the inaugural games of the Colosseum.
- Wakayama Soryu waiting for soldiers fallen overboard during the Battle of Sacheon - part of the Imjin War.
- A moment of Mansa Musa’s Hajj as he passes through Cairo with a Paralititan, Charcarodontosaurus, and Melanosauruses.
Bayou Nwa - featuring a Therizinosaurus/the Nightfolk.
A Daeodon! With a stronger emphasis on its hippo relation. And longer fur because I was partially inspired by the American bison.
Megaloceros Giganteus (or the Irish Elk) and Arthur Morgan! I pictured this moment being the in-between - where he sees the future he wishes to have while the shadows of his past still haunt him.
THIS IS SUCH A GREAT TOPIC!!! However, before I show these, a giant disclaimer: I’m not an equestrian - I’ve ridden horses maybe twice in my life, and although I love them, my knowledge about horses and horse tack is purely limited to what I’ve observed, not what I’ve experienced. Things might not be accurate; I am by no means an expert :’D I am a visdev artist though, which is often about making the fantastical feel real - that’s a lot of what this is!
Honestly there are a lot of dinosaurs where general horse tack could work. Hadrosaurs are a fantastic example of this, though most herbivores have face shapes that work well regardless. It’s mostly about mouth/eye placement! And also about using different dinosaur features to replace horse ears - i.e. the parasaurolophus’s crest, the horns of a triceratops, the spikes of an ankylosaurus, etc. Finding those equivalents makes the bridle placement all the easier. For these, directly referencing horse tack will be your best friend! Though feel free to get creative with it too!
Realistically, when drawing dinosaur tack, you would consider the fleshy bit of skin between the upper and lower jaw (I have no idea what it’s called I’m so sorry LOL, but think of snakes or Komodo dragons), which would push the bit forward a little more, but it doesn’t look as good when I draw it that way, so unless the dinosaur’s mouth is open, I just draw it further back (again, my way of doing it, feel free to be more realistic with it though!).
When it comes to the classic predator face-shape, I secure the reins by way of a triangle shape rather than the rectangle of the horse/parasaurolophus. But you can do so much when you get into the visdev side of things! As you can probably see with the examples on the right.
When I’m designing tack (I didn’t do it with the Rdr2 pieces since those were FAST, but for anything else that takes more time), I think about the character that rides that dinosaur/the personality of the dinosaur itself. The first one on the right might have a rider who’s very connected to their mount - it doesn’t need much direction at all to get them where they need to go. The one beside that, with the armor - maybe there’s a war going on and the rider is decking the dinosaur out with as many spiky bits and pieces as they possibly can. The third one’s rider might like to show it off - adding as many fancy trinkets as they possibly can. And the last one? Maybe the rider is cruel, forcing the dinosaur to obedience through violence, and uses meat hooks dug into the dinosaur’s skin to get it to move from place to place. Evil! But all part of the visdev process. Consider all types of characters and how they might respond to the creatures/environments around them.
ALSO! The bottom left sketch depicts what I wouldn’t typically do with bridles. I.e. wrapping it around the dinosaur’s whole mouth so that it keeps it shut. That wouldn’t be very comfortable for the dinosaur and also takes away its offensive capabilities. HOWEVER, it does work for specific storylines (i.e. the dinosaur is usually aggressive so the rider ‘muzzles’ it to keep it from biting), so it’s not necessarily wrong, just keep that in mind when designing tack!
Saddles are a similar story! Again, it’s just about finding the best way to keep things stable with the build of the dinosaur you’re designing the tack around. With bipedal dinosaurs, I like adding an extra band on the tail to center the saddle almost above the legs. For quadrupeds, I like the typical saddle designs used for horses - although for this one I referenced people that ride cows?? So, y'know, there are a lot of references in many different places LOL. For good ol’ flying reptiles, due to the nature of how their wings attach to their bodies, I like to add a breastplate(???) style connecting piece to make sure the actual saddle stays in place. Again, have fun with it! I often enjoy drawing things that are somewhat based in reality but have a lot of fantastical flair to them :D
And then, balance! Placement of the tack matters a lot. If you add a saddle closer to the neck, it’s more likely that the dinosaur will topple over because the added weight isn’t being supported by the legs. The example to the right shows how the saddle/rider placement is just above where the feet touch the ground, making the image feel balanced. The one in the middle features a bit of a trick. If you want the saddle closer to the neck, then all you have to do is make sure to draw a leg closer to the front of the body so that the main bit of weight is BETWEEN where the two feet are placed. Would the dinosaur still fall over if it wasn’t standing that exact way? Yes. Does it matter if you’re drawing a still image? NO! You get to cheat your way out of it and it’s my favorite thing to do!! The red line shows how it can look super unbalanced - so just try to avoid placing saddles (and riders) in a way that might make them feel like they’ll fall.
Also featuring Kieran and Branwen (KINDA LOL) because I was thinking about how I first drew them and how I fucked up the saddle placement so…
Anyways!! Hope this helps/gives a little inspiration! Again, I’m no expert, but this is just how I like to do things <33 Thanks so much for the fun ask!
Rdr2 + Dinosaurs!
Felt like combining two of my interests so that I could practice drawing both! (And develop a style with lineart because that’s something I’m still getting used to lol). Wanted to add some explanations for each choice too in case you guys were curious!
Arthur and The Shire | Yutyrannus
I wasn’t entirely sure where I wanted to go with him at first. High honor, low honor - in these cases he might have something different - but I wanted to make the dinosaur somewhat ‘universal.’ Since I started playing Rdr2 for a third time, my choice was definitely influenced by the general Ambarino environment. But it was also determined by 'first impressions.’ What did Thomas Downes think when first seeing Arthur? What about Jimmy Brooks? While you can redeem (haha) Arthur later on, there’s no denying he’s a bit more intimidating/aggressive at the start of the game. I went with the Yutyrannus based on that - he’s the gang’s scary muscle (allll those Strauss missions), and he would need a dino of a similar type to match that!!
Bill and Brown Jack | Ankylosaurus
While I was thinking about Bill too, I knew EXACTLY which dinosaur I wanted to go for when I looked at Brown Jack. That horse would’ve been an Ankylosaurus in another life.
Charles and Taima | Styracosaurus
Charles was easy - I knew I wanted Taima to be within the Ceratopsidae family (they felt kinda similar to bison, in a way?), and I landed on the Styracosaurus because I really wanted to draw those fun horns :D
Dutch and The Count | Quetzalcoatlus
OKAY YES NOT A DINOSAUR. But I NEEDED Dutch to have a Quetzalcoatlus. Dutch would want something flashy (thinking about how you have to upgrade his tent first before anyone else’s for 'morale’), so I know for a fact he’d go for the largest flying reptile ever… maybe getting to Tahiti isn’t a crazy idea after all.
Hosea and Silver Dollar | Maiasaura
Maiasaura means 'good mother’ (lizard) - pretty self-explanatory I’d say :’)
Javier and Boaz | Maip Macrothorax
UH. Honestly. I don’t know why. This one was purely about vibes and these were the vibes I went with.
John and Old Boy | Carnotaurus
Carnotaurus means “meat-eating bull” - I was thinking a bit about the epilogue (farming for beginners), and John trying out ranching in general. Also! I think it fits Old Boy too.
Karen and Old Belle | Stegosaurus
I love Karen SO MUCH. She’s a little prickly on the outside, but with her reaction to Molly and some of her conversations with the other girls - idk. I felt like a spiky herbivore was the best pick for her.
Kieran and Branwen | Parasaurolophus
His was what started this whole thing! (Can you tell he’s my favorite I draw him so much). I knew I wanted to draw him with a Parasaurolophus so quickly that I had to make searches like 'duck-billed dino with horn thing?’ 'duck-billed dino that makes noise with head?’ Don’t ask me wtf those searches are, I completely forgot the name, I only had the vision LOL.
Lenny and Maggie | Gallimimus
I wanted something that felt playful? For Lenny. And while we don’t know how “playful” dinosaurs were, they’re animals, animals are playful, and I know that I can watch birds do whatever the hell they want all day, so I went with a dinosaur that felt a bit closer to its later evolutionary counterparts - the Gallimimus!
Micah and Baylock | Utahraptor
Yeahh this one was easy too. I just kept thinking about which dinosaur would encapsulate that blue-eyed stare. I love Baylock too, nearly as much as I love raptors in general, so I had to match them up.
Sadie and Bob | Dilophosaurus
I felt like she’d have a smaller carnivore of some type - swift and fierce. I also think Bob, the horse, worked really well as a Dilophosaurus? He was one of the easiest ones to draw because the patterns of the horse were SO pleasing to work with.
Sean and Ennis | Spinosaurus
I debated what to do for Sean A LOT. Then I thought about his interactions with Arthur and how his choice of dinosaur might be influenced by that - sort of a, following in his footsteps thing.
Trelawny and Gwydion | Kelenken
He would 100% travel around with his terror bird and put on (con) shows. I figured he’d accessorize Gwydion a lot too, make him flashy and unassuming to any of his future targets.
Uncle and Nell II | Deinocheirus
He needed a dinosaur that would laze about with him and I thought an older-looking Deinocheirus would be PERFECT. Honestly any dinosaur that could provide Uncle with shade was a potential choice LOL
Don’t speak my name or my life will be done. Dulahan, Dulahan, I see you, and I run.
I thought it would be super fun to illustrate Kieran as a Dullahan - a headless spirit from Irish folklore (that’s sometimes said to be blind), whose presence warns of imminent misfortune/death… Perfect :D
Maybe he serves as an omen for the gang - fitting, I think, considering he’s one of the first to voice the idea that Dutch isn’t so different from Colm.
I can’t stop drawing him! Can’t stop.
Also featuring Kierabeth (very near and dear to my heart), and the Irish of the gang; Molly and Kieran both deserved more friends, I get sad any time I think of them :(