Edge of Morrison Forest
So glad I can finally share one of my most ambitious pieces to date, this scene depicting the edge of a Late Jurassic forest in the Morrison Formation. My goals from the outset were mainly to include enough different animals to get a sense of the environment, and to overcome my own personal reservations toward painting scenes and landscapes. While I spent the majority of my time with this piece fussing over the composition, the general concept has remained constant. I still have quite a lot to learn when it comes to lighting, shadows, things like composition and perspective, but I'm quite proud of this overall and I can promise you'll be seeing more complex pieces from me going forward.
Edge of Morrison Forest: full image
The background, featuring a herd of brachiosaurs browsing
An Allosaurus eyeing those stegosaurs.
A pair of Stegosaurus resting at the edge of a Late Jurassic forest.
I initially planned for them to be bothering the lounging #Stegosaurus, but felt the scene had more intimacy this way. Speaking of which, since Stegosaurus had alternating plates, I thought this coloration made sense.
The focus of this image is this trio of foraging Fruitadens. Small, bipedal ornithischian dinosaurs that I've given some clear sexual dimorphism.
A female & male Fruitadens investigating a small dryolestid mammal as it gorges on some moths.