The Mammal that Ate Dinosaurs: Behind the Art

This workshop invites you to share in the making of two illustrations for Scientific American magazine. Illustrator James Gurney fleshes out two mammals that lived alongside dinosaurs: the badger-like Repenomamus which ate baby dinosaurs, and the flying squirrel-like Volaticotherium, which Gurney develops for the cover of the magazine.

Working closely with scientific experts and the art director, Gurney shows all the development stages, including thumbnail sketches, color comps, maquettes, field research, and the final painting in oil. The artist's voiceover explains all the methods in practical terms, along with the thinking behind them. 

This video reinforces some of the concepts in previous videos, but it also includes new material, such as the use of an air-dry foam clay for quick maquette building, techniques for rendering fur textures, and ways to suggest rainy day conditions. The production is packed with useful information that will interest not only the dinosaur artist, but anyone who paints creatures of any kind. The edit is fast-paced enough to be worth watching again and again.

THE MAMMAL THAT ATE DINOSAURS. 35:51 minutes run time, downloadable 1080p HD mp4 file.