Recently I started working on a life size model of a deinonychus antirrhopus. The deinonychus was an eleven-foot long dinosaur that lived during the early Cretaceous Period. Its name means terrible claw, referring to the abnormally large claw on its feet.

We’re building it for the local Orpheum Children’s Museum in Champaign. Over ten years ago, Taylor Studios built a deinonychus model for them, but twice over the past ten years it has been vandalized. So, it was time for some thing new, something that would withstand the elements and the local fraternities. More interestingly, is the fact that the concept of what these dinosaurs might have looked like has changed considerably. They are no longer a cold-blooded reptilian but are now considered to be the warm-blooded proto bird. This new theory puts an interesting twist on fabrication because there is a preconceived idea of what they looked like in the public’s eye.

The question is this: As an artist, how do I make a convincing argument that this is how they looked? The answer is references, lots of references. First and foremost, it’s important to have good photos of fossil records, so that the base is correct. Second, find photos of other artist’s renditions of deinonychus, and of similar animals. Finally, take all this information, give it an interesting pose and squeeze it into some time goals.

Posted by: Shawn H.