·:[ Rusty Innards ]:·
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     If you’re a regular follower of this blog, you may remember my Influence Map, posted a few months back…I’m going to revisit it for just a moment, with an added emphasis on one artist in particular; Jeffrey Catherine Jones.

      Had I bothered to read and follow the Influence map instructions, (and made each tile on the map itself correspond in  size to that particular individuals “influence” on me) The block representing Jeffrey Catherine Jones would have been larger.  Much larger.  Like, nearly as big as that Greg Manchess block in the top left-hand corner of the map (Which, coincidentally, probably is at the correct “influential size”).

     Jeffrey Catherine Jones’ paintings really hit a cord with me.  I’m a sucker for the way she remains representational in her work, even while pushing far into the gestural realm.  The juicy highlights in her paintings, alongside the large, interlocking dark shapes, are simply gorgeous and wonderfully designed.   And of course, there’s her dinosaurs; They have all the ye-olde-timey charm of Charles R. Knight, with a healthy side of Robert E. Howard pulp that reaches out and smacks paleontological accuracy in the face….And paleontological accuracy forgives it and buys them a beer later, because Jeffrey Catherine Jones’ dinosaurs are just that cool.

    I recently discovered that this hero of mine and illustration heavyweight is the subject of an upcoming documentary that delves into the importance of art in one’s life, and explores how it defines the artist as an individual and can go so far as to save one’s self.  I won’t go into the personal struggles of Jeffery Catherine Jones here, but I will tell you to go and watch the trailer for the film over on Kickstarter.com.

     If you like what you see (and I’m sure you will) pledge as little as a dollar to help get this film off the ground.  If you pledge 50, you get yourself the dvd and a movie poster when it’s released.  This is a pledge only; Payment is not taken unless the entire pledge amount is reached.  Throw a couple of bucks down to help get this  promising exploration of self-identity and the importance of art up-and-running…Judging from the trailer alone, I’m sure you’ll be glad you did.

  If you have been reading this blog for any amount of time, you know that I love dinosaurs.  To whittle it down a bit more, I love theropods.  What’s that?  I need to narrow the statement down even further?  Alright, I love feathered theropod dinosaurs.  The near-infinite amount of possibilities when it comes to feather arrangements, patterns, etc. makes them an absolute joy to concept up and sketch out.

  The big fellow in the above sketch that looks like some sort of freakish skeksis-bred monster is a Segnosaurus.  I’ve talked about members of his family, the therizinosaurs, in prior posts.  Segnosaurus was an interesting one amongst the Therizinosaurs, as it’s thought they lacked the condor-like cheeks the rest of the therizinosaurs were theorized to have.  As I often do with the big therizinosaurs, I referenced ostriches and emus for the shaggy, fur-like feathers and threw in a bit of turkey for the gnarled, warty, bald neck and head.

  The little guy that sort of snuck in on that sketchbook page is a Caudipteryx….Think of him like an adorable little clawed dino-bird with tiny, sharp buck teeth.  This little guy is so bird-like in his body structure and features that some some scientists classify it as a flightless bird.  That said, I decided to push the bird features further than I normally would have, and give him an overall modern-avian appearance, complete with a little crest of feathers for display.

Would either of these guys necessarily have looked this way?  Perhaps.  Could Segnosaurus have had more extensive feathers?  Of course.  Might Caudipteryx have looked a bit more dinosaurian and a bit less like a modern bird?  Most certainly.  It’s these things that make paleo-art so much fun..the endless possibilities.