#dinosaur headworld

[papermonkeyism]

Oooooooooooooooh!! ✨️👀

Very sorry if you've talked about this before, but how much do you focus on/care about making the plantlife in your Dinosaur Project Thingy accurate for the time and place?

Asking both because I'm generally very curious, and because personally, every time I make it past my anxieties about not knowing enough about dinosaurs to be "allowed" to draw them, I run right up against "oh shoot, if I draw a grass in the background, people are going to kill me."

Having a cartoonier art style helps! If your style is photorealistic, the style is going to require more details that also make errors way more present and visible, but like, the way I draw trees for example you can't really tell if I'm drawing an aspen, an oak or a basswood, you know? It's just a leaf blob with a trunk in the middle. There's no identifying that.

Also, like 99% of my audience who follows my art follows it for creatures and characters, not plant life, and those more well versed on plants aren't as likely to care. At least nobody has come to bark at me because of it this far!

Considering the amount of actual, professional palaeoartists who basically use memes in their art, I think it's okay and fine for hobbyists and cartoonists to not know everything, right?

(Seriously, the amount of artists who draw theropods with no soft tissue around the jawline is wild! You know that classic look where the entire face splits along the skull all the way to the back of the jaw joint, and drawing that pink skin flap at the corner of the mouth? That's the jaw muscles. Why would a giant land apex predator not have skin protecting its jaw muscles? [Also, is that really what jaw muscles look like? A skin flap? Come on.] I've seen some Actual Professional Artists draw these giant cavities inside the cheek area of things like T. rex, that's where the muscles should be! Where do you think the legendary bite force -which this specific animal is known for- comes from? I mean, it works for animatronics, like in Jurassic Park, because it's hard to give soft tissue to robots that would hold up, but it's less of a thing for art, I think.)

I have a field guide book for Hell Creek formation that I'm gonna reference from when needed. Years ago I backed this kickstarter for a dinosaur video game, specifically so that I could get my hands on the book for this exact reason. It has plants section!

Few rules of thumb:

Trees Big. No, bigger!

No grass (if very late Cretaceous, then maybe grass? but research first!)

No flowers, unless Cretaceous. Might be worth googling "Cretaceous flowers" for specifics

When in doubt, ferns and/or conifers.

Also, finally, this is just me, but it can help to set yourself a "target audience" (with quotes). Personally, I'm making my project for myself and maybe a handful of people I know IRL. I only aim for the joy of these specific bunch of friends and family. Anyone beyond that is just bonus, and while I am very glad there are great many more people who do enjoy my work, it's less important than if my friends like it. And if there's one of the extra bonus people who thinks this one plant on the background of my art ruins their enjoyment of my work and me as a person, then that's a them-problem, not a me-problem, if my friend Satu still thinks the drawing is cool.

(Honestly, knowing these specific people, I wouldn't even have to be as accurate as I am, but unfortunately I did include "myself" in my target audience, so here I am.)

[kettle-bird]

Late night in Downtown Mesozopolis

Commissions | Ko-Fi

[kc-rising]

WORLDBUILDING WEDNESDAY!

Ask me about my dragons or my FR headworld!

Anyone in my active lair is fair game! Below is a directory of my different lore groups and their associated lair tabs/pages:

🔴The Sanctum of Outcasts (Main)

- Bonewardens

- The Swarm

- The Bazaar

- The Black Market

🌿The Bog

⚙️Neon Alley

- The Neon Fangs Mafia

- Coglight City Locals

- Those Who Devour the Moon Cult

⏳Sand Nomads

🌒Crypt Keepers (Monsters)

🌊High Seas

- Crew of the Ashspine Widow

- Sea Monsters and Cryptids

🦖Timeworn Isle (Dinosaurs)

- Front Desk/Education Center/Lab

- Raptor Paddock

EDIT:

You can ask me questions even if it's not wednesday!

[dracononite]

7, 19, and 22 for the ask game !!

sorry this is a long one

7. What are your favourite relationships between your OCs? (romantic or platonic!)

oh I love this question. I'll focus just on my main headworld Sparrowmage for this one since character relationships are the main focus of the story.

Ryuuji and Haru. there's a secret third character in this relationship, Jun'ichi, belonging to my girlfriend - the three end up in a polyamorous relationship (all dating each other) and Ryuuji is such a big gentle giant for Haru and she kinda teases him for it LOL. there's a lot of intricacy to the story outside of just their dating, but like. bisexual queen pulling two literal spirit boyfriends is kinda iconic. I could talk about these three all day.

speaking of Haru, she's also besties with Juji, who's friends with Jun and Ryuuji as well. they're the type of friends to do spontaneous silly things, go clothes shopping, buy snacks, talk about dramas and music, have sleepovers and do each other's nails. they are SO cute.

Benjamin and Iosefa are the two that started it all. from the beginning, Benjamin was the "main" character and Iosefa his eventual love interest. The two have a very interesting and nuanced dynamic that I'm still working out... It takes until years after they both graduate for them to get together, because Benjamin has commitment issues and Iosefa has confidence issues. But finding each other again, they both saw how much the other had grown, and the puppy love stage they were in at Sparrowmage quickly grows into an actual relationship.

I love these two wives, Olivine and Jiya. they still need a LOT of fleshing out, but already the dynamic is lovely. Olivine is a trans femme lesbian wyverntaur, and a magical beasts professor. Jiya is a butch lesbian beastfolk who also works at the same academy as a dueling instructor/referee. Olivine is like three times Jiya's size which is the cherry on top. I NEED to draw them together (and finalize Olivine's design oops..)

honorable mention: Reuben and Lucian. these two rich boys fucking haaaate each other they HATE each other. they feud at school. it's so funny.

19. What are some things that inspired your stories? Real events? Maybe a dream?

I mainly pull from various media for worldbuilding inspiration! any narratives are inspired by my life or stories I like.. in order to nail those down I'd probably have to write an essay, so here are some media inspirations:

Sparrowmage: Harry Potter (decided I'd make a magic world of my own, as I have a lot of childhood nostalgia for the first few movies, but... yeah), Pokemon Mystery Dungeon (some of the areas like the academy being on the edge of a big cliff, giant crystal caves, etc). this is the story I've most projected my life events and relationships into

Dungeon RPG (unnamed story/world, but technically an AU for my main sonas?? I guess): Dungeon Meshi, Sword Art Online (yea. I know. look the setting and aesthetics of the first season go fucking hard and that's all I care about). I wanted a classic dungeon RPG setting to make cool areas and monsters and boss battles for. and a whole class/equipment/mount/etc system. sighs dreamily. It's not started in earnest but we're getting there.

Magica Terra: definitely Avatar. the alien planet one. I wanted to create a unique combination of sapient bipedal species (some anthros like insectoids, giants, elf- and troll-like humanoids), megafauna (giant bug creatures, draconic animals, dinosaur-like animals combined with the first two, etc) and magic (the magic system for the planet is quite literally fueled by the cosmic bodies in the same solar system and in the galaxy.. which is actually Arp's Loop. so basically what time of the orbit you're born ties you to the magic of whatever cosmic body is closest / in the most power. this includes the planet's multiple moons, the solar system's sun, recurring comets, etc)

Arp's Loop: it's a space bounty adventure with eldritch horror undertones. Lilo & Stitch, Space Dandy, Interstellar and probably some Star Wars thrown in, just with the alien design though

22. What are all the “kinds” of writing/art you do? (short stories, poetry, screenplays, digital, painting, clay, etc.)

Digital art for business mostly, traditional for fun ONLY. I scrapbook, doodle, very rarely paint.. I don't do any 3d art, I don't have the finesse really. occasionally I'll write poetry on my phone. short stories and blurbs featuring my OCs. I've written chapters for single-player TTRPG challenges but I'm not good at sticking to long projects so those have all been abandoned. I've written quite a few short fanfics in my day. a mini comic here and there.... I'm good at small projects cause I like the thrill of setting up and starting new things. that's probably why I have so many headworlds at this point :')

[papermonkeyism]

Eeeeeeeeeeeee! This is beautiful! I love how happy she looks, and your ink work keeps being amazing. Thank yous so much! I love it!

Second inktober commission is Two Feathers for @papermonkeyism ! Cute? Yes! Dinosaurs are always a welcome challenge and I always learn something!

Daler-Rowney sepia acrylic ink wash and some Noodler’s #41 brown ink with a Nikko G nib on Fabriano hot press watercolor paper.

[theophagyy]

Dinosaur sketch from today! Big boy goes honk

[papermonkeyism]

Ooh, ooh!

I'm having some worldbuildy thoughts about the Singing People at work right now. Really hoping I still remember once I get long enough break/get off work so I can type them down.

Mostly gender/gender roles/family stuff.

[elliejaybird]

Lightning Bird

“There are beautiful birds in the jungle, but I don’t think you want to find them.”

Choros range in size from 1.5 to 2.5 meters tall. Thunder choros are omnivores. When pursuing prey they hunt in bonded pairs.

2020 EDIT: this post is out of date and has nothing to do with my headworld anymore

[papermonkeyism]

I just can't get over how pretty this is. I've been gushing over this in the emails already, but I love everything about this. I love it so muuch!

Thank yous so much!

@papermonkeyism ‘s two lovely troodon ladies Two Feathers and Striking Willow! Had a lot of fun with the poses - Commission

[ez3kiell]

SPECIAL POST

Booyah! My tongue finally arrived from Poland, now I have all the parts to really get to work on K’rahmyteh! So excited 😆

The tongue looks whiteish because I immediately smothered it in talc to stop fluff sticking to the silicone.

I’m still undecided on this set of eyes as they have a slight surface imperfection. If I can polish it off the surface then they should be good to go.

[papermonkeyism]

I had an unexpected experience of someone recognizing me in a bus yesterday on my way back from the annual cottage "road trip" adventure! There hasn't been many cases of me being recognized out in the wild, at least outside of conventions.

The person mentioned specially liking my dinosaur stuff, so here, have a quick sketch of a dinosaury kind! Spot the dinosaur cat playing in Dancing Shade's tail mane. He might need some rescuing soon-ish.

[gatorbeast]

HEY HEY WHATS UP!!! you can call me gator, heres some things about me!!

🐊 16, they/he/it, silly goofy little guy

💚 INSCRYPTION, deltarune (spamton), fnaf, bugsnax, spec bio, paleontology/dinosaurs, cartoons, wof, character design, lemon demon/oingo boingo, your MOM

🐊 little dude in the gif waving is my sona randy, hes what i use to show myself, but my other main mascot guy is grimley, the protagonist of sweetbeast!! (below)

🐊 i draw my characters from a project/headworld called SWEETBEAST!! go check it out here, its about a bunch of cartoon monstery guys living in an interdimensional city its rlly fun

-> @project-sweetbeast for updates

-> https://project-sweetbeast.carrd.co for archived summary and chapter 1, general info

🦖 if you like dinosaurs PLEASE talk to me about them. please. i’m gnawing on the bars of my cage and growling if u like paleo stuff TALK to me… NOW..!!!

🐊 fyi i swear and talk in all caps a lot

🐊 go check out my spamton playlist it’s organized by what time in his life the song fits and it has little phone sound effects and stuff and it’s great

-> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/7GT5xzacDuQ7sHB1dm7No5?si=Ck7hZAYMRkq6dKD8mjNboQ

🐊 dni if you hate furries (i am one lol), dream smp/mcyt fan, or a general freak (terf, proship, etc) if you are one of these and you’re still here you have Five Minutes until Beast Attack

🐊 @gatoronmain is my main and what i follow/like from, i put random things i like there sometimes but otherwise don’t use it

🐊 art tag is #gatordraws

🐊 most of my socials (yt, buzzly, artfight) are either @/GATORBEAST or @/jurassix. i’m mostly active only on here though

🐊 things i like

[papermonkeyism]

Can't remember if I reblogged this before, but pterosaurs were RIDICULOUS and I love everything about them.

It’s a shame the National Geographic folks couldn’t have shot this thing when it was painted–but here’s the finished standing Quetzalcoatlus. He’s taller than a modern giraffe!

[elliejaybird]

Asherex (blessed king)

Human explorers bribed the asherex with food in exchange for information on their much more reclusive neighbors, the carokaro. Regular feeding at the hands of humans allowed the asherex population to increase exponentially, but left them hungrier than ever when the explorers left for home. To solve this problem, some asherex learned to hunt carokaro.

The asherex are an old creation from my alien-themed headworld. They aren’t inherently violent, but they do like food. The original asherex were heavily inspired by the toruk from Avatar, as well as my love of dinosaurs. I’ll have to dig up my old drawings sometime... Other than the asherex and the bird-like carokaro, this world was home to intelligent flora of dubious intentions, and small, colorful, human-hating four-armed raptors. I guess most of my aliens just look like messed up dinosaurs... I’m probably not going to change that.

[grox-empire]

! INCOMING TRANSMISSION FROM THE GROX EMPIRE !

Hello, Welcome to my blog! My name is Calypso, But I also go by Espoir, Grox, Or whatever nickname you'd like to call me! This is a place where I post whatever the hell I want. Lore tidbits, Art, Shower thoughts, You name it!

I go by They/Xe pronouns, Sometimes It/Its if I feel like it. People I know well can use She/Her for me!

I'm a bit shy so I may be a bit slow to respond to asks, But feel free to send me them, I don't bite!

I'm currently working on a webcomic called daybreak, A hard sci-fi spin on the game Spore!

I'm autistic!! Please talk with me about my interests they make me so happy

SPEAKING OF, HERE'S MY INTERESTS! Bold = Current special interest / Hyperfixiaton

I AM CRITICAL OF ALL MY INTERESTS AND THEIR CREATORS! If something I like is irredeemable PLEASE for the love of god LET ME KNOW and DESCRIBE IN DETAIL WHY IT'S BAD!

Spore (Specifically the grox! I will reblog all grox art)

Daybreak (My webcomic/Headworld!)

Speculative Biology

Aliens

Space

Bugsnax

No Man's Sky

Edmund Mcmillen games (Mostly The Binding of Isaac and The End is Nigh)

ENA

All Tomorrows

A-Life games (Mostly the creatures franchise)

Dinosaurs

Animals in general

Minecraft

Terraria

The Owl House

Rain World

Computer Malware

Art

Internet History

ARGs / Analog Horror

Puella Magi Madoka Magica (Please talk to me about Charlotte)

Undertale/Deltarune

Warrior cats

Object Shows

I don't have a very strict DNI, But other than that DNI if:

You fit general DNI criteria. If I catch you doing homophobic/racist/transphobic/ableist shit I will block you.

You consume media uncritically

You're a Pedophile/MAP, Zoophile, Proshipper, Or otherwise support any of those things. Get away from me, You're gross. If I find out that you support any of these things you are getting blocked.

You are an NSFW account or a kink account. If you keep that on a private account it's fine, Just don't interact with me on NSFW accounts. I am under 18 and generally uncomfortable with those topics.

Genshin and DSMP fans are on thin ice.

Ace-exclusionists, I'm asexual and do not want you interacting with me.

Other than that, I tend to just block anyone who makes me uncomfortable.

The #daybreakposting tag is for my spore-based worldbuilding project, Daybreak! It's about a young Grox named Celeste who wishes to escape the empire, And eventually starts a rebellion to earn her freedom! There isn't a single cishet character and basically, the entire main cast is autistic so I'd appreciate it if you'd check it out! PLEASE talk to me about it or its characters it makes me so happy when people ask me about it (Also the protagonist is autistic)

@cosmikazie drew the lovely art you can see at the top of the post!

Here's my sona's ref if you wanna draw her, She's a grox btw!!

Other places you can find me!

https://twitter.com/CalypsoGrox https://artfight.net/~Grox

https://toyhou.se/Groxx

http://www.spore.com/view/myspore/EspiGrox

[ez3kiell]

Some more work on images for a ref sheet. References are a lifesaver!