Although the stegosaurus is a massive creature (about the size of a school bus), I wanted to demonstrate that it was in fact a mild-mannered Jurassic vegetarian. I conceived a bucolic environment with a small family group of stegosauri grazing in a lush waterfall glade. It is likely that the young would have stayed close to their parents until large enough to fend for themselves.
I designed this painting so the stegosaurus would blend into the environment. A sense of scale is created by making the animals fairly small in comparison to the landscape. Anyone who has ever been spent time in the woods knows that most terrain is uneven, intersected by gullies and washes, waterfalls and ravines. My goal for the viewer was to create the same feeling as coming upon a group of deer in the woods while hiking.
I selected a green-blue palette to render a verdant glade scene with a waterfall in the depths of an evergreen rainforest. Patches of dappled sunlight filtered down into the cool depths of the glen spotlighting the subjects. Use textured brushes to quickly lay broad shapes of bark, rock, water and plants. Soften the beams of light streaming through the trees. Make sure to use Multiply mode so the finished drawing from step 2 shows through.
Color Palette
Adding details into the scene makes for a more believable environment. Here I placed a wide variety of conifers, cycads, bromeliads, ferns, palms and horsetail in this wet chasm. The trees drip with moss and mushrooms flourish in the shadows. It is a safe nursery for a young stegosaurus family with plenty of food and fresh water.
To draw the stegosaurus, begin with a simple skeletal framework centering around the strong spine to lay the forms in proper proportion. Next, build muscles and refine the anatomy by adding textured hide and final details.
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Complete the details of the stegosaurus. The baby stegosaurus has brown spotted camouflage similar to the mottling seen on young birds. Detail some rhamphorhynchus flying high in the distant forest to give the painting some added depth.
