When approaching the T-rex I wanted to show defining aspects of the animal while demonstrating theories of its behavior. I imagined the T-rex scavenging off a beached kronosaurus. The power of the T-rex is evident in its massive frame, and in scaled relationship to the troodons attempting to scavenge off the carcass as well. But the Tyrant Lizard is having none of it—he’s king of the kill. Like modern scenes in the wild, a big kill like this would attract all kinds of animals. In addition to the small pod of troodon, I added some pterosaurs challenging the king from the surrounding cliffs.
Sketch the initial drawing on 11" × 15" (28cm × 38cm) paper or on the computer. When getting started, I remind myself of the three important elements of an artwork: the background landscape, keeping the subject as the focus and adding a foreground element to create a frame for the composition.
Color Palette
Use a variety of textured brushes to establish the main landscape forms and colors with broad stokes. Gray muted tones will help create a moody, stormy landscape for our dramatic scene. Use pale, light and cool colors in the background, and warmer colors in the foreground to create an illusion of depth of space. Keep the clouds around the T-rex light in order to help silhouette and frame the head.
Begin drawing the tyrannosaurus head by roughly sketching out the skull’s features including the eye socket, nasal cavity and mandible. The powerful bite of the T-rex comes from the thick muscles in its jaw and back of its neck. Details of skin and hide are completed last.
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Use a variety of textured brushes to scumble some detail into the beach, T-rex and kronosaurus. Sketch a few birds or pterosaurs flying around the scene.
Complete the cliff and waterfall and add a few more birds roosting in the distance. Carry some of the colors into the kronosaurus to create cohesion between the middle ground and background.
Troodon was a little dinosaur amongst giants. In the late Cretaceous, this swift and nimble carnivore likely hunted small mammals and lizards, as its name infers, but would not be unwilling to take a bite of a free meal. It’s likely that troodon had feathers like its velociraptor cousin. I also envisioned striking markings reminiscent of a hyena pack.
Troodon formosus
Length 8 ft (21⁄2m)
Bring your designs to life with details. Textured skin, feathers, birds and pterosaurs in the sky and small teeth and seashells in the foreground add to the illusion. Since troodon are depicted living at the beach I looked to shore birds like pipers, terns and cormorants for plumage inspiration. I was reminded of the gulls in Finding Nemo: “Mine, mine, mine.” I also added trees near the cliffs, wet foot prints and some flotsam in the extreme foreground to enhance the scale and realism.
