Galahadosuchus paint progress

It's not exactly hard in terms of gameplay (especially when you've played through it time after time), but the presentation of the final battle(s) of Twilight Princess is still biblical. Dusklight has reinvigorated my adoration for what was already my all time favourite game.

Saw Disclosure Day. I thought it was an extremely dramatically compelling and well crafted film, even though I don't really buy the uncynical worldview it gestures towards. Personally I wasn't disappointed, but I also suspect it will be very divisive, for many valid reasons. 👽

If I were to draw a pre-existing game character referencing official artwork, that character doesn't suddenly become my design, even if it's my drawing. By that same logic, even a human made 3D model that referenced a genAI concept is still a genAI design. The process is tainted.

Preparing for DinoCon means that I don't exactly have a ton of desk space left at the moment...

Most of the models from last year's convention, including the skeletons, micro Triceratops, Stegosaurus, and small walking/sitting Tyrannosaurus, will be available too! These will also be available both unpainted and painted. Here's a little CGI mockup of the available range:

Also (and this is a personal point of pride), the big Tyrannosaur models can solidly hold their own weight on two feet without needing a stand or tail prop. They are also quite heavy...

A sneak preview of some of the models I'll be selling at this year's DinoCon UK (@dinoconuk.bsky.social). Available in limited quantities. Some will be fully painted, others will retain a black (but potentially varnished) finish.

Something very spiky is coming to @dinoconuk.bsky.social next month...

Some thoughts relating to the gradual but very apparent normalisation of genAI image use in the public display sector:

To contribute to The End of Oak Street discourse from an entirely different angle. Have y'all seen Under the Silver Lake? Because it's kind of *insane* to go straight from writing/directing that totally bonkers ride and into a family dinosaur adventure movie for your next flick.

To explain the bit, I'm roasting The End of Oak Street for using a modified version of the JW Allosaurus asset that was also modified for the Netflix documentaries, but also remarking on how the following critters from 90s-00s productions are also all derived from a common asset:

An Allosaurus model being recycled/modified across multiple productions by the same VFX studio? What is this, Framestore in the late 90s and early 2000s?

Some thoughts relating to the gradual but very apparent normalisation of genAI image use in the public display sector:

An unfortunate reality for those of us creating art for the public display sector is that third parties hired by the same clients we initially produced the art for may run our work through some level of genAI slop machine, even if we try everything in our power to prevent it.

Aaaand Matt Dempsey on reconstructing #dinosaurs, Paul Barrett on news from fieldwork in Zimbabwe and Chelsey Kynff on the history of women in palaeontology... #DinoConUK #DinoCon

This whole sequence, man.

"You don't read the papers you cite?"

Me when I'm playing Dusklight:

Me too, Link. Me too. (Playing Dusklight with backported TPHD textures - runs like a dream, feels like magic)

The Sheep Detectives is delightful! boxd.it/eo1Rov

The #DinoConUK schedule is live! I'll be the very first speaker from the main talks line up in the Palace suite, immediately after the opening ceremony. Saturday 25th July, 10:00AM! My talk will be titled: "Reconstructing dinosaur form and function: bigger, stronger, faster!"

But this is coming from really quite a complete, and partially articulated, specimen. Apart from the dissolved holes in the bones, it's really very well preserved down to fine things like being able to see ribs underneath the sternum!

And to @sketchy-raptor.bsky.social who did the skeletal reconstruction of the animal. See how lovely it is when put back together!

I have a new paper out today in PeerJ with a new intermediate pterosaur taxon, Laueropterus vitriolus. The full paper is here if you want the technical stuff: peerj.com/articles/212...

New pterosaur alert! Laueropterus vitriolus, a new very complete genus from southern Germany that I reconstructed for a new paper by @davehone.bsky.social, out now in @peerj.bsky.social: peerj.com/articles/212...

I'm fine tuning the muscle-skin setup of my T. rex model, so decided to made a little comparison video showing the effect of the different layers during animation.

Follow up question: would people feel unsatisfied if the reason for dinosaurs appearing/being found in a story with a grounded tone wasn't actually explained? With the idea of it being an "unsolved/unsolvable mystery" being a deliberate plot feature?

It feels like the Jurassic Park premise of "dinosaurs resurrected via science experiment" has kind of replaced other dino fiction premises in anything attempting a realistic, grounded tone. Does suspension of disbelief still allow for classic "Lost World" settings that aren't pulpy or fantastical?

Thrilled to announce that I'll be returning to #DinoConUk this year, as both a guest speaker and a vendor! Here's a preview of some of the minis you can expect to find at my stall. As with last year, there will be a limited quantity of painted models available as well as unpainted.

Matt Dempsey will be speaking at #DinoConUK 2026 about how dinosaurs are reconstructed. Palaeoartist, musculoskeletal biologist, and vertebrate palaeontologist, Matt's research focuses how our knowledge of living animals can be used to understand the biology of extinct ones.

Yes, it's true -- we have Matt Dempsey @sketchy-raptor.bsky.social speaking at #DinoConUK 2026!! Palaeoartist, musculoskeletal biologist, and vertebrate palaeontologist, Matt's research focuses how our knowledge of living animals can be used to understand the biology of extinct ones.

Some of you might remember my theropod & sauropodomorph lineup drawings from last year. Well, it's time for the overdue threequel: Ornithischians! I let folks see if they could correctly ID all the critters in the lineup in the previous entries, so feel free to let loose again.

Oh no, it's time for the "video essayist I really like talks about something I care deeply about" litmus test...

I feel as if dinosaur palaeobiology (particularly in aspects of functional anatomy, physiology, etc) has a big tendency to jump the gun, embracing the allure of flashy analytical techniques before the groundwork to validate their effectiveness has been adequately completed. (1/4)

I don't fully understand why one dinosaur trace fossil once interpreted to show feather imprints can be readily dismissed as just drag/tool marks, while another very similar-looking trace fossil close in both age & provenance can be framed confidently as showing feather traces.

It's also interesting that there is a fair amount of literature that show that determinimg body size in cephs from beaks is very species dependent... None of which is cited. Moreover data on citrate beaks is pretty lacking (as far as I know).

I know everyone wants there to be a Giant Cretaceous Octopus but after looking at methods and tables, I really don't think this is a reality.

Btw, the 19 m max. total length estimate for the Cretaceous octopus Nanaimoteuthis (now already cited everywhere) derives from upscaling this extant species, which barely reaches 50 cm in total length. There is no evidence that the two are closely allied. www.inaturalist.org/taxa/432536-...

Even the title is misleading - no evidence for the occupation of a top predator niche is provided. These are fascinating fossils - why not discuss them in a nuanced fashion?

I'm honestly speechless that such a sensationalist piece got published in Science (!). The most outrageous claim probably is that any evidence for lateralized behavior indicates "advanced intelligence". A critical reply to this is urgently needed ... www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

I see that we've reached the "but AI was always here!" stage of the manufactured consent. The proponents are dishonestly moving the goal posts by trying to expand the colloquial defintion of "AI" to mean all smart tools, obfuscating how anti-AI movements are much more specifically focused on genAI.

Still thinking about the T. rex scenes in The Lost World a few days out from seeing the limited theatrical re-run. If I ever make a piece of dinosaur art even a tenth as convincing and impactful as those shots, then I can retire happily. Peak stuff.

It's funny, a significant proportion of dinosaur fans treat talking about dinosaurs with *way* more life or death seriousness than most palaeontologists that I personally know.

Hell yeah my dudes, The Lost World in theatres. boxd.it/e4hLQl

Some thoughts on Lee Cronin's The Mummy. Follow me on Letterboxd maybe: boxd.it/fvCuL

This Stegosaurus illustration of mine turned 4 years old today (he's old enough to start school, send him good vibes). While I think my skills have improved since then, I still see this as an important milestone in terms of nailing the anatomy & my thoughts on stegosaur life apperance.

Creature design idea: fantasy Dilophosaurus that has a frill like in Jurassic Park, but it actually looks like and mechanically works like a real frilled lizard (i.e. part of an expanded hyoid complex, and can only open when the mouth opens).

Saw Jurassic Park in the cinema yesterday and today. It looked great. I will never shut up about how much many of the modern home video transfers have ruined some of the VFX.