Re: Dinosaur illustrations

["Cunningham, Betty" <bcunning@nssi.com>]

       Artists take "cracks' at things all the time, and sometimes don't 
     need ANY bone at all to attempt to re-create an animal.  If I (as an 
     artist) were to try and show what I thought the ancestor to 
     Archeopteryx were, I have NO physical evidence at all for this 
     ancestor, but lots of clues in what is known about the animal it 
     produced. 
        Artists have full freedom to do what ever the heck they want and 
     aren't required by some governing body to include only the known 
     facts.  As it should be. 
        Artists should TRY to display facts in a scientific journal, but 
     much of 'sketchy' scientific evidence is having paleontologists argue 
     whether the evidence means X or Y.   Artists _tend_ to have opinions 
     about such things, just as paleontologists do.  And FORTUNATELY have 
     the freedom to depict the view they WANT to display.  And the freedom 
     to get nasty comments about it form their peer groups if they are 
     found to be wrong, or if the particular feature represented is 
     outdated by new discoveries on that subject.
        Publishers should perhaps use descretion in what they display as 
     "known" verses "artist's impression".  Publishers should be aware just 
     what it is they are recieving from the illustrator, and whether the 
     artist feels the illustration is truly representative, or a flight of 
     fancy.
        
     I'm sorry if this harsh reply, but the original comment offended me.
     
     -Betty Cunningham
     Illustator, animator, and likes to collect dead things


______________________________ Reply Separator _________________________________
Subject: Dinosaur illustrations
Author:  desktop.com.au!endocrin
Date:    11/15/95 11:15 PM


Many books etc contain illustrations of dinos known from only 1 or 2 bones. 
Leaving aside the often considerable artistic talent exhibited, do these 
really contribute anything useful? What should be the minimum skeletal 
material required before an artist gets a crack at it?
Any comments?
     
Graeme