Re: Restoring Dinosaurs (was Hadrosaur necks, etc.)

[Betty Cunningham <bettyc@flyinggoat.com>]

Giraffes are taller than elephants and certainly not drab.  However I
think you need to avoid considering mammalian coloration schemes vs
those of reptiles and birds-particularily birds with their display
colors.  Even our largest modern bird, the California Condor is black,
white, and red in striking color contrasts.

Andy Farke wrote:
> For the sake of completeness, I should discuss the relative lack of
> variation in some animals, notably elephants, rhinos, etc. The
> coloration is relatively consistant (gray). Maybe a correlation between
> size and color (the bigger the drabber?)?
<snip>
(not sure who we're quoting here)
> >As to those professional illustrators who slavishly ape the
> restorations of other artists with no knowledge of the subject
> (especially going back to the works of Knight and Burian), they do so at
> their peril, and they are not doing their jobs.
And Andy said....
> This is what I was mainly thinking of when writing my original post--the
> problem is not those who do the primary research. I applaud those who do
> their homework before setting brush to canvas. Problems arise when
> illustrators (particularly in the popular press) just "ape" others'
> work. (see next paragraph)

I'd like to point out that in my several years at art school, Charles
Knights' text ANIMAL ANATOMY AND PSYCHOLOGY (1947) was still a
recomended text in comparitive anatomy classes.  (I prefer Ellenberger's
ANAIMAL ANATOMY)

-Betty Cunningham