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DRAWN & QUARTERED

Graphic Arts as Literature

Figure 1

How to draw a dino

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Burl Burlingame
bburlingame@starbulletin.com

The latest edition of "Jurassic Park" features the latest information about dinosaurs -- note the pin-feathers on the 'raptors, the fur on the pteradons. And the new bad guy in town is Spinosaurus, a 45-foot carnivore, big enough to waste T. Rex.

But how accurate is the movie's depiction of Spinosaurus? You can draw your own, and your vision is as legitimate as Hollywood's, provided you do your homework.

Not much is known about Spinosaurus, the only example, and fragmentary at that, was accidentally blown up in World War II. His teeth were round and his jaw long, like a crocodile's, a set of pinking shears compared to T-rex's vise-grip jaws.

Figure 2

Since crocodiles tear off flesh by clamping down and then twisting, this is a clue to the creature's behavior.

The other oddity about Spinosaurus is the spines themselves, flat-bladed instead of round, more like the extended vertebrae of a camel's hump than the "sail" of a Dimetrodon.

Since Spinosaurus was a meat-eater and bipedal, arrange the outline of the skeleton so the pose appears fleet-footed (Figure 1) and then add the muscle and tendon groupings, based on traditional anatomical arrangements (Figure 2).

Then finish it off (Figure 3), using your imagination. Was it covered in fur? Did it have scales, or horny knobs like a lizard? What color?

The drawing here is based on the same information that the "Jurassic" filmmakers had access to, but ours isn't as dopey-looking as the movie version!

Figure 3

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