Bear Hunt

This is a scene from the Blackfoot story "The Bear Woman". In the story, a woman refuses to get married, much to the consternation of her family. One day, her little sister follows her into the wilderness to spy on her and learns that she has taken a bear as husband. She tells her father and brothers who then find and kill the bear. Later, the Bear Woman gains the ability to transform into a bear herself. After slaughtering her village, there is a chase between her and her brothers who eventually kill her, but, having no people to return to, they ascend to the skies and become the stars of the great bear constellation.

The part of the story I've depicted here is near the end where the brothers clash with their sister who has taken her bear form. Two Native American warriors on the backs of mustangs encounter a massive brown bear on a snowy field under cloud filled evening skies. The lead hunter draws back his bow and takes aim from galloping mount, while the other holds aloft his lance as his horse rears. The bear charges savagely, kicking up a shower of powdery snow as it roars in anger.

A few weeks ago, I created another image from this same legend that takes place near the beginning of the story (you can find it here: http://bit.ly/XW1IGe). I liked that one so much that I decided to make this one as a follow up.

Thanks for looking,
Daniel

Snowy Owl

The Snowy Owl is one of the most well known kinds of owl. This bird can be found in the higher latitudes of the northern hemisphere in Asia, Europe, and North America.

I am currently working on an image involving several breeds of owls. This was the second one that I digitally sculpted and painted after the great horned owl. Like the first, I thought I would make a stand-alone image to allow viewers a closer look at the model.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel

Bringer of Fall

A pinto mustang with an overo patterned coat trots along a country road. Fall is in full swing and the forest that runs along side the road is bright with the reds and golds of autumn colored leaves. in the dry afternoon air, the horse kicks up rocks and dust as it makes its way through the scene.

In the Metro-Atlanta area, which is where I live, August is still very much in the middle summer when it comes to the weather. However, with school starting again for all the neighborhood kids, I found myself in an autumn frame of mind.

A few years ago, I had made a horse themed artwork called the "Bringer of Spring". In that one, the horse was galloping thunderously across a field with strong saturated colors all around. I decided to make this one as a follow-up. Here, the horse moves at a lazier pace and colors are more mellow. It represents the way autumn arrives here in North Georgia. Rather than coming in with thunder storms and wild temperature swings like spring does, fall arrives here more as the slow decay of summer. Rather than galloping in, it trots.

Thanks for looking,
Daniel

The Biggest Shark

Out of the murky waters emerge menacing forms. Two massive sharks prowl though beds of seaweed in prehistoric ocean shallows. A little red crab, too small for the great predators to take notice of looks up from the sandy sea floor.

Continuing my series of aquatic themed paleoart, I decided to depict the biggest shark of all time: Megalodon. This was a shark four times the size of the modern Great White. If these creatures were around today and one came upon you scuba diving, it could swallow you in a single bite.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel Eskridge

Warriors of the Primeval Sea

Under the surface of the Cretaceous sea, two might beasts do battle. A giant octopus has snared a styxosaurus in its tentacles. The long necked marine reptile strikes back by snapping its toothy jaws at the cephalopod's head.

Very little is known about prehistoric octopi. Because they have no skeletal structure they leave practically nothing behind to fossilize; however, because of a discovery of five such octopus fossils in Lebanon dating from 90 million years ago, we do know that at least a few species existed in the Cretaceous era oceans. Portraying one big enough to take on a school bus sized styxosaurus though requires me to use quite a lot of artistic license.

I've created a number of aquatic scenes lately, but for this one, I wanted to ratchet up the excitement a bit. The problem though is that most aquatic creatures are a bit on the stiff side with a very limited range of motion in their bodies and limbs. As a result, portraying action in a still artwork was proving difficult. I solved this by making one of the combatants an octopus. With those long tentacles, I could get lots of curved lines into the composition and create a better sense of drama.

A disclaimer about my paleoart:

When it comes to paleoart, the images I create favor 'art' more than 'paleo'. While I try my best to depict animals as accurately as possible I'm make no claim that they 100% scientifically accurate. The same goes for the environment I depict them in. I am primarily interested in creating aesthetically pleasing images and paintings. Scientific accuracy comes second behind artistic expression.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel

A Mermaid and Her Pets

A castaway stranded in a lifeboat is visited by a beautiful mermaid. The man stares at the golden scaled half woman-half fish in disbelief. Meanwhile, as she gazes back with a tempting smile on her face, two sharks circle the waters beneath the small boat. It looks like it is time for the Mermaid to feed her pets.

Thanks for looking!
Daniel Eskridge

Great Horned Owl

The great horned owl is one of the most well known owls of North America. It's also been called the Tiger Owl and Hoot Owl, and has the widest range of any owl in the Americas. It hunts at night and mostly eats small mammals.

I've been working on an image that features several different breeds of owls. For each one I have to create a digital sculpture, and, since the great horned owl has always been my favorite owl, I started with it. I created this image as a test of my sculpture, but I though it turned out well enough to be an artwork on it's own.

Thanks for looking,
Daniel

Kronosaurus

Kronosaurus was a marine repitle that lived during the early Cretaceous period at the same time dinosaurs roamed the land. Though sometimes called a dinosaur, it is technically a pliosaur of the order of plesiosaurs which is different from dinosaurs. They were large, only a little shorter than the average length of a school bus and preyed on turtles and plesiosaurs and possibly giant squid and elasmosaurs. It is named for the ancient Greek titan Kronos.

This one came from a request by a paleoart fan. He wanted a prehistoric aquatic reptile. He suggested a few and I like the Kronosaurus the best.

Thanks for looking
Daniel

Resting Bison

A North American Bison rests in golden grass as the prairie stretches out behind it. Lazy clouds drift through the sky overhead as this lazy buffalo lays down without a care in the world.

This image has a companion, too.

Thanks for looking,
Daniel