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