Coelophysis

A Ceolophysis hunts in a dense forest. Near a rocky stream he hopes to find some prey that has emerged from the primeval jungle. A few rays of sunlight manage to breach the canopy and shine down on the fern covered forest floor.

Ceolophysis was one of the earliest dinosaurs. It lived during the Triassic 200 million years ago. It couldhave been the ancestor of the great Cretaceous theropods, such as velociraptor and tyrannosaurus, but most it tends to more often be seen as an ancient cousin.

Here I've depicted it with a crest of feathers. There is no evidence for feathers on Ceolophysis, but, being a member of the theropoda suborder which does have feathered members, it is not impossible.

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.

About how I create my artwork:

Rather than traditional forms of art like painting and photography, I use a computer to create my images. The process is called 3D Rendering and works like so: I construct a scene by sculpting and arranging virtual models in a virtual 3D scene. After stipulating lighting and atmospheric effects, I tell the computer to create a simulated environment from which I take a virtual snap shot of the scene. Then, using image editing software and something more akin to traditional painting techniques (via a Wacom tablet), I go over the work fixing colors, adding brushwork, painting in details, etc. to produce the final image. Software I use includes: Sculptris, ZBrush, Blender3d, Vue, Daz Studio, and GIMP.

Tools used: Poser, Vue, GIMP, Photomatix

Thanks for looking!
Daniel Eskridge P.S. I have this as a design on Zazzle products, too.