This article was published in Scientific American’s former blog network and reflects the views of the author, not necessarily those of Scientific American
- Protoceratops © by John Conway, from All Yesterdays
As someone fascinated by prehistoric life during my entire existence, my love for paleoart is experiencing something of a renaissance: I have children now. There's nothing more enchanting than reading a dinosaur book with a 3 year old and talking about the beasties.
"Maybe this one ate fish."
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"No, he don't. He eats potatoes."
Take that, Baryonx.
Here are the top 5 books about paleoart I think everyone should have on their bookshelf. In no particular order.
Top 5 Paleoart Books
ABC Dinosaur, by The American Museum of Natural history and Scott Hartman. My son and I read this one all the time, sometimes practising with the letters, other times talking about the dinosaurs. One of the most-read books on in the book basket.
Dinosaur Art: The World's Greatest Paleoart, edited by Steve White. Titan Books. Cover by Raul Martin. This book is definitive enough of the modern view of dinosaurs that it is a must-own for everyone with even a passing interest in dinosaurs. Kalliopi reviewed this on Symbiartic here.
The Paleoart of Julius Csotonyi: Dinosaurs, Sabre-Tooths and Beyond, Julius Csotonyi and Steve White, Titan Books. You can read my full review on Symbiartic here, but I'll say this book is so complete it feels like a compilation. Oh, and Csotonyi just launched a new website, check it out.
Pterosaurs, Mark P. Witton, Princeton. Dinosaurs shouldn't have all the fun on this list. After reading through and admiring Witton's exhaustive work on pterosaurs, I still come away believing these are some of the strangest, most beautiful animals to have ever lived.
All Yesterdays: Unique and Speculative Views of Dinosaurs and Other Prehistoric Animals, John Conway, C.M. Koseman and Darren Naish, Irregular Books. I was late to the party (my own fault) when this book came out and it is bar-none my absolute favourite. This book pushes the limit of how dinosaurs may have looked, and moves away from the traditionally light and routine speculation about their appearance into the realm of still-possible but wild and fascinating. This book ignites my own imagination, and hopefully will ignite my childrens' as they get older. I can't wait to dive into the sequel, All Your Yesterdays.
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And because I am restless and never content, here is a list of the
Top 5 Paleoart Books I Wish Existed
Carl Buell - the King of Paleo Mammals. I've said enough about this already.
Brett Booth, currently the artist on DC Comics' The Flash, Booth can create some killer dinosaurs. Heck, why not include other professional comic book artists? Call it "Savage Land" and make it a big retrospective on dinosaurs in superhero books. But Booth gets the cover.
Emily Willoughby - a book by Willoughby would be the one I would leave out when guests come over. It would look gorgeous with the fine china.
Eric Orchard - intricately cross-hatched feathered theropods on a spooky adventure to find a legendary talking skeleton. If you can't picture it, check the Trilobite Boy illustration I commissioned from him for my character.
Raven Amos and Scott Elyard (aka Cubelight GFX) - I picture this as being a cross-continental roadtrip documented through sketches and paintings while they paint prehistoric life and occasionally battle robots.
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The danger of making any lists is pressing "Post" and then remembering all the other things you left out. What are your top paleoart books? Let me know in the comments below!
