User blog:Rora Raro/Paleoart

Introduction
What is Paleoart? Paleoart is defined as "an original artistic work that attempts to depict prehistoric life according to scientific evidence."

Paleoart is also known as paleo-illustration and its helpful in our understanding and construction of several prehistoric animals from dinosaurs, mammoths, early fish, and the ancestors of humans.

Paleoart has been around for a long time and will continue to change as our understanding of prehistoric life changes as well, what could be considered accurate today, could be inaccurate tomorrow.

History
The history of paleoart goes all the way before 1800, between 560 and 540 BC, a Corinthian vase showed a painting of Hercules fighting the "Monster of Troy" which resembled the extinct Samotherium. In the 18th century, restorations of animals began to surface, albeit they were beyond inaccurate.

It was in 1830 when the first "fully realized" paleoart scenes began, paintings of animals based on fossils like ammonites, plesiosaurs, and later dinosaurs. Of course, not all paleoart is just paintings and illustrations. In the 1850s, sculptures of a now inaccurate Iguanodon were showed on the Crystal Palace in London. In the 1890s to the 1970s, came the "Classic" Paleoart era, more and more fossils sprang up, and famous paleoartists like Charles R. Knight made their names. Dinosaurs were regularly shown as being slow, cold-blooded, and dragging their tales.

The Dinosaur Renaissance began later and changed the perception of the slow, tail-dragging dinosaurs when Deinonychus was discovered in 1964. John Ostrom tested the presupposition, instead of finding that many of these animals were likely evocative of birds, not just in evolutionary history and classification but in form and behavior as well. The "Renaissance" movement so changed paleoart that even the works of Burian, a master of the "classic" age, were thought to be influenced by the newfangled preference for fresh, active, moving depictions of dinosaurs

Today, we are in the era of modern and post-modern paleoart, although many authors are in agreement about the events that caused the beginning of the Dinosaur Renaissance, the transition to the modern age of paleoart has been more gradual, with differing attitudes about what means the margin. New advances in paleontology, such as new feathered dinosaur discoveries and the many pigmentation studies of dinosaur integument that began around 2010, have become representative of paleoart after the turn of the millennium.

Paleoartists
'''1. Charles R. Knight (1874-1953)'''



Charles R. Knight was one of the earliest and one of the most renowned paleoartists of all time, drawing both prehistoric and modern animals. Many of his artworks (despite being inaccurate) are featured in many museums today. Fun fact, Charles was actually blind, of course, that did not stop him. One of his most famous pieces is the Leaping Laelaps (1897).

'''2. Mauricio Antón (1961-Present)'''



Born in Spain. Mauricio specializes in the reconstruction of hominins, and many prehistoric mammals. His works can be found in many books, scientific papers, and museums in several parts of the world.

'''3. Mark Witton'''

A British Paleoartist, Mark Witton is best known for his depictions of pterosaurs. He has worked as a consultant for Walking with Dinosaurs (1999), and BBC's Planet Dinosaur (2011). His paleoart is regarded by some to be the modern "anatomically-rigorous" movement.

'''4. Luis V. Rey'''



A Spanish-Mexican Paleoartist, Luis is mostly known for his mostly dinosaur paleoart. He has worked with famous paleontologist Robert T. Bakker. He has promoted awareness in the evidence for feathered dinosaurs and has collaborated with a well-selling dinosaur book titled: Dinosaurs: The Most Complete, Up-to-Date Encyclopedia (2007).

'''5. Emily Willoughby'''



A Paleoartist from America, Emily is best known for specializing in illustrating maniraptoran dinosaurs, although she has done other works of other dinosaurs like ceratopsians and ankylosaurs. She's noted for her interest in birds, dromeosaurs, and other feathered theropods.

'''6. Julius T. Csotonyi (1973-Present)'''

A Paleoartist from Canada, Julius specializes in photo-realistic restorations of dinosaurs, environments and extinct animals. His techniques comprise both traditional and digital media. His art is included in museums around the world.

'''7. Mark Hallett (1947-Present)'''

Mark is an American artist best known for his paintings of dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals. He originally coined the term "paleoart" to refer to a science-based paleontological illustration, Hallett remains one of the most important masters of modern dinosaur imagery.

'''8. Todd Marshall'''

Todd is an American paleoartist that specializes in the illustrations of the restoration of prehistoric animals, mostly dinosaurs. However, he has also done concept art for companies and films. His art is featured in many natural history museums, scientific papers, and many children's books.