Hope y'all are having a good day! I'm just your average aardvark
enthused entomologist with an interest in art and story telling.
Currently obsessed with Transformers and Azhdarchids so be prepared lol . https://devilscoachman.carrd.co
Result from the Wadi al Hitan #paleostream! The "valley of the whales" as it is better known is a classic locality from the late Eocene of Egypt. Most famously it is place filled with the remains of early whales, Archaeoceti, but it's less straight forward as a piece than one...
might think. Since the early 20th century people have recorded fossils from the Wadi and in 2005 it was dedicated a World Heritage Site. Besides Basilosaurus and Dorudon the remains of early sirenians and proboscideans and among the more important finds but the largest...
part of the fauna is probably in the sharks and rays. Keen eyes will notice that some prominent taxa are missing here. This is mostly due to the stratigraphy of the Wadi being an absolute nightmare.While single members are relatively well defined, how they relate to each other...
and into what formations they fit depends a lot on the author. Subsequently we near exclusively used the Temple member here, which includes most of the famous stuff. During the Eocene this part of Africa was largely covered by shallow seas, fringed by mangroves...
this created a paradise for water loving mammals but the sharks clearly dominate. Large marine snakes are also known from the Wadi but from different localities. This size chart was put together by me as well as Discord member Avery with the inverts by Discord member Gnath
Start with a large sheet of cardboard. Stores like home depot have large moving boxes that come flat like this, perfect for this project.
I use a projector to trace my butterfly, but you can also put tracing paper up to a screen and glue it to your cardboard, or ask your library to let you use their projector.
Make sure to trace not just the outside, but also all of the markings and patterns. Doing the antennae as well and keeping the scrap cardboard will allow you to measure out the right length.
2.
Cut around the outside of your lepidopteran and crease where the wings meet each other and the body. I use my hands, but a ruler can help. After bending your wings into a natural position, make the body and head with your clay of choice, mine is foam clay which is cheap and easy to use.
Blend the sides of the body into the wings just enough to stick, this will hold the pose you've chosen.
Prop up the wings with whatever is around and keep in a safe spot to dry. Mine dries overnight at this size. You can see I've used bottles for mine
3.
Once dry and solidified, the clay holds the wings in place in the way you left them.
Measure your antennae wire a little longer than needed and poke it into the clay. If it doesn't stay, add a little dot of super or hot glue at the base.
Glue a mounting bracket on the back. You can angle this however you like to have your lepidopteran upright, sideways, or even upside down
4.
Paint your sections individually so you don't lose your trace lines. I go in with white first to cover up the print on the cardboard, then put the correct colors over that.
If making a high contrast lep like this, go in with black at the end to clean up your edges.
If adding any fur to the body, get a piece larger than you need and hot glue it on, then trim the backing underneath the fibers with tiny snips, as not to cut the fur itself, and carefully glue the edges of the backing to the body as well
5.
Brush a matte finish like mod podge over your final product. Hold your lep up to where you want it to hang, then mount with a nail
First big(ish) paleoart piece of the year: a Mosasaurus Hoffmannii. Its patterns are inspired by rainbow trout, with a bit of influence from the Prehistoric Planet mosa.
Ok, so, I think I will be putting these into video format along with maybe having a bit of a cheat sheet posted along with the videos to use as a reference.
Anything particular y'all want to see? I know for sure I will be doing a head/mouthpart tutorial and will be including different mouth types (sucking, sponging, chewing, etc). General body overview.... wings.... maybe even internals for funsies
Currently prepping everything and digging out my old notes and dissection photos lol
Introductions to academic papers will be like "everyone knows that the sea is cold (citation), as well as salty (5 different citations). Things live in there (citation) and the environment is important to that (2 citations)"
YUUUUUP especially prevalent for wasps and other hated bugs but "did a [blank] write this?" is my most loathed response in general, on the surface it's just people trying to be funny, but also it's just a refusal to engage with the knowledge being presented and challenge the preconceived notions the person has with an animal they hate
snowghoul
theartofmadeline
kianamaiart
stormborns
dededos
tangentwithtanner
dailybridgerton
