A little art exercise about drawing the african hippo reconstructed in different paleoart "Eras"
And also some explanations for each of the eras:
"Victorian era: In this first era, Dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures are depicted as antediluvian monsters that were wiped out by the great deluge. This hippo reconstruction is inspired by classic "pre-flood dragons" like with megalosaurus and iguanodon were in the Victorian era.
Early Vintage era: As more dinosaurs are discovered thanks to events like the bone wars, dinosaurs would take on the shape of slow lumbering lizards who died out due to a changing world. The hippo reconstruction is akin to triceratops in posture, perhaps a result of the brontosaurus treatment.
Late Vintage era/Early Renaissance era: With the release of King kong, the beast of 20'000 fathoms and Godzilla, the perception of dinosaurs would change from being mere lumbering lizards to seen as destructive monsters. With animated Rite of spring and, later on, land before time, would show some uncharacteristic speed in these great reptiles. The hippo reconstruction comes from this mindset, with its maw agape, ready to munch on some poor unfortunate animal.
True Renaissance era: As more evidenced piled up, the notion of dinosaurs being lumbering lizards was dismissed. With them being seen as more dynamic archosaurs capable of quick action. In the 90s two pieces of media, Walking with Dinosaurs and Jurassic park would change the view of dinosaurs forever. The hippo design here is inspired by the more shrinkwrapped designs of dinosaurs and it's relatives, entelodonts and early whales.
2000s "The new millennium era": With the turn of the millennium, paleomedia reached a "golden age" of documentaries and paleoart. Some famous artwork from Luis V Rey and Todd Marshall adding waddles, sails, feathers and spikes all over their designs. This hippo design takes inspiration from the entelodonts from walking with beasts along with the "monsterization" of dinosaurs in paleomedia during this point.
2010s "Accurate vs inaccurate era"/New media era: As the 2010s rolled around, two main "art styles" for paleomedia would form: one based on new evidence, and other based around the ideas of jurassic park and the renaissance. This didn't help with the release of jurassic world and all yesterdays which caused a divide between these two sects. I based the two hippo reconstructions around this dichotomy, with one being more "fatty" and another being more monstrous.
2020s or the current era: As we reach modern times, these two camps of paleoart design would wane, while not fully going away. During this era, indie media would find popularity in this time with series like Dinosauria by David Armsby. The final Hippo reconstruction is based around prehistoric planet and their more accurate designs of tyrannosaurus rex.
