Anchiornis - new version

Here is the long-awaited final illustration for ~Agahnim's anti-creationism project, Anchiornis huxleyi. This dinosaur was not originally part of the lineup of feathered dinosaurs that I needed to illustrate, but the new specimen described in December of 2009 made it clear that it needed to be included, since it was a beautiful example of a feathered troodontid older than Archaeopteryx.

I ran into an unfortunate predicament with this painting that I hadn't yet experienced in my artistic career. Right when I had completed it, a new study was released that described in fantastic detail the coloration that this animal's feathers would have had in life. I was extremely discouraged by this news, but since this painting is going to be published and needed to be as accurate and reputable as possible, I painstakingly repainted the animal to reflect the findings of the new study.

Here is the old version of the painting.

I am now finally finished with all of the illustrations for this book, and I must say it's a huge relief. I just hope that it hits the shelves before yet another important discovery is made.

Lots of thanks to ~Agahnim and the Gondolendians for their help with anatomy and shading.

If you're interested in the rest of the feathered dinosaur illustrations I've done for ~Agahnim's book, you can see them here:

Jinfengopteryx
Microraptor
Archaeopteryx
Velociraptor
Sinornithosaurus
Epidexipteryx
Sinosauropteryx
Caudipteryx