my spins ate my brain

If you're having trouble telling what the difference is between the two dinos, the joke is that there is virtually no difference, save for a feature we have no actual physical evidence for (unless there's been a big update I missed, we don't have any conclusive evidence of what large therapods were colored like).

This does not stop every paleoart subreddit or twitter/bsky artist following from being full of the most utterly miserable bickering pedants having wildly disproportionate reactions to minor and purely theoretical... I can't even call them arguments. Just different ideas.

Overall: The vibes are immaculate, but Probably Not

We have some fossil evidence to suggest juvenile Rexes were downy, but adults were almost certainly not

Especially not like this, because sparrows are floofy because they're little animals that live in temperate climates with cold winters, and T-Rex was a Very Large Animal living in tropical climates. It did not need the insulation.

That's a pose a T-rex could strike but not it's natural habit. The artist has also fudged the proportions a bit, in a very plausible way so always double-check your measurements and reference sources to make sure you're not making stuff up

T-rex would have had no need for flight feathers like depicted on the wings and tail, and it comes from earlier in the evolutionary tree than flighted dinosaurs so it wouldn't have them vestigially either

HOWEVER:

It's extremely valid and compelling to consider how feathering might have radically changed the silhouettes, especially in terms of camouflage and insulation for some of the smaller and midsize dinosaurs

Patterning and cryptic camouflage are also very valid interpretations, even on a giant non-aquatic predator, because a ton of animals are paler on the underside

The little bright cheek puffs are something that might have shown up as skin pigmentation, esp given that Rexes had extremely good vision and probably fairly sociable so communicative coloration would be a very valid and reasonable choice

YOU ABSOLUTELY DO NOT NEED A MASTERS DEGREE TO BE A SCIENTIFIC ILLUSTRATOR!!

I don't actually have one! What I have is a master's certification of botanical illustration from the Denver Botanic Garden's Illustration Program. It's not an accredited degree, but it is just as if not more respected as a master's degree from a university. And a hell of a lot cheaper! I just call it a master's because it gets the concept across and is shorter to type.

And I don't technically need that! Anyone can take on an art commission for scientific purposes! Anyone can join any of the illustration guilds regardless of education! There are people with no formal art training making a living at this because all you actually need is a strong portfolio and the ability to network.

To that end, I recommend at least some formal art training and classes in how to draw with the kind of accuracy educational institutions are expecting, to build the skills necessary and to meet fellow illustrators, because 90% of the commissions you get come from your fellow sci ill people recommending you to a client because they're booked.

alysa liu stateside but make it retro ❄️✨ she's so magical girl coded 💖

prints available in our st0re!

Instagram Reel

Okay this rules. If you don't want to click through:

Good knives need to be hand-washed, which is why a lot of people cut themselves badly when washing knives - you're combining slippery and sharp, which is not good.

what the people want, the people get

you see

my professor’s take is that mary shelley is feminizing victor throughout the novel, as a way of flipping gender roles and putting a male character through female experiences.

evidence as explained:

victor is creating life. he is putting his health at risk (spends two years with little sleep or socialization) to bring life forth into this world

his illness after he is shocked by the creature coming to life is akin to both ‘hysteria’ and postpartum depression

he pretty much swoons, let’s be honest

henry clerval, a man who has been characterized as manly and heroic, has to chase after damsel-in-distress victor and care for him as he convalesces 

afterward, he hides what he did and went through, for fear that others will label him crazy and emotional and not believe him. sound familiar?

Victor in general is more emotional than the other characters and is constantly tempering his reactions to not be seen as irrational 

the book does not otherwise have central female characters 

Also, Shelley’s mother died in childbirth. It’s interesting, then, that Shelley presents the creation of life as something horrific and damaging. She parallels Victor with her mother.

Some Irises I drew to both play with some brushes and get the feel of my new iPad and pencil

My first HeroAca fanart in a hot minute and it’s these goobers