- Nice hat, lets get it picked up, Marky boy.
- like Daniel Craig picking up his hat as he and Harrison Ford run out of an about to launch spaceship in "Cowboys & Aliens" (wait, isn't picking up your hat Harrison Ford's Indiana Jones' trade mark?) - votaw
All that is now, All that is gone, All that's to come, And everything under the sun
OR
Happy 1st Birthday to Mark Witton’s bodacious Flickr site
Yes folks, the Flickr site voted bestest of all in numerous unofficial polls is one year old this very evening. It’s been a moderately eventful year: between posting my first ever full colour image of a pterosaur on the web and now, I’ve broken the halfway point of my PhD, built a bunch of model pterosaur skeletons which were then exhibited at the Cheltenham Science Fair and – still unbelievably - Buckingham Palace, attempted to grow a beard, met a lifelong hero, looked at as many fossils as I could get my hands on and, recently, become a published artist and author. On top of all this, I've found ample opportunity to make fun of my housemate and, in this little review, I feel I should draw your attention to this and this (though in the interests of not being reincarnated as an earwig, I should also highlight this).
In the last 365 days we've seen a whole parade of prehistoric beasts pass through these halls, from ancient crocodiles to giant marine reptiles through enormous predatory birds than kicked seven bells out of small mammals. Eagle eyed followers may have noticed a certain skew in my drawing subjects, namely those weird ol' pterosaurs, everyone's favourite extinct flying reptiles. There's now some 41 images of pterosaurs on this site (including this snazzy new one), 23 in glorious Technicolor and a couple of which, believe it or not, have been published in newspapers, geological magazines and various internet sites. Special mention should go to Darren Naish's excellent Tetrapod Zoology, which has used my work a number of times and led to my pictures being posted on other blog sites as well as being discussed on that international grapevine of vertebrate palaeontology, the Dinosaur Mailing List. Of course, all of this pales into insignificance compared to what I was told today by one student: my drawings 'kick ass', apparently. Quite.
Of course, it's not all pterosaurs and dinosaurs: there's also all those piccies of scary aliens, Lovecraftian demigods, and Victorian monsters. Although I was quite wary of posting these they've proved surprisingly popular as have, more surprisingly, the often lengthy essays accompanying them. Mind you, the shorter pterosaur posts were also praised by some and one very nice individual has even told me I should write a book.
So, s'all pretty good then. Now, ladies and gentlemen, we turn to this evening's celebrations: that picture up there. The challenge, y'see, was to mix all the main themes running across the site during the last year. Nodding towards my literary yearnings is the basis for the whole picture: Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World and, specifically, the scene in which the intrepid explorers stir the nesting pterosaurs into action. Ever since that fateful Saturday I spent drawing a scene from War of the Worlds, a picture of The Lost World has really been inevitable: one of my favourite books, it ties elements of a schoolboy adventure story, social satire and prehistoric beasties together in one neat little bow. One day, I might return to The Lost World for a more in-depth review but, hey, this is a celebration (well, it is if a guy sitting in a darkened room typing about his website by monitor light counts as a celebration), so let's not get too detailed today.
So, literary reference: check. Some kind of prehistoric animal? Check, and then some. Featured in a starring role here is Istiodactylus, an unusual pterosaur from my doorstop on the Isle of Wight and, less locally, China. However, rather than one or even two of these critters, there's a whole gig of the buggers pursuing our fleeing heroes. I can't blame these handsome devils for showing these pterosaurs a clean pair of heels, to be honest: some of my research indicates that being bitten by an istiodactylid would not be pleasant (go here for a brief discussion of istiodactylid feeding). Despite this, I fully endorse the retrieval of the rather cracking hat in the foreground, despite the danger.
So, literature and pterosaurs: check. There's only one thing left: a pretentious, ostentatious title based on some band that people my age listened to 30 years ago and, if I were in any way socially adept, I would avoid like the plague. Ah, look - there's one now: the penultimate lyrics of Pink Floyd's Dark Side of the Moon. Brilliant, brilliant stuff. Surprisingly, these titles have received very little attention: maybe people think naming a picture of Anurognathus after a psychedelic Rolling Stones track is just weird. Heck, I guess they're right.
Anyway, that brings us to the end of this little retrospective. On a closing note for those of you still reading and/or caring, expect to see more of the same in the next year: more pterosaurs, more miscellaneous beasties that take my fancy and, hey, maybe even some more pictures based on good reads. Thanks very much to all those who've said very nice things to me in the last year about the work on this site: I've been told to put this stuff somewhere it can be seen for years but never thought it was good enough. Thanks to the encouragement of both my university colleagues, family and all you Flickr chaps, maybe, just maybe, I'll concede that there are worse palaeontological illustrators out there.
UPDATE: 22/03/07
A whole week on, and it looks like the celebrations aren't over yet: Darren Naish, owner of what's been described as "The best zoological blog out there, period", has just posted a commemoratory blog all about my humble little section of the web turning 1 year old. For those of you willing to brave the danger of my rapidly swelling ego, you can find said blog here. So, thanks to Darren and, with press like that, I suppose I should get on with some drawing. Off I go, then.
Comments and faves
Vik Nanda, Rejean Pellerin, BlowedUPtruck, williumbillium, and 32 other people added this photo to their favorites.
BlowedUPtruck (63 months ago | reply)
is that Robert Baker holding his head up high?
Linden Tea (63 months ago | reply)
This gave me a hearty chuckle. ;]
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Seen in my contacts' photos. (?)
Mark Witton (63 months ago | reply)
"is that Robert Baker holding his head up high?"
Ah yes, that: there might be a rather tongue-in-cheek reference in this picture to a little adventure me and my chums took a few years ago. Take a look at this for some potential clues and remember - some truths may be hidden behind rampant facial hair (and, more appropriately, slight nods towards the picture's main inspiration).
Vik Nanda (63 months ago | reply)
congratulations on reaching the halfway point on your PhD. While wishing you the best of luck on your studies, I hope you still take the time to share your artwork and research with us.
Cheers,
Vik
Rejean Pellerin (63 months ago | reply)
Great illustrations and also a very interesting text!
Kimhotep (63 months ago | reply)
needs Daleks.
Kaptain Kobold (63 months ago | reply)
Daleks certainly woudn't go amiss. Conan Doyle combined with Daleks would be utter perfection :-)
Are these the blood scenting killer pterosaurs that were featured on 'Primeval' last week :-D
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Seen in my contacts' photos. (?)
abloomafloat (63 months ago | reply)
pertdactors? Whats the sqare for?
Mark Witton (63 months ago | reply)
"needs Daleks"
Alas, the evidence for giant pepper-pots in the fossil record is, presently, rather thin on the ground. I'll keep you posted.
"Are these the blood scenting killer pterosaurs that were featured on 'Primeval' last week :-D"
The beast you seek is Anurognathus, a small, insect eating (as opposed to flesh devouring) little critter from Germany. Funnily enough, it has been suggested that a close relative of Anurognathus, the Chinese form Jeholopterus, was a vampire bat analogue. This intriguing idea, I'm afraid, is about as well supported as the volant-pihranna theory advocated in Primeval.
As for what I thought of the pterosaur Primeval: "it's a load of arse", to quote myself. Ahem.
Kaptain Kobold (63 months ago | reply)
"As for what I thought of the pterosaur Primeval: "it's a load of arse", to quote myself. Ahem."
But you still watched it :-)
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Seen in my recent comments. (?)
Mark Witton (63 months ago | reply)
Research purposes [cough].
In my defence, it's the only one I've watched from beginning to end. And surpringly, it's science was more impressive than the Horizon documentary on last Tuesday.
Graeme Elliott (63 months ago | reply)
An earwig is too good by far... I was hoping those pictures would vanish into obscurity.....
Kaptain Kobold (63 months ago | reply)
"In my defence, it's the only one I've watched from beginning to end. And surpringly, it's science was more impressive than the Horizon documentary on last Tuesday."
That's not hard these days.
We've quite enjoyed 'Primeval'; I've only had to shout at the TV a couple of time, which isn't too bad for a programme like that. And I'm impressed that in six episodes they haven't resorted to a dinosaur yet.
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Seen in my recent comments. (?)
Mark Witton (63 months ago | reply)
I think it could've been better if they'd researched it more - maybe even just phoning up a few palaeontologists and asking for some advice on what the animals should look like and could do. I mean, the Pteranodon in the latest episode was had a wingspan w-a-y bigger than it should and, at one point, they refer to it as 'she'. We have good evidence that Pteranodon was sexually dimorphic with males having the big headcrests: they could've worked some of that into the story or at least the dialogue, rather than basing it all on a slightly outdated pterosaur encyclopedia, which they blatantly did. I'm not quite as qualified to comment on the other animals, but suffice to say I think a bit more science wouldn't have gone amiss nor bogged the programme down at all: real life can be just as fantastic, if not more so, than fiction, after all.
OGeorge [deleted] (63 months ago | reply)
Happy Flick'r Birthday Mark, but actually, that hat and your Flick'r icon look like MY hat! And I'm half a zillion years older than you so it was mine first! I've been buried in work and I'm only now going back over all the wonderful drawings and paintings. Great fun, nice colors, and more good text than a year's worth of - other people's - "blog" posts.
On second thought, since I see you've now rubbed shoulders with "Sir David", maybe the hat IS yours. I don't need trouble with people who have powerful friends.
Mark Witton (63 months ago | reply)
Thanks very much. With regards to the hats, we do seem to share the same excellent taste in headgear: it's one big flukey convergence, I assure you. Still, I think there's enough hatty goodness to go around. Just don't go makin' any trouble around these parts, or I'll set you-know-who on you.
Now that's a surreal thought...
BlowedUPtruck (62 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called The Boy Bedlam Review, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
ann.inspain (59 months ago | reply)
Hi, I'm an admin for a group called Champagne Moments, and we'd love to have your photo added to the group.
Optical illusion (59 months ago | reply)
Great artwork!
Seen in www.flickr.com/groups/champagne_moments/ Thank you for sharing your Champagne Moments with us.
ann.inspain (59 months ago | reply)
Seen in www.flickr.com/groups/champagne_moments/ Thank you
for sharing your Champagne Moments with us.
Absolutely brilliant
buhdieboy (49 months ago | reply)
is this an animated feature if so somebody state it ?
~maja*majika~ (49 months ago | reply)
too cool ! :-)
jake.spencer65 (41 months ago | reply)
can u do a pic of an azhadarchid running like an ostrich or a nyctosaur doing a running landing
piat1 (32 months ago | reply)
"needs daleks"?
I think it needs YILANE!