A night scene of warring marine reptiles inspired by the palaeoart of the 19th-century painter John Martin. A full moon peers through a bank of cloud to illuminate two figures rising from a turbulent sea: a long-necked plesiosaur and the spiralling tail and body of a mosasaur (fun historofact: fossils of mosasaurs were among the first Mesozoic reptiles to be put on record, but they weren't restored in palaeoart until the 1850s, decades after other marine reptiles). They threaten and bellow at each other with whipping tongues and clawed flippers because John Martin. A rocky arch can be seen on the right, and a third reptile, its identity uncertain, arches from the water on the left. Go draw some Martineseque Mesozoic animals, folks, it's hellafun.
First new #paleoart piece finished for 2026: a super modern, 100% accurate take on Mosasaurus and a plesiosaur.
In unrelated news, I had the spirit of the early 19th-century palaeoartist John Martin exorcised from my house over the weekend.
#paleontology #fossil #sciart #retropaleoart #art