Guest Book

    Number of entries: 41

My comments and replies appear in italics

WHO: Mark Parnell  

WHEN: 29/July/2004

Dear Daniel,

 

First off I would like to say that I am hugely impressed by your paleoart, which I (as many others did) first saw in the Dinosauricon. However, for me it is the 'Speculative Dinosaur Project" which is most interesting, both from a scientific viewpoint and one of wonder - the basalt squid, gigamouth sharks and *ahem* arsegill fish show great imagination as much as they do scientific reasoning.

 

 Thus, I was just wondering what your plans for the future of the project are - how much you want to extend it, any publishing plans etc, as I find it hugely interesting.

 

Many Thanks,

P.S. I do love the Lovecraft references in the project too, whoever's they were - how about an amoebid Shoggoth antarcticus, though?

 

    The dinosauricon is an extremely cool resource, and I'm glad T. Mike Keesey accepted a few of my paintings. I'm working on some new ones (going back to dinosaurs after working on Spec almost exclusively for more than two years), but I'm currently studying abroad in Japan, so I have less free time than I might have.

    I'm glad you like the Speculative Dinosaur Project——just know that all of the really cool critters are either from Brian Choo or Tiina Aumala, our resident lunatics.

    Yes, it would be nice to publish Spec, but it needs a lot of work before we can do so. Right now the quality of the text and illustrations is too patchy, and we need to come up with an easy way to organize things.

    We have gotten some nice comments from Dougal Dixon, though. :)

    Yeah, there are a lot of science fiction and fantasy references in Spec. I've lost track of them all at this point, but the Lovecraftian ones are mostly Tiina's fault. An Antarctic amoebid might be difficult (since Antarctica is freakin cold) but who knows.

WHO: Karait  

WHEN: 8/April/2004

Dear Dan,

                  The first thing I have to say about your art is wow! It’s so original, not like anything I’ve seen before. I love your use of color in all your art (frankly I think there are to many drab dino paintings out there).

 

    I have also seen your Spec world art on the Spectacular Dinosaur Project and it is some of your best, coming in close second to your opus dinosaur art. Since visiting the Spectacular Dinosaur Project I have come to realize it would make a fantastic book. Have you considered that? You seem to be one of the founding fathers of that site so I thought it would be good to ask you that question. A book would be much easier to read as well. Sitting in front of the computer, trying to read all the fascinating information on that site makes my eyes feel funny. Maybe that’s just me but I’m sure others would enjoy it as a book too.

 

    After discovering sharovipteryx and seeing your painting of it I have been fascinated by this strange creature. I have also found that there has been an aerodynamic study done on it to figure out how it glided. So after discovering this interesting bit of information on sharovipteryx, I feel it is only fair that I tell you of the flaw in your work. Sharovipteryx had to have had some sort of anterior gliding membrane, without this it would have gone into a nose-dive when it jumped from a tree. Other then that though I have found nothing else wrong. Congratulations!

 

   P.S. I know your not to happy with your tyrannosaurus painting but I think it’s an interesting look at what a bright, colorful tyrannosaurus may have looked like.

 

I was going through my old emails and just found this one.  I’m so sorry I never replied!  Please excuse me.

 

It’s actually good to hear you like my real dinosaurs better than the speculative ones, because I’m putting Spec on the back burner for the time being (mostly trouble getting it publishable), but I have been working on some new dinosaur paintings.  Unfortunately, since I’m in Japan right now with no easy access to a scanner, I don’t have much to offer besides the ones in my hard drive, which are very slowly reaching completion. 

 

As for Sharovipteryx, I am planning on doing a revision in the near future, and I will have to look up the new studies done on the animal, but my recollection is that Sharovipteryx’s forelimbs were too small to support any sort of gliding membrane.  I will have to look into the problem, but you’re right, either Sharovipteryx had a gliding membrane anterior of its legs, or it could somehow get its feet stretched out closer to its center of balance, or else there is no way it could have glided.   I’d appreciate it if you sent me the study you mentioned, though.

Oh, and I’m glad you like my Tyrannosaurus too.  I’m not so happy with the quality of the painting, but it’s only so often I can do a T. rex; I have to feel like I have something new to say about the critter before I can paint it again.  :)

WHO: Juan Carlos Alonso

WHEN: 10/Feb/2004

Hello Dan,

Just going through the web and came across your web site and WOW! Nice work.

Love the colors!

Keep up the great work...

 

Thanks. I hope to have some new stuff coming out soon.

WHO: E. M. Moacdieh

WHEN: 25/Jan/2004

Hello,

My name is Emile Marc Moacdieh, I'm 16, and I'm from Lebanon (the country). Sadly, Lebanon is not where one can find advanced scientific help on dinosaur reconstructions, and the only skeletals I've got are from a 1985 book that refers to Baryonyx as the Surrey Dinosaur! Ah well. Good thing I have the Net though... After being a fan of your art, on Opus: Dinosaur and on Speculative Dinosaur Project, I thought I'd write out this letter for the guestbook.

I really like the way you treat the dinos as alive and kicking (like in Rey's A Field guide to Dinosaurs - have you seen it?) The watercolors are really beautiful and colorful. Personally I've never managed to make my own watercolors do what I want... Also, it feels good to see really colorful, plausible reconstructions with feathers and all that. Many books still consider feathery integument as Science Fiction. As for Spec, hats off. Confession: I hit upon the same idea (dinosaurs survived), several years ago, only when I discovered that website I gave up! Anyway, Spec is definitely much better than mine anyway. I killed off all the Ornithischia and produced 4-legged birds and land-living squid! Anyway, both sites are great, keep them up.

However, I would venture to offer a critique: are all theropods maniraptorans? I don't really think Ornitholestes or struthiomimids folded up their arms like bird's wings. But then, maybe they did. That's the beauty of dinosaurs...

I've got a question: have you or anyone in the paleontological community heard of the Hakel fossils? They're beauifully preserved Cretaceous fish in a sedimentary deposit here in Lebanon. I'm sure it would have preserved feathers, only it was ancient seabed back then. What galls me is how the fossils are unceremoniously hammered out and sold to tourists. I'm sure they would be given more attention if more was known about them.

Anyway,

Yours,

E. M. Moacdieh

Thanks a lot for the compliments. :)  I do have A Field Guide to Dinosaurs and I enjoyed reading it immensely (and I still enjoy the pictures); I like the idea of talking about dinosaurs in the present tense---presenting them as real animals rather than abstractions or monsters---and apparently other people like thinking about dinosaurs that way, too.  And as for Spec, we adhere as closely as possible to real biology, and one of the basic principals of biology is that evolution is inherently unpredictable.  Nature presents problems, but how organisms will solve those problems is something we can only guess at.  So really your guess is as good as ours.  I have to say though that I like ornithicians, and I wouldn't like a world without them. 

Arms: That's something I need to do some more research on.  Apparently only birds (and only some of them) could fold their arms as tightly as modern birds can.  Maniraptors could not bend their arms in that way, so a lot of my pictures need to be redone.  However, it is clear that no theropod could pronate its hands (hold them palms facing backwards), so at least I got that part right.

I don't know anything about Hakel, but it does make me angry to hear about such fossils being sold to private collectors, mostly because now _I_ can't see them.  I'm a very selfish person.

WHO: Steve Walsh

WHEN: 21/Jan/2004

Dear Daniel,
Congratulations on 'Opus: Dinosaur' and the 'The Speculative Dinosaur Project'. Well presented and huge fun. Particularly like some of the whimsical touches (ie mokeles).

I am project managing a privately funded and created commercial product for older children on dinosaurs. One of the extension units will contain investigations on 'Surviving dinosaurs'. In this kids would examine three themes:

What if dinosaurs had not died out at the end of the Cretaceous? Do dinosaurs survive in remote parts of the world? Can dinosaurs be recreated?

Your 'Spec' site is obviously very appropriate for the first theme along with Dougal Dixon's "The New Dinosaurs", fiction (Harry Harrison's Eden trilogy, Barry Longyear's "Homecoming" and Robert Sawyer's dinosaur trilogy) as well as the controversy surrounding Dale Russell's 'Dinosauroid'.

Enough of background. I have a query related to your sites. I am, of course only interested in referring to high quality content and whilst this is certainly true of your sites there are a significant number of broken links. Are these likely to be attended to in the foreseeable future.

Thanks for you time.

Yours truly,
Steve Walsh

I apologize for not replying sooner, but I wanted to have something positive to say before I did. First, thank you for the compliments on OPUS: Dinosaur and Spec. (by the way: You'll find that the more whimsical creatures tend to actually be the products of other people on the project and whimsical hardly goes far enough in describing some of their efforts).  Wow, that's an extremely comprehensive list of speculative dinosaurs. The only other two books I can think of on that theme are The Dinosaur Nexus (I can't remember who wrote it) and Dinosaur Summer (by Greg Bear) which certainly deserves a place next to those others. And of course, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's The Lost World should get a mention. Yes. All the important links are now functional (that is all the pictures and species are up). Some of the text links may still not work, but we are in the process of fixing them.

WHO: Rebecca K. Hunt

WHEN: 11/Dec/2003

LOL, Guess I should have read your guest book before I responded, didn't know I could add that much. I think what you have done is great, I love all the color you use and your birds look great. I particularly love your Ceratopsid arc painting that I found on The Dinosauricon (http://dino.lm.com/images/display.php?id=284). Why do you not have that specific one linked here to your website? I think its great! Anyway, keep up the good work! I look forward to checking out more of your stuff in the future. I hope you don't mind if I add your URL to my site.

Peace,

ReBecca

Wow, a guestbook signature, that takes me back. Thanks a lot for your compliments, those birds are soon going to get some friends——I intend to work hard this Christmas and produce some new dinosaur paintings. Yes, I really like the ceratopsian arc, too, and I think I may do a revision of it one of these days. I actually do link to that picture in OPUS: Dinosaur——it's the banner image of the Links page. And feel free to link to OPUS: Dinosaur in your site.

WHO: Ryan Matno
WHEN:18/Oct/2001

I had a wonderful time in here helping my daughter with her homework.  Thank  you for putting up such an impressive site!  We will definitely recommend  this to her media teacher and teachers!

WHO: Tim Morris
WHEN: 11/Sep/2001

Hello{g'day} Dan,

I have been a big fan of your site for a while now, and i thought getting in touch with you was a good way to give you your due credit. From the way i'm writing, you'll probably think i'm 40, but i'm only 16, also a huge paleoart fan, and an extreme dino and paleolife Enthusiast. I don't really have a website for any of my pieces, most of which are simple, impromtu sketches that are all awaiting completion or extension of some sort, i do like doing portraits, but i really enjoy doing more dioramas and scenes{or at least sketching them}, ones that show different species in association to oneanother in a natural surrounding. As youv'e probably noticed, i'm Antipode{ozzie}, and belive me, the place is similar to the way it has always been, big, isolated, and full of varied, distinctive and obscure inhabitants, most with cloudy origins{i have Irish in me, also English, Welsh, the whole Anglo-Saxon thing.}

I do have some suggestions, maybe Lurdusaurus or Nigerosaurus, i tried, but they are majorly hard to find good info on, maybe you can have better luck than me. you could try doing some more herbivores?the ornithopods especially are overlooked all too often in paleo art, maybe due to their no frills appearance, but the subtle differences and details make them fascinating to draw{the duck bills and ouranosaurus are abit more extreme though}. I reckon with your skills, you could create some really good scene pictures, heck, if i can, anyone can! oh and there are some decent picures and info on Archaeoceratops{my favorite ceratopian}, out there too.

I did one of my major school art pieces on dinosaurs and dinosaurs in cartoons, basically a comparison of a cartoony dinosaur scene and a real one, are these sorts of artworks welcome on your guest artists site?

Are you open to critiquing? it was just that I saw a picture of a Longipteryx fossil, and also read somewhere on the Internet that it's bill was vaguely ibis like{but shorter and thinner of course!}. Maybe you could consider it if you decided to redo that picture?

Do you have a favourite dinosaur group? personally I find it hard to decide, but I do lean towards ornithopods, so elegant and varied, yet subtle. Some call them boring, I don't.

Anyhow, since the ice is now broken, you will probably hear more of me. Like you, I believe that discussion is the mother and pacemaker of a good piece of art, anyhow, two brains are better than one, with humans anyway.

OH, and my pet Bluetongue Lizard says hi {only the country blokes and shelas have pet kangaroos}...

Mesozoically,

Tim

Who: Stacey Burgess
When: 31/July/2001
Websites: Corona Borealis
              Paleozone

 
I really like your web site, I find it interested that you depict the animals as if they still lived, it makes for an
interesting read. Your water color skills amaze me as well, I can never create anything with water color.

Who: Morgan Churchill
When: 26/July/2001

 
Your site in undoubtly one of the best on the internet for paleo illustrations.  I particulary like the emphasis on the birds,
as they are my favorite and don't get as much attention artwise as some of the nonavian theropods.  Thought I would
finally give your guestbook a sign, and do you have a plans in the near future to do a Gargauntavis (sp?) illustration, you
know, the giant flightless bird from Cretaceous France.  I am having absolutely no luck trying to visualize it.

Morgan Churchill
Zoology Student

Who: Michael Hanson
Webpage: The Virtual Encyclopedia of the Dinosauria
When: 19/July/2001
 

Hi! All I can say for now is that I greatly admire your work.

P. S. How about some pictures of Spinosaurus, Einiosaurus, Tsintaosaurus, Sauroposeidon, and Tyrannosaurus

Hi, and thanks.  I don't think I'll do a reconstruction of Spinosaurus untill some better material is dug up and, while I have a Tyrannosaurus rex, already, it's pretty lame and I do want to replace it with something better (if only I can think of some new approach to this over-done beast).  As to the others...hmm.

Who: Marcel
When: 11/July/2001

 
Hi Mr. Bensen (or should I say only Dan?),

best wishes from Germany. I am great fan of your artwork (especially of the theropod artwork, how can you make such predators looking so peacefully?),
My favourite is the Deltadromeus and the Giganotosaurus picture. I also like your \"Senneria-Story\" (great idea, will you someday release more about this fantastic kingdom?)

Bye....
 

Marcel

P.S. I think my English is not the best, but i\'ll try hard to be better :-)

Hi, Marcel (Dan is fine, by the way).  For some reason, I don't like paintings of predators being voilent.  Most of the time, big carnivores are asleep, anyway.  I plan to write a sequel to "Bataar", or at least, something in the same world, but I haven't yet thought up a new story.

Who: Luc J. "Aspidel" Bailly
When: 16/May/2001
 

Dear Dan,

First excuse my English which is not very good.

I'm a new Dinosauricon artist ( http://dinosauricon.com/artists/ljb.html ); my name is Luc Bailly but I got an artist
name: Aspidel.
I live in the Belgian Ardennes.

I really like the new look of your website but there's a little problem: the Guest Artists gallery doesn't match here, nor
the head of Aloriamus. I just write it for your information.
I like your colourful paintings, especially Dromaeosaurus head (the light in the eye!), Saltasaurus, Cryolophosaurus
(the wallpaper of my PC screen) and the guides to dino groups. Go on!! (the quick sketches are good studies and
good examples for new artists).
I began to read "Bataar" , you got much imagination. I'll read Mellony one of these days.

You have links to good informations (Jeff Poling's papers for example), and I think it's not always easy to find it (for
prehistoric mammals and aetosaurs for example).

I'm not member of the dinolist, but I'd like to (how can I do?). I'm always afraid it's too hard for me, I just draw
dinosaurs for 5 months, for a comic-strip project with dinosaur-like characters. Since it's not always easy to find
informations, I'd like to ask, for example, to get an image ot the skeleton of Microraptor, I have some good ideas for
artwork, but I want my dinosaur to be quite realistic. Is it possible in the list? (I'm an artist, not a specialist!)

Friendly,
                         ASPIDEL.

Don't worry about language; your English is better than my French (or is it Dutch?)  I've seen your artwork.  I like the fact that you put lots of plants in your pictures.  The links don't work?  Thanks for telling me---I fixed them.  One of my paintings is a desktop?  Cool!  What an honor. :)  Menolly's pretty incomplete; go here and look for pictures.  If you want to get on the DML, go to this page and do what it says.  What you want is exactly what the list is for.  I get a lot of pictures of new dinosaurs off the list.  Good luck!

Who: Filippo Calzolari
When: 23/March/2001
 
 

DML member Filippo Calzolari admiring your art ;-)
wonderful

bye

FC

Duuuude. ("Dude"?!?)

Props("props"?!?) on the feathers. They look *awesome*. (Completely sick of
unfeathered "raptors.")
Question: Is that an Einiosaurus head of the Species List page, or a . . .
Gah, the name escapes me. Brain not work so good. Anyway, Just wondrin'.
 

"Feathers?!? On dinosaurs?!? Are you MAD?!?"
Why yes sir I am, thank you for noticing!

Dear Dan

I hadn't visited your site for a while, but, prompted by your note to the dinolist, I took a look.  Wow!  Too cool!
Besides the art, I like the commentary and related links.  And yes, your first commission was from the
Lexington Children's Museum in Lexington, Kentucky.  Your Scipionyx hatchling is still on display with our
dinosaur egg exhibit.  Should we ever take the exhibit out, your painting will definitely have a place of honor
somewhere else in the museum.

Keep on painting, I think you've found your calling.

Cheers

Judy Lundquist
Exhibit Designer

 
I was here.  Nice site and very thoughtful paintings.

Dave Edwards
The Truth Is Out There

Hey Dan,

I've been a lurker on the dino-list for years now, but this is the first
time I've visited your site. Very impressive, especially (for me) your
depiction of my personal fave, H. tucki. Where are you going to
college?

Best regards,

Larry Woods.

 
Hello Dan,

I really enjoy what you've done here. Keep up the great work!

Sincerely,

Todd Marshall

Hi

Love your Protoceratops illustration.

I am leaving an official comment in your guest book.

BUT   every time you have typed Museum of Natural History it should really
say  American Museum of Natural History  (unless you meant National Museum
of Natural History etc......)

: )

Jenny Lando
Assistant Coordinator/Paleontology of Dinosaurs
Moveable Museum
Education Department:AMNH
Central Park West @ 79th Street
NYC NY 10024
212-769-5189
212-769-5329 (fax)

Love your style!! Kepp the good work

Max Salas

Thanks a lot.  I've seen your artwork and admire it very much.  Lots of small, pretty things---very to my taste.

 
Dan,
this site is very interesting ( didn't know of it ). Right, 23 signatures
in 2 years is not much..
Here's the 24th. Go on this way. I'll be visiting more often from now

Regards,
Jean-Michel

Dear Mr. Bensen,
   You have created an amazing site.  It is going to be the most popular
site in my classroom for quite awhile.
I am an elementary school art teacher.  I can't wait to hook up the
digital projector and knock the socks off all the kids!!!!

Thank you,
Emma

Emma Craib
Waddell School
Nathan Hale School
Manchester CT USA

 
Dear Dan,
    I really admire your drawings. The Beipiaosaurus inexpectus one is really colorful. Well, I have to go.  Keep up the great work.

 
Hello!

    I'm pretty impressed by your site. I'm really looking forward to getting into the section on Menolly--I've
always loved invented creatures. Thank you for putting up a good guide to various creatures by age and
continent, and for focusing not just on dinosaurs, but on the other members of the ecosystem as well, giving
us a broader view of the time in which these creatures lived. I enjoy your style and find the patterns and
colorations you use both striking and, for the most part, plausibly natural. It's a pleasure to see a talented
artist with a love for my favorite subject doing good work.
    I was wowed by your 'Bataar' story. You've created an imaginative world which seems alive, and the sense
of timing in your prose, the pace and the tone that you create, is superb. I think you're an excellent writer, and
I survived Mr. Clarke's "Get Tough or Die" English class. :) Again,  a real pleasure.
    One of the pictures that particualrly struck me was your crouching V. mongoliensis, which for some reason
stands out as extremely lifelike, a creature caught in the act of living its life, as if you hopped back there and
lived around Mongolia for a bit, then did some sketches of things you'd seen in your time among the
dinosaurs. The body language and inquisitive, hunting expression of the animal make it animate and real. As
an aside, I'm wondering if you might be interested in doing commissions at some point. Please let me know.
    Your page is going on my 'favorites' list. The links and essays you have provided (complete with
documentation) make it an extremely valuable resource which is both easy and enjoyable to use. I look
forward to future updates and an expansion of your work if you ever have the time. Should you choose to
become a professional dinosaur paleontologist, I know we'll have a wonderful addition to the field.
    Sincerely,
    Jeff Kephart

Who: João Boto
When: 19/August/2000
 

My friend Daniel,
I know were are "talking" via e-mail for some time now, but I had to sign the guestbook.
I know that u already know my toughts on your drawings (I think they're great) and I want to give you my
biggest compliments for the great work.
I'm still 15, but I think my art tends to improve with time and your material is very helpful to me. Try to
draw more sauropods like Seismosaurus, Sauroposeidon or some therops such Yanchuanosaurus,
Spinosaurus or Carcharodontosaurus.

Your friend,
João (and sorry for the english)

Who: Dr. Elio Corti
When: 18/August/2000
Webpage: La Genetica del Pollo
 

    Dear Daniel,
    First of all my warmest compliments for your pictures and web pages.
Thanks to you I have found the explanation of the word olecranus in Mononychus.
My navigation didn't give results and the answer I found in your site.
    If you are interested, olecranus is a word composed by two truncated Greek words:
olène = arm (see Latin ulna)
cranìon = skull, head
    So, olecranus is the head of the ulna, that tuberosity giving the shape of the elbow.
    All the best for you and again many thanks.
    Excuse my English.

Dr Elio Corti
Medico Chirurgo - Specialista in Cardiologia
Strada Doglia San Zeno 12
15048 Valenza  AL - Italy

Who: James R. Cunningham
When: 7/August/2000

Hi Dan,
I like your site.
Jim Cunningham

Who: Chandler Gibbons
When:  26/July/2000
Webpage: DinoDex
 

Cool site, Dan!

I really like your Cryolophosaurus and Deltadromeus drawings.  This has
to be one of the best dinosaur art sites I've seen!  I think you should do a
Leaellynasaura or a Stygimoloch painting (just giving some suggestions,
hehe).

Chandler

    Thanks!  I like the Cryolophosaurus, too (although it has a few anatomical problems), but I'm surprised you like Deltadromeus. I'm very glad you like my art.  The genre is rather crowded, and I hope I've dug a nice niche.  Thanks for your suggestions, I shall try to paint those dinosaurs at some point.  At the moment, I've just gotten back from vacation, and school starts soon, so it'll take a while before I get to them.  I like your site, too, but I haven't looked at it closely enough to be able to say anything about them.

Who: Clayton Bell
When: 11/July/2000
 

     I love the site. I first found it while i was looking for a good picture
of hesperornis. I could never get my drawings off it to look right. I found
out a lot of new things here; I didn't know woodpeckers were south american
birds. I really like the theory about dienonychosaur evolution. This is the
first place I heard that the raptors evolved from birds instead of the other
way around.

    Thanks for your nice signature.  I agree that Hespernornis is a difficult creature to draw.  My own paintings of the bird looked far too much like loons, which the hespernorniformes are most certainly not.  My major inspiration for that painting came from an essay by Toby White; it's a great read.  Unfortunately, I was incorrect about the woodpeckers.  According to The Origin and Evolution of Birds, by Alan Feduccia (a book that I only got my hands onto after I wrote that bit about woodpeckers), woodpeckers are ended New World in origin, but are from North, and not South, America.  Oh well.  Could you tell me where I wrote that bit, so I can change it?  Nevertheless, thanks for mentioning OPUS: Naturalist; that makes the first time.  About dromaeosaur (dienonychosaur) evolution: I am not the originator of the flightless birds idea.  I believe that honor goes to Gregory S. Paul, who wrote up his idea in Predatory Dinosaurs of the World.  Some paleontologists go further, saying that all dinosaurs are flightless birds that descended from the trees at various times through the Mesozoic, this theory is known as Birds Came First, or BCF.   I, however,  prefer the slightly more conservative view that birds evolved from dinosaurs, and not vica-verca, but that some creatures that we think are full-blooded dinosaurs are actually secondarily flightless.  Goodness, I've written a great deal, and I'd better stop, or else the other people who signed this guestbook might become jealous.

Who: Katherine Bensen
When: 28/May/2000

    Dan ,
    I like your webpage ( expeashally the Dancers).

        Katie

    Thank you, Katie.  You're the first person who has commented upon some part of these pages other then the dinosaurs.

Who: Steve Brusatte
When: 23/May/2000
Webpage: Dinoland
 

    Hey Dan,
    I recently checked out your pages again.  Nice job!
    Anyway, I do have a recommendation for your next painting.  How about Cryolophosaurus ellioti, the 'frozen crested reptile' from the Antarctic, discovered by William Hammer and crew in 1990-91???
    Granted, its skeleton is a bit odd, but a reconstruction has recently been done by a New Zealand company, and two full sized casts have been produced. One will go on display in Rock Island, Illinois some time soon.
    I am doing a large article on Cryolophosaurus for Fred Bervoets, which will include about eight 'exclusive' :-) photos that I took while Dr. Hammer showed me the bones last month in his lab.  The article will also include another reconstruction by Todd Marshall.
    Anyway, I think this would be a nice recommendation to your page, and don't hesitate to add this to the guestbook if you want to :-)

Steve

    Dan,  Wow, more info on dinosaures than I ever imagined in one place.  Love
your sites and the web rings.  Your drawings are amazing.  I've always
thought dinosaurs were much more colorful than ever represented before.
Going back to look at more of your art work.  Very impressive.

Thanks,
Susan Parker
FossilFountains@aol.com

Who: Brad
When: 28/Mar/2000
Webpage: Brad's Homepage

 
    The dinosaurs on your site are all excellent!   I have some water colour pencils, but I haven't done
any especially memorable Mesozoic dinosaurs yet.  I do like my Tertiary dinosaurs (okay, birds to
most people), Phorusrhacus and Pachydyptes, especially the latter.  The links are very helpful for
finding good dinosaur information.    If you're  taking suggestions for future illustrations, I will suggest
you do a spinosaur- perhaps Irritator, or Spinosaurus itself?  I'm sure you could think up a great
pattern for the spino's sail.

Hi Dan,

    I just stumbled across your site and thought it looked like an interesting  place to look around.  I myself am an amateur paleoartist and so can appreciate what you do.  I really like the format you use in presenting your illustrations with informative web sites.  I was even more thrilled when I found you had a link to an archive of Greg Paul skeletal drawings.  As you  already know, such drawings are crucial in the creation of an accurate  depiction of any prehistoric animal. I'm very anxious to see more of your work posted soon.  Hopefully, if all  goes right, I'll have my own paleo-illustration site up and running in the near future.
Regards!

Jordan
 

Who: Larry Febo
When: 13/Mar/2000
 

    Hi Dan! I was just admiring your artwork. Wish I could draw like that! I like the Cosesaurus, but was wondering if
it didn`t have a gliding membrane if it was that close to being a pterosaur. Something like the "protopterosaur"
depicted in Wellnhofers book. I`m going to try and draw my hypothetical pterosaur-bird......(I think you just
inspired me!).

    I really like the Kentrosaur at the top. Looks like I have another
source to turn to in my never-ending dinosaur research! Do you ever plan
to add a page for Gallimimus? The only reason I ask is because that's my
favorite dinosaur!

Who: Mineo shiraishi
When: 5/Mar/2000
Webpage: Jurrassic Gallery

Hi!
I visited your Website.
It was wonderfully satisfactory there.
A color is interesting though your picture is simple.

JurassicGallery, the sponsor:Mineo Shiraishi

    Hi Dan!

    How are you doing?
    I was wondering if you, by any chance have any skeletal images of Pelecanimimus?
Sincerely,
    Berislav Krzic: economist, editor, illustrator, webmaster, writer

    I'm fine, thank you and no, I'm afraid I don't have any skeletal images of Pelecanimums;  if anybody does have them, I'd like to look at them!

    Greetings,
    I am a teacher of gifted students in Leon County Florida.  Your drawings
were the best thing that happened to my class this semester!  They are
wonderful!  My students, 4th and 5th graders, were studying Greek and
Latin descriptors and applying them to their own dinosaurs when we
stumbled onto  your Website.  They were mesmerized by the unbelievably
beautiful, pastel-like dinosaur pictures (and also the very creative
names)!  Thank you!  Your were truly an inspiration to all the classes!

    Joan Crow, Science Teacher, & Five Gifted Classes
 

Are all of the Latin translations accurate?

    I love your picture's of the dino's but I think you need to make a picture of parasorphlas .I think that's how you spell and make it  and make more web site.

     You're right.  I painted a Parasaurolophus and I liked it.  Thanks.

    Greetings and congratulations on building a remarkable website.
BR.

    Hi Dan,

      Hope I see you soon.
     How do I access a photograph of you on your website?

  Love,

  Susan

  A picture of me is near the bottom of the Talkabout.  I hope to see you soon too.

 
    Your site is becoming as useful for its links and discussion as for its
artwork!

    Toby White's webpage is another I heartily endorse as it is a very informative and well-written account of various groups of vertebrates (from dinosaurs to fish).  The "discussion" to which he is referring culminated in me illustrating his essay on Alzverasaurs (which can be seen here). I have drawn inspiration from his essays on numerous occasions and I feel sort of bad that, my site being organized species-by-species not clade-by-clade, I cannot link to his site in my individual pages.

    Thank you for your visit to my site.

    Your works are very beautiful!!. and I admired because there are detailed information about every dino painting.

    I hope that your site fill up more!.

    Sorry my bad english.

    Your English is much better then my Japanese, so don't feel bad about it.  I try to go for detail, but sometimes it gets lost in my medium (watercolor).  I hope my site fills up more too!  I love Mr. Tokugawa's sculpture, especially the Apatasaurus, so readers should go there.

    I think your paintings are very nice, I think you should add a
  Berniesaurus lawlori. I vote that pencil marks are a necessary evil,
  if you do watercolors, but you could switch to acrylics.

    I'm afraid I only do pictures of Mesozoic dinosaurs and B. lawlori is, perhaps unfortunately as it causes excessive crop-damage and cat-confusion, extant.  I could switch to acrylics if I knew where they were in my room.

    This guestbook is a second try.  In my first guestbook (a commercial one) I had no control over it.  For that reason, people could write whatever they wanted and my guestbook would post it.  I got lots of stupid advertisements and finally decided to delete the stupid thing and make my own.

  Dan

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