Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs

Happy days, all! Even moreso than usual, our newest podcast episode dives into the phenomenon of stylized dinosaurs, as we discuss whimsical works from the early 70s by Maurice Wilson, whose work is all but forgotten but holds up a treat, and talk to the esteemed Johan Egerkrans whose angular, dynamic dinosaur art has captured the hearts of the palaeo world. Featuring forgotten Disney movies, exciting board games, pleasing shapes and lots of tea. How do you strike the balance between artistic simplification and accuracy? What draws so many of us to theropods over all other dinosaurs? Can Johan ever escape the colour brown? Are all imitations of Sean Connery just imitations of Eddie Izzard? And can dinosaurs dance the cancan? All of this and more, in episode 34! Show Notes at Chasmosaurs!

Happy Easter! Lots of cool stuff on episode 33 of the Chasmosaurs podcast. Natee can finally show some exciting stuff they’ve been working on, for a museum in Switzerland no less! Meanwhile, Marc scares all the kids away imitating a posh dinosaur from the Isle of Wight. For our Vintage Dinosaur Art, the crew takes a peek Inside Dinosaurs with a very unusual book about dinosaur anatomy, and Gemma realizes a long held wish as Ellinor Michel and Bob Nicholls come onto the show to talk about an extrordinary project involving a recreation of one of the long lost creatures of Crystal Palace. What is Bob Nicholls’ own favourite creation? What has been achieved eleven years since the Friends of the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs foundation began? Has anyone heard of Bing? Can you feel your own caudofemoralis longus? Is Stegosaurus ever going to escape the dreaded walnut? Can we do a whole episode without triggering Natee’s tryophobia? Seriously, has anyone heard of Bing? And do you have little green dinosaurs running around inside of you, operating your body? Find out in episode 33! Show Notes on Chasmosaurs.com!

Spring has come early, and episode 32 has come late! In this one, Marc, Natee and Gemma discuss the unusual, singular and slightly deranged dinosaurs from the swinging 60s by cult palaeoartist George Solonevic, as it appears in a book called Dinosaurs and More Dinosaurs. Marc interviews the esteemed Stavros Svenson Kulindadromaeus Kundromichalis on his fabulous book on the dinosaurs of the Triassic. Have we polished up our Swedish? Will Allosaurus emerge from your wardrobe and swallow you up if you've been bad? Would Solonevic be less well-remembered if his dinosaurs looked more, well, normal? Can Stavros truly recreate every single dinosaur that has ever been described? How do you reconstruct the most obscure dinosaurs? Will Stavros and Johan Egerkrans fight to the death for the crown in the Swedish Palaeoart Brawl? You won't want to miss this one! And, once again, happy year of the Dragon. Show Notes at Chasmosaurs!

Our tremendous trio is back for 2024, but not all things are as they were... mostly they are, though. We get back into the swing of Vintage Dinosaur art, or is that Nostalgic Dinosaur Art? We explore the work of Mark Hallett, the man Marc once declared his Favourite Palaeoartist Ever, as it appears in Stephen and Sylvia Czerkas' Dinosaurs: A Global View, also featuring works by John Sibbick and Douglas Henderson. Then, Marc and Natee interview Andy Frazer, also known as Dragons of Wales, on his creative and provocative palaeoart, as well as his more fantasy-oriented works. Is Hallett still Marc's favourite? Where do the hornlets on Jurassic Park's T. rex come from? Would you kiss a Yangchuanosaurus? What's the worst advice you can give to a budding artist? Is there going to be a permanent item about dinosaur toys on the podcast? (No.) And what was the name of our editor again? Find out in episode 31! And wish Natee a happy belated birthday! Show notes at Chasmosaurs.com!

TetZooCon 2023 is in the bag, and of course, we were there. Join Marc, Natee and Niels as they relay their adventures, the talks, the vendors, the people, the experiences and the catastrophes of the legendary London extravaganza of zoology, palaeontology and palaeoart as it grows ever bigger. Did we all make it to the end? Who was our favourite cosplayer? Have all the Crystal Palace dinosaurs been scanned? Are we finally going to talk video games on here? Are there finally good looking dinosaurs in the Jurassic World franchise? Does Luis Rey love a festive dinosaur? Does The Lost World hold up? And what talk made us most want to vomit? Relive our memories of TetZooCon! Of course, featuring lots of interviews with attendees, vendors, artists and speakers. Show notes at Chasmosaurs!

Niels, Natee and Marc look forward to TetZooCon, chat about recent museum visits, and continue to shamelessly plug the new merchandise designed by The Founder, David Orr. Then, in lieu of Vintage Dinosaur Art, they – and special guest Agata Stachowiak – discuss the Netflix series Life On Our Planet, in which Morgan Freeman gravels his way through an intriguing mix of modern-day wildlife footage and CGI recreations of creatures from Deep Time. Finally, Niels and Marc discuss unlikely hybrids, how our preconceived notions of certain dinosaurs can deceive us, who should be receiving many more museum commissions, and much more besides with the absurdly prolific artist Emily Stepp. Show notes on chasmosaurs.com

Marc, Niels and Natee essay a new and improved, that is, much more informal, news section, as we follow up on previous items and comment on two new palaeo media releases. This month's Vintage Dinosaur Art is illustrated with the sculptures of Arthur Hayward and others and is an approach that we at least would very much enjoy seeing a return of in newer publications. Finally, our Lord and Blogmaster, David Orr, makes another very welcome appearance and joins Niels in interviewing writer, Asher Elbein, about his new book, co-written with Cindi Sirois Collins, Dinosaurs and Other Ancient Animals of Big Bend. Show notes on Chasmosaurs.com!

As the summer fades and the leaves start falling, nothing better but to sit and listen to the latest episode of the LITC podcast. Marc, Niels and Natee discuss a favourite from the early 90's: Donna Braginetz' brilliant Dinosaurium, the dream museum in book form. In a not dissimilar vein, Marc and Niels interview Matt Dempsey, whose musculoskeletal dinosaur reconstructions are a great help to palaeoartists everywhere. Lots of discussions about tyrannosaur legs, ornithiscian quadrupedality and Jurassic Park abound. What does Peak 90's look like? How can you tell a corn snake from a milk snake? Can a T. rex look too good? Will there ever be justice for Tenontosaurus? All this and more in episode 27. Show Notes At Chasmosaurs.com

For episode 26, we’re crossing a big one from our list: The work of the legendary Zdeněk Burian, as it appears in 1972’s Life Before Man. Surely, this book is worth an entire episode, so we’re foregoing the interview this month. Niels, Natee and Marc discuss not only the art of the Czech master, but also his life, his beliefs and his enormous legacy. How did Burian get around reconstructing dinosaurs when he had no access to any fossils? Is romance dead in today’s palaeoart? What can we learn from Burain’s portfolio in the modern day? Will Marc be able to type “Petrodactyle” without AutoCorrect ruining his day? And will Niels be able to pronounce it properly? Show notes at Chasmosaurs.com

We're back! After a few months' break, the podcast resumes with a Prehistoric Planet 2 special and welcomes the return of palaeoartist, Gabriel Ugueto, who can finally tell us more about his role as concept artist on the series. We can wax lyrical forever about the show, and nary a soul can stop us. Show notes at chasmosaurs.com!

Our guest this episode is Emiliano Troco, a modern 'old master' whose traditional paintings evoke the imagery of the flowering of early 20th century palaeontology. Our Vintage Dinosaur Art title is Dorling Kindersley's The Ultimate Dinosaur Book, another of those formative publications released in the same year as Jurassic Park, and one which can quite justly claim to have then lived up to its name. Can Niels resist making a Slam Dunk joke? Can Marc resist referencing Jurassic Park and vintage dinosaur toys all at once? Can Natee resist breaking into Carrollean verse? Can Troco resist flying into a berserk rage whenever anyone mentions Zdeněk Burian? Find out in this exciting episode! Show Notes at Chasmosaurs.com

Our first episode of 2023 celebrates classics of two different kinds: the masterly palaeoart of the Queen of #DrawDinovember, Rebecca Dart, which surely merits the stamp of ‘modern classic’; and, in what Niels has determined is a one-off for us and not the beginning of a foray into collectibles, the enduring charm of the Invicta dinosaur toys commissioned by London’s Natural History Museum, beginning in 1974. How does Rebecca work her timeless magic on her snapshots of deep time, and what role does a love of plants play in it? Will Marc and Natee persuade Niels of the merit of the Invictas or simply be too run away with by their enthusiasm as collectors? Is it premature for Natee to be eating a Cadbury’s Creme Egg? Show notes at Chasmosaurs.com

Episode 22 closes off the year 2022. Here is the yearly postcard from TetZooCon, in podcast form! The UK's biggest event of Our People, organized by that man Naish and presumably other people, was held early December at the Bush House in London. It was a palaeo-heavy conference, with lots of dinosaur and especially pterosaur talks, the yearly palaeoart workshop, lots of attention for the Crystal Palace Dinosaurs and the launches (or re-launches) of some significant books. And this time, you can hear all about it! Niels, Marc and Natee did not only attend the event, but took the time to interview a whole bunch of people there, from speakers, familiar names, palaeoartists, authors and regular - as well as not irregular - attendees. So enjoy this lavish episode full of news and remeniscence, featuring Darren Naish ,Victoria Arbour, Dougal Dixon, Natalia Jagielska, C. M. Kosemen and a whole bunch of others. Show notes at Chasmosaurs.com

It's time for episode 21, and it's a special one. Instead of our usual format, we've skipped the interview this week to take our time to talk about one of our oldest, most special and most cherished palaeoart books yet. After all, what Vintage Dinosaur Art is more worthy of an in-depth look than Alice B. Woodward's Golden Age illustrations in Henry Knipe's Evolution in the Past, all the way from 1912? The fact that two-thirds of us have come down with a brutal cold has nothing to do with it, I promise. What's all this talk about a Golden Age of illustration? What, if anything, is a rhabodontid? Is Natee secretly a total T. rex stan? Are we all going to break into a Gilbert & Sullivan song and dance number? (No.) And what did the scientists of the 1910s make of the infamous butt-brain hypothesis? Find out in this riveting episode. Show notes at Chasmosaurs.com

A big one for our twentieth, as today we discuss what is, so far, probably the most influential palaeoart book of the 21st centruy: the seminal All Yesterdays, by John Conway, Memo Kosemen and Darren Naish, which came out ten years ago (insert obligatory reference to how old we are). The book is famously full of outlandish and speculative takes on dinosaurs andotherprehistoricanimals and shook up the palaeoart world like a whirlwind... but does it hold up now? In anticipation of the book's ten year anniversary event at the upcoming TetZooCon, Marc, Niels and Natee discuss the not-quite-vintage dinosaur art title and its many unique illustrations. For the interview, illustrator John Conway himself reveals how the book came to be, his opinions on the book's legacy and the surprising way All Yesterdays has set the course for his own subsequent work. Has the All Yesterdays movement become boring? Is there going to be a new edition? Are the authors ever even going to be in the same room together in the first place? What new works has John got up his sleeve? Is Marc allowed to come to John's birthday anymore? Stay tuned for John announcing the launch event to his latest book! Show Notes at chasmosaurs.com

Greetings, one and all! Today's episode features quite a contrast: the naïve, childish creatures illustrated by Hillary Stebbing in her 1946 children's book Extinct Animals, contrasted against the gnarly, outlandish modern work of Zubin Erik Dutta, a true up-and-comer in de palaeoart world. How do horror and pin-ups influence dinosaur art? Does every ceratopsian scrap gets its own genus name? What on earth is a Jakapil? And how did we end up with a dinosaur book with no T. rex in? All this and more in today's wonderful episode. Show notes at Love In The Time of Chasmosaurs

Slightly later than planned, thanks to the vagaries of existence (ah, yes), Episode 18 is something of a Prehistoric Planet special, as Niels, Marc, and Natee take a brief sojourn away from Vintage Dinosaur Art to wax lyrical about the much lauded Apple TV+ documentary series. Could we possibly heap yet more praise onto it amid the universal acclaim? Palaeoartist Gabriel Ugueto was among the over 1,500-strong team of creatives and scientists who lent their powers to the series, and though he’s still contractually not permited to talk about his role in it, we still get to hear about some of the many projects he has recently completed and is currently working on, including the Extinct book series written by Professor Ben Garrod, and Gabriel’s own title on Triassic tetrapods. Show notes at chasmosaurus.com

Due to illness, we missed an episode of the podcast, but we are back on track with the episode recorded in April! This time, Dr. Mark Witton takes us back to what might be the first large-scale expression of palaeoart in 3D: The dinosaurs at the Geological Court at Crystal Palace Park! Tying in with his new book with Ellinor Michel, he tells us all about their history, their surprising influence and their uncertain future. Also, a lot of unashamed bashing of Evil Bastard Richard Owen! The Vintage Dinosaur Art segment takes us back to the 1950s, as we discuss an odd but charming oddity full of interesting art. How can we save what’s left of the Geological Court for future generations? Is pre-renaissance dinosaur art more experimental? Why is naming dinosaurs after other dinosaurs still a thing? Does Marc sound like Darth Vader? And why are we suddenly listening to Franz Schubert? Listen to find out! Show notes at Chasmosaurs.com

There's a new episode of the LITC podcast! In this one, Marc, Niels and Natee tackle one of Britain's most well-liked childhood heroes of palaeoart, the late Bernard Robinson. From this innocuous children's book, we then discuss the worst day in the history of the world with Riley Black, wirter of the upcoming The Last Days of the Dinosaurs. It turns out to be a surprisingly personal yet universal book. We discuss the metaphoric resonance of the story of how the Earth witnessed its most rapid mass extinction event and how life managed to move on from catastrophe. Plus: Are there dinosaurs and/or dinosaur fans in Thailand? Is Marc throwing away all his old Amargasaurus toys? Just how nasty was the heat pulse that followed the Chixchulub impact? Have we secretly become witches? That and much more in this wonderful episode. Show notes at Love in the Time of Chasmosaurs

In the fifteenth episode of the LITC podcast, Niels, Natee and Marc tackle some controversial subjects. We start with the end of the world, and things go downhill from there. Today's palaeoart subject is the inimitable and insufferable genius of Konstantin Flyorov, and Natee interviews the wonderful Levi Hastings. Did we really have to choose this month to be talking about Russian palaeoart? Which dinosaur can bite your hand off? Are Natee and Levi kindred spirits? What does Niels mean when he calls someone "a character"? And can we get one of Bex Groom's new Dearc plushies, pretty please? The episode was recorded before Greg Paul's most recent paper came out, so expect no tyrannosaur three-ways. Show Notes at Chasmosaurs.com