Plastic Dinosaurs

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From the Desk of Jake Parker

I got the PSNO Tyrannosaurus rex for Christmas and it's just a delightfully chunky little guy. Here he is compared to the Papo t-rex:

The PSNO is going for as-scientifically-accurate-as-possible while Papo is going for MoViE MoNsTeR! Both are great approaches to dinosaurs, but it is so refreshing to see a well fed t-rex that doesn't look like it's trying to fit into a new swimsuit for spring break.

One of the newsletter readers also ordered a sweet Ichthyosaurosaur and had it delivered to me, which was completely unexpected and made my day. Thank you!

-Jake

Rise of the Christmas Bots

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From the Drawings Unit

Here's the full line up of Christmas Bots I did in December 2021. I love this mech-bot template I came up with because I think it allows for so much variation. The legs and arms and lower torso are a great base to build almost anything on.

I've made about 25 of them so far. They take about an hour each. They're a great warm up exercise, a palette cleanser when I'm burned out, and a nice little design puzzle to solve.
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I think I'm just going to keep cranking out bots from time to time in 2022 so expect to see more.

-Jake

On Storytelling

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From the Inspirational Thought Unit

"There are two types of people who come out of Louisiana, preachers and storytellers. For heaven's sake, be a storyteller. The world has too many preachers." - Walter Isaacson , Author

Great video with Isaacson here: LINK

I come back to this quote a lot. When someone preaches to you you're either building up a wall to push back, or you're going along for the ride. All depends on whether you are aligned with the preacher or not. Preaching usually doesn't shift your point of view. It just reinforces what you already know.

Storytelling, on the other hand, has power to change hearts and minds. The best stories don't preach. They're not didactic. The best stories show us truth through the eyes of someone else. They open a window to us that we haven't seen before. When we experience something someone else has gone through via a story, we are changed as well. I'd like more of that in the world please.

That's what I hope to be doing with my art.

-Jake

Emu Foot

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From the Department of Creative Bank Accounting, Flora and Fauna Unit

Our neighbor has an emu they inherited from someone who couldn't take care of him any more. He's about 18 years old, and they call him Kevin. One day I was feeding him grapes and he snagged my ring finger instead of the grape. Took a bunch of skin off of it as I jerked it away from his maw. Don't mess with Kevin.

My favorite thing about this guy is watching his graceful walk. His feet and claws are massive, yet he moves nimbly around like a ballet dancer. Found these cool photos of an emu foot. Living dinosaurs, I tell you.

-Jake

Wishing I was in Outer Mongola

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From the Department of Interestingness

This photoset of the Kazakh Nomads of Western MONGOLIA Dimitar Karanikolov has me really wanting to take a trip out there and hang with these people for a couple weeks. These guys have no internet, no electricity, no agriculture...the still practice the centuries old art of hunting with golden eagles.

I have a friend who goes to Mongolia every so often to study insects. Maybe I'll tag along the next time he goes.

See all the images here: LINK

-Jake