Home > Illustration > Dinosaurs > Triceratops

Triceratops

Triceratops line art illustration (click image to enlarge)

Triceratops full color illustration (click image to enlarge)

Artist's notes:

The Triceratops was completed on 12.13.2010. As with the other dinosaurs, noted paleoartist Carl Buell designed the rough sketch of the Triceratops. Basically, the skeleton of the drawing is given to me as an outline, and I fill in the form with an ink drawing, then digital tinting. This process has really helped me understand the anatomy of these extinct animals. As with the other dinosaurs, there's no real agreement on what the patterns and colors of the animals were, so it's left somewhat to the imagination of the artist. I tend to stick with muted, earthy tones.

Information about the Triceratops :

The Triceratops is a genus of large, herbivorous extinct dinosaur that lived in the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period, around 68 to 65 million years ago in what is now North America. The name comes from the oblivious and prominent set of three horns protruding from the dinosaur's face. The name 'triceratops' in Greek means "three-horned face." The exact function of these horns is in debate, although it is generally accepted they were used for defensive purposes, although it's possible that the horns were used in courtship rituals or displays of dominance within the species. These animals were about the size of a small bus, estimated to have reached about 26.0–29.5 feet  (7.9 to 9.0 m) long, 9.5–9.8 feet (2.9 to 3.0 m) tall and 13,000–26,000 pounds (6.1–12.0 tons)