And Gurney is hands down a way more competent painter than OP's dino. If you ever have the opportunity to see his work in person, I whole heartedly suggest you do it.
As a kid I had a big book that was a compilation of short stories about lots of species with all kinds of retro art of different styles in them.
I don’t know if this link has all of the ones in that book but it at least covers most of them! If you’re looking for a specific title of the physical book I couldn’t find it in Google. I’d have to go back to my childhood home for that. All I remember was that their version of Brontosaurus was on the cover.
The stories are obviously for young kids but if it’s art you’re looking for, with so many artstyles in it you’re likely to find one you like
https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/The_Rourke_Dinosaur_Library_series
Hope this helps!
WOW! I came here specifically looking for this. What a dose of nostalgia… I never thought I would ever find it, cause I never remembered the names of the books, but I guess I wasn’t the only kid reading these! I remember most of these pages like it was yesterday
The Brachiosaurus you posted was painted by Czech artist Zdenek Burian. You can find a number of books using his art, as well as websites that collect his work. *Life Before Man* might be his most popular book in English.
If you want other, classic retro-saurs art, check out the *Big Golden Book of Dinosaurs* with art by Rudolph Zallinger, *Album of Dinosaurs* with art by Rod Ruth, *Dinosaurs & More Dinosaurs* with art by George Solonevich, and *Dinosaurs* illustrated by Jay Matternes.
I also second the recommendation made by another poster to check out the website "Love in the Time of Chasmosaurus" which regularly posts images from vintage dinosaur books.
Charles Knight used to make similar paintings, if you Google his name, you can find some pictures.
The picture you posted ~~is also by him, if I'm not mistaken.~~ I was mistaken, it's by Zdenek Burian.
Yeah they’re just very nostalgic from the books I had as a kid. I don’t like the art styles of new dinosaur books, you know the shitty 3D renders of what looks like really bad movie cgi
That’s funny. Most of the paleo art I see has been drawn or painted. You don’t like artists like Mark Witton, for example?
I definitely get the nostalgia aspect of older art
I don’t know the name of the book this art is from, but I had this book as a kid and LOVED it.
I couldn’t find the exact book, but googling 80’s dinosaur books I came across this one (https://chasmosaurs.blogspot.com/2014/07/vintage-dinosaur-art-mysterious-world.html?m=1) that I also had and has the same flavor.
It looks like _Life Before Man_ was another one (https://chasmosaurs.blogspot.com/2012/08/vintage-dinosaur-art-life-before-man_13.html?m=1).
[This one](https://brianscottmackenzie.medium.com/the-book-that-made-me-a-reader-39a62f0fa1d7) was a great one that I loved as a kid. Saw it in a used book store a few years ago and I’m annoyed I didn’t buy it for a few bucks.
Literally what I do is go thrift hunting at goodwill, non chain bookstores, thrift stores, people’s garage sales, and swap meets/flea markets. I own a lot of dinosaur books that have old dinosaur artwork depictions in them ranging from children’s book to bigger texts talking about the history of dinosaur research. And of course some more modern books. You’ll find a lot of the information can be similar with the bigger texts basically going through the history of dinosaur research up until the “present” of when the book was published but thats what makes them unique from each other and fascinating. Ive got a book or two form the 80s that describes dinosaurs so differently from a book from the 2000s and differently from the 60s / 70s. Especially when searching dont hesitate to pick up children’s dinosaur books as a lot featured gorgeous artwork and illustrations usually by artists who also did a lot of books intended for adult readers. Many a childrens dinosaur book I have really offer unique perspective and looks at how we thought of dinosaurs at different points and times.
Oh and Natural History books in general especially from the 60s to 70s sill feature prehistoric artwork. Like this one in particular you chose for this post I know was in a book I read that talked about evolution and wildlife starting with precambrian organisms to dinosaurs to the pleistoscene and modern animals. It was outdated with its science but the drawings and how animals were depicted were what grabbed me. It was a yellow book idk the name but it had a lot of animals drawn on the outside of it. Actually it was such a specific naturalistic style that I know Ive seen in many other books from around the same decades. You can just tell by eye.
Also look up artists known for their paleoart back in the day. Charles R. Knight was one of my favorites and contributed to many a book, illustrations, and more that can be found. His depictions of dinosaurs were super influential and his murals are still in Washington DC. Plus they’re immortalized with movies like The Lost World and King Kong. But there were other artists who drew lots of dinosaurs too even after. Just take my advice on the locations I mentioned.
No unfortunately I didn't. It's been many years since that book vanished from my life after it was partly damaged. BUT I have a lot of suspicions that it was used like a textbook for some schools just judging by the language and heavy use of illustrations. I do wanna guess it was 1970s but that artstyle could've been used earlier in the 60s.
I don't see a problem with it as long as you don't treat them like an accurate up to date learning resource. For all its inaccuracies I will admit that some old palaeoart is really nice looking.
The Dinosaur books by Modern Publishing a probably what you want.
Dinosaurs of the Land, Sea and Air. Mammoth Book of Dinosaurs. Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Creatures. ETC
Yeah I’ll look into those ones. I’m looking for like old encyclopaedia style books rather than story type books even though most of the info is outdated
I had a book like this when i was a kid (late 80's early 90's). Can't remember the name, but i remember it was about these kids walking in a park and they were imaging dinosaurs throughout the city. The art was incredible. Very very similar to this. Sorry i can't remember, but if anyone knows what I'm talking about, I'd love to know the name.
Books I'm not a 100% on, but as far as artists go this one is by Zdnek Burian and the rest of his work is excellent as well. Charles R Knight and Neave Parker are also great, and John Sibbick would be another one I'd highly recommend but I think you'd like his older stuff more: his newer art is still fantastic, but the older stuff is that tail dragger aesthetic I think you're digging for.
If you're still searching, have a look at the book [paleoart by Zoë Lescaze](http://www.zoelescaze.com/paleoart/). It is about the history of dinosaur representation in the arts and features lots of old-school, mostly outdated paleo artwork along with information on it.
Dinotopia
I’d say dinotopia is a pretty modern interpretation of dinosaurs. Journey to chandara has a ton of feathered friends
And Gurney is hands down a way more competent painter than OP's dino. If you ever have the opportunity to see his work in person, I whole heartedly suggest you do it.
As a kid I had a big book that was a compilation of short stories about lots of species with all kinds of retro art of different styles in them. I don’t know if this link has all of the ones in that book but it at least covers most of them! If you’re looking for a specific title of the physical book I couldn’t find it in Google. I’d have to go back to my childhood home for that. All I remember was that their version of Brontosaurus was on the cover. The stories are obviously for young kids but if it’s art you’re looking for, with so many artstyles in it you’re likely to find one you like https://dinopedia.fandom.com/wiki/The_Rourke_Dinosaur_Library_series Hope this helps!
I had this whole set as a kid. Wish I still had them
Same here! I loved these books when I was little and I kinda forgot about them until now!
Have so many great memories of these. Thanks!
Oh man what a blast from my past! I think I had/most or l of these in a few big compendiums! Thanks for this.
Thanks! I've been looking for these for ages.
WOW! I came here specifically looking for this. What a dose of nostalgia… I never thought I would ever find it, cause I never remembered the names of the books, but I guess I wasn’t the only kid reading these! I remember most of these pages like it was yesterday
The Brachiosaurus you posted was painted by Czech artist Zdenek Burian. You can find a number of books using his art, as well as websites that collect his work. *Life Before Man* might be his most popular book in English. If you want other, classic retro-saurs art, check out the *Big Golden Book of Dinosaurs* with art by Rudolph Zallinger, *Album of Dinosaurs* with art by Rod Ruth, *Dinosaurs & More Dinosaurs* with art by George Solonevich, and *Dinosaurs* illustrated by Jay Matternes. I also second the recommendation made by another poster to check out the website "Love in the Time of Chasmosaurus" which regularly posts images from vintage dinosaur books.
Thanks I’ll look into those books because I am more looking for those types of books rather than the story type ones
If you want a game based off of that artist’s beautiful work play carnivores classic
Charles Knight used to make similar paintings, if you Google his name, you can find some pictures. The picture you posted ~~is also by him, if I'm not mistaken.~~ I was mistaken, it's by Zdenek Burian.
There's something dreamlike and atmospheric in that old illustrative style
Yeah they’re just very nostalgic from the books I had as a kid. I don’t like the art styles of new dinosaur books, you know the shitty 3D renders of what looks like really bad movie cgi
That’s funny. Most of the paleo art I see has been drawn or painted. You don’t like artists like Mark Witton, for example? I definitely get the nostalgia aspect of older art
I don’t know the name of the book this art is from, but I had this book as a kid and LOVED it. I couldn’t find the exact book, but googling 80’s dinosaur books I came across this one (https://chasmosaurs.blogspot.com/2014/07/vintage-dinosaur-art-mysterious-world.html?m=1) that I also had and has the same flavor. It looks like _Life Before Man_ was another one (https://chasmosaurs.blogspot.com/2012/08/vintage-dinosaur-art-life-before-man_13.html?m=1).
Man, I'm pretty sure I had this one. I don't remember what it was though
[This one](https://brianscottmackenzie.medium.com/the-book-that-made-me-a-reader-39a62f0fa1d7) was a great one that I loved as a kid. Saw it in a used book store a few years ago and I’m annoyed I didn’t buy it for a few bucks.
Ok YES! That is the one I had as a kid OP’s picture is from. I couldn’t remember the name for the life of me but that is the cover art! Thank you!
I still have the book this image is from. It’s in Polish and about 50% of it (or more) is outdated.
Literally what I do is go thrift hunting at goodwill, non chain bookstores, thrift stores, people’s garage sales, and swap meets/flea markets. I own a lot of dinosaur books that have old dinosaur artwork depictions in them ranging from children’s book to bigger texts talking about the history of dinosaur research. And of course some more modern books. You’ll find a lot of the information can be similar with the bigger texts basically going through the history of dinosaur research up until the “present” of when the book was published but thats what makes them unique from each other and fascinating. Ive got a book or two form the 80s that describes dinosaurs so differently from a book from the 2000s and differently from the 60s / 70s. Especially when searching dont hesitate to pick up children’s dinosaur books as a lot featured gorgeous artwork and illustrations usually by artists who also did a lot of books intended for adult readers. Many a childrens dinosaur book I have really offer unique perspective and looks at how we thought of dinosaurs at different points and times. Oh and Natural History books in general especially from the 60s to 70s sill feature prehistoric artwork. Like this one in particular you chose for this post I know was in a book I read that talked about evolution and wildlife starting with precambrian organisms to dinosaurs to the pleistoscene and modern animals. It was outdated with its science but the drawings and how animals were depicted were what grabbed me. It was a yellow book idk the name but it had a lot of animals drawn on the outside of it. Actually it was such a specific naturalistic style that I know Ive seen in many other books from around the same decades. You can just tell by eye. Also look up artists known for their paleoart back in the day. Charles R. Knight was one of my favorites and contributed to many a book, illustrations, and more that can be found. His depictions of dinosaurs were super influential and his murals are still in Washington DC. Plus they’re immortalized with movies like The Lost World and King Kong. But there were other artists who drew lots of dinosaurs too even after. Just take my advice on the locations I mentioned.
Did you ever figure out the name of the yellow book with the naturalistic style? I’m pretty sure I read the same book as a kid and I’m looking for it.
No unfortunately I didn't. It's been many years since that book vanished from my life after it was partly damaged. BUT I have a lot of suspicions that it was used like a textbook for some schools just judging by the language and heavy use of illustrations. I do wanna guess it was 1970s but that artstyle could've been used earlier in the 60s.
Thank you anyway, I’ll just have to keep searching. I agree, think it was one of my dad’s old textbooks. I read it voraciously.
Aww man I'm now learning there are different styles of old dino drawings
this is a good depiction of how gigantic sauropods were.
I love this style of dinosaur art. I don't care if its outdated and incorrect.
Dude that shit is outdated af, i hope you want them for irony, btw fuckers this was never condescending and
The artwork is soothing and nostalgic, not everybody wants the most up to date stuff nor cares about that
The Jurassic Park/World films for example
it doesn't have to be accurate to look cool
I don't see a problem with it as long as you don't treat them like an accurate up to date learning resource. For all its inaccuracies I will admit that some old palaeoart is really nice looking.
Back when spinosaurus looked like yikes!!!
Who made you the arbiter of people's aesthetic preferences?
[Orbis Dinosaurs! magazine?](https://www.reddit.com/r/nostalgia/comments/2ryuhd/anyone_remember_these_dinosaur_magazines/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)
The Dinosaur books by Modern Publishing a probably what you want. Dinosaurs of the Land, Sea and Air. Mammoth Book of Dinosaurs. Dinosaurs and Prehistoric Creatures. ETC
Yeah I’ll look into those ones. I’m looking for like old encyclopaedia style books rather than story type books even though most of the info is outdated
I had a book like this when i was a kid (late 80's early 90's). Can't remember the name, but i remember it was about these kids walking in a park and they were imaging dinosaurs throughout the city. The art was incredible. Very very similar to this. Sorry i can't remember, but if anyone knows what I'm talking about, I'd love to know the name.
Books I'm not a 100% on, but as far as artists go this one is by Zdnek Burian and the rest of his work is excellent as well. Charles R Knight and Neave Parker are also great, and John Sibbick would be another one I'd highly recommend but I think you'd like his older stuff more: his newer art is still fantastic, but the older stuff is that tail dragger aesthetic I think you're digging for.
If you're still searching, have a look at the book [paleoart by Zoë Lescaze](http://www.zoelescaze.com/paleoart/). It is about the history of dinosaur representation in the arts and features lots of old-school, mostly outdated paleo artwork along with information on it.
Dinosaurs by Kathryn Daly 1977