Also from "Gundam Seed": Orb combat helicopter, ZAFT armored car and Infestus fighter.

From "Gundam Seed": The Earth Alliance's standard tank and fighter aircraft. The tank and helicopter are still a bit grainy, but the Spearhead fighter came out well.

From "Gundam The Origin": As well as variant colors for the Guncannon Type and Bugu, I rounded up the lunar attack craft Hog and a couple of Mobile Worker variations.

I had unfinished business with the "Dinos Rule" exhibit at @sfzoo.bsky.social. All the other dinosaur models were exactly life-sized, so my impression that the Brachiosaurus was a bit small required correction. Behold my rough scale chart!

Now, some Zeon oddities.

For fans of obscure conventional vehicles from First Gundam, please enjoy some of the fruits of my mania. First, the Federation Forces.

Drawing street trees again, including my favorite local tree.

Is there an evolutionary through-line in my renditions of these guys? I'm usually so busy scribbling I don't have time to plan, but I guess I'm trying to include a bit more environment and "drawn from life" nature-journal feel. Plus, I remain obsessed with the scaling and sizing... (6/6)

I just posted about all these pretty recently, so I'll stick 'em all in one post for completeness. Currently on show are "Dinos Alive" in Oakland, and "Dinos Rule" at the SF Zoo. (5/6)

Closing out my year of dinosaurs, I went across the bay to check out "Jurassic Quest" at the end of December 2025. A lot better than I was expecting! (4/6)

Non-animated but lovely, in a spectacular desert setting with lots of science info: the legendary Moab Giants, which my wife took me to see in 2025. (3/6)

Next, the permanent exhibits at the Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley, 2025. You can probably tell the Carnotaurus was my favorite, even though I had to fix the arms in post. (2/6)

...every now and then I realize that I've drawn a *lot* of animatronic and life-sized model dinosaurs. Here's a quick retrospective, excluding the various @calacademy.bsky.social exhibits which would require their own post. First, "Dino Safari" in Las Vegas, 2023. (1/6)

I ran out of time, so I'll have to go back to draw the remaining models (and I also want to see them on an overcast day so I can see the color schemes clearly). But in terms of scale, proportion, and up-to-date detailing these are probably the best animatronic dinosaurs I've ever seen. (6/6)

Some thrilling deep cuts in the middle of the exhibit. I heard zoo visitors gamely learning how to pronounce "Psittacosaurus," the Protoceratops is fantastic, and the humongous wattled Gigantoraptor is colorful, impressive, and utterly ridiculous. (5/6)

Finally, a full-size Stegosaurus! I'm delighted by its bigness! Note that the herbivores are restored without cheeks, which is taking me some time to adjust to. The Velociraptors are little and feathery and adorable. (4/6)

The big, feathery Utahraptor hopefully satisfies the public's desire for giant dromaeosaurs. (It has lips! And non-slitty pupils!) But the Gastonia with its body-rocking action was a real crowd-pleaser. (3/6)

The Brachiosaurus was the only one that wasn't full adult size - by my estimate it's about 50 feet long by 25 high, which is maybe 2/3 maximum size. Still really impressive, with an intimidating face, accurate toes, and breathing action. (2/5)

We have new animatronic dinosaurs in town! Here's my first foray into the "Dinos Rule" exhibit that just opened at @sfzoo.bsky.social, featuring brand-new models produced by the famous "Dino Don" Lessem. (1/6)

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thought that!

I think I've come up with a method for quick-sketching trees! Let's test it out on some of my friendly neighborhood street trees.

Color discussion, part 3! Mixing paint colors with the color wheel in mind, to produce either intense high-saturation colors or muted hybrids. (3/3)

Color continued. Since different hues are naturally darker or lighter in their pure form, adjusting their darkness level (value) will naturally reduce the color intensity (saturation). 2/3

Drawing tips return! For my twelfth installment, a digression about how I make coloring choices when I'm adding color to my quick sketches. First, the all-encompassing RGB/CMY color wheel... (1/3)

"Dinos Alive" spread three. I was running out of steam by this point, but I'd have to admit that was a pretty high-quality Tyrannosaurus - maybe the best animatronic T.rex I've seen. I ignored the Velociraptor models and drew my own birdy guy instead. (4/4)

"Dinos Alive" spread two. I skipped some of my favorites because I covered them pretty extensively last visit, but I spent some time admiring the excellent stegosaurs and trying to upgrade the lame Allosaurus. (3/4)

"Dinos Alive" spread one. As well as dino anatomy, I've been studying up on the flora from each era, so the Triassic scenes get lots of ferns, horsetails, and tree ferns. (2/4)

I needed a crash course on ancient plants, but the SF Botanical Garden fortunately has an educational exhibit on that very subject. Ferns and conifers galore!

I'll probably be heading back to the "Dinos Alive" exhibit in Oakland pretty soon, so I've been studying up on the featured animatronic dinosaurs (plus Dimetrodon). I want to have a good handle on their actual sizes and historical context.

Here, Swampie's nemesis Arcane has returned from the dead to battle our hero in an abandoned slave cemetery, where he spectacularly fails to read the room.