Dinotopia nature icons!
Mar. 12th, 2010 04:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
melannen posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
common_natureI was looking through my collection of un-uploaded icons to see find one to use for nature posts, and I realized I had a whole stash of Dinotopia icons that I'd never posted anywhere. So I thought I'd share.
Dinotopia was a lavishly illustrated picture-book-for-adults set on an island where dinosaurs and people of all races and cultures live in peace together. The book itself, though, was written with the conceit that it's a reproduction of the journal of a Victorian naturalist who was marooned on the island in the late 19th century - he has a naturalist's interest in everything around him, but especially the natural world, and trained scientific perception. The illustrations in the book every so often go over to precise botanical watercolors (and if I ever get to where I can to botanical illustrations like that, I will be satisified with my skill as an artist.) And because the time and the place the book came out of, it has a very ecological sensibility overall.
The sequels to the book get increasingly steampunky, which is why I still love the first one best: I fell in love with it as a child, I think, not for the dinosaurs, but for the way it treats with nature, observation, and finding a balance between a scientific perspective and an organic one. (My favorite character of all was the young girl Melanie, who knew all the plants in the forest and would take the naturalist main character on walks to teach him about them. I still want to be her.)
Anyway, behind the cut are some with a natural history & ecology theme based on art in the first Dinotopia book. Free to use, share, and/or alter; credit James Gurney for the original artwork.
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1. Oolu and Lightwing, a Skybax, habitat partners for Air
2. Moraine and Bigtusk, a mammoth, habitat partners for Alpine
3. Bracken and Fiddlehead, a Chasmosaurus, habitat partners for Forest
4. Magnolia and Paddlefoot, a Lambeosaurus, habitat partners for Freshwater
5. Draco and Highjump, a Struthiomimus, habitat partners for Savanna
6. Seco and Dorsolith, a Euplocephalus, habitat partners for Desert
7. The flag of the Aerial habitat, a crescent rainbow on a blue field
8. The flag of the Alpine habitat, a spine of white mountains on a blue field
9. The flag of the Forest habitat, a fir tree on a yellow field
10. The flag of the Freshwater habitat, a water lily on a white field
11. The flag of the Savanna habitat, a dragonfly on a purple field
12. The flag of the Desert habitat, a lizard on a red field
13. A man and a sauropod pose dancing: rainfall
14. A man and a sauropod pose dancing: sunrise
15. A man and a sauropod pose dancing: water running underground
16. Malik the timekeeper (a Stenonychosaurus,) with spiral shells in his laboratory
17. Melanie of Treetown, a young girl, inspecting a fern
18. Melanie, Kalyptra the Dryosaurus, and Arthur Denison on a nature walk in the jungle
Dinotopia was a lavishly illustrated picture-book-for-adults set on an island where dinosaurs and people of all races and cultures live in peace together. The book itself, though, was written with the conceit that it's a reproduction of the journal of a Victorian naturalist who was marooned on the island in the late 19th century - he has a naturalist's interest in everything around him, but especially the natural world, and trained scientific perception. The illustrations in the book every so often go over to precise botanical watercolors (and if I ever get to where I can to botanical illustrations like that, I will be satisified with my skill as an artist.) And because the time and the place the book came out of, it has a very ecological sensibility overall.
The sequels to the book get increasingly steampunky, which is why I still love the first one best: I fell in love with it as a child, I think, not for the dinosaurs, but for the way it treats with nature, observation, and finding a balance between a scientific perspective and an organic one. (My favorite character of all was the young girl Melanie, who knew all the plants in the forest and would take the naturalist main character on walks to teach him about them. I still want to be her.)
Anyway, behind the cut are some with a natural history & ecology theme based on art in the first Dinotopia book. Free to use, share, and/or alter; credit James Gurney for the original artwork.
01.
02. 03. 04. 05. 06. 07.
08. 09. 10. 11. 12. 13.
14. 15. 16. 18. 1. Oolu and Lightwing, a Skybax, habitat partners for Air
2. Moraine and Bigtusk, a mammoth, habitat partners for Alpine
3. Bracken and Fiddlehead, a Chasmosaurus, habitat partners for Forest
4. Magnolia and Paddlefoot, a Lambeosaurus, habitat partners for Freshwater
5. Draco and Highjump, a Struthiomimus, habitat partners for Savanna
6. Seco and Dorsolith, a Euplocephalus, habitat partners for Desert
7. The flag of the Aerial habitat, a crescent rainbow on a blue field
8. The flag of the Alpine habitat, a spine of white mountains on a blue field
9. The flag of the Forest habitat, a fir tree on a yellow field
10. The flag of the Freshwater habitat, a water lily on a white field
11. The flag of the Savanna habitat, a dragonfly on a purple field
12. The flag of the Desert habitat, a lizard on a red field
13. A man and a sauropod pose dancing: rainfall
14. A man and a sauropod pose dancing: sunrise
15. A man and a sauropod pose dancing: water running underground
16. Malik the timekeeper (a Stenonychosaurus,) with spiral shells in his laboratory
17. Melanie of Treetown, a young girl, inspecting a fern
18. Melanie, Kalyptra the Dryosaurus, and Arthur Denison on a nature walk in the jungle
