I have been fascinated by dinosaurs since 2016, and naturally I have been drawing them for a similar amount of time. Recently, I uncovered a bunch of old dinosaur drawings I did when I was 8, and I decided to redraw the dinosaurs, showing how my art style has changed from the ages of 8, 12 and 15.
Anyways, enough exposition. Here’s the drawings:
Pteranodon
Yes, I know it isn’t a dinosaur, but still. Pterosaurs are some of my favourite things to draw, so naturally they have changed overtime.
2018
This drawing is certainly far from accurate (as you will see with my other 2018 drawings). The pterosaur, while cute, is very disproportionate, with stick-like legs, an inaccurate skull and sometimes the crest is even drawn separate from the body (something you will see more and more with these drawings). The colours I used in the 2018 drawing was blue or grey, depending on the image. Also, this Pteranodon lacks fingers on its wing or a tail.
2022
A reoccurring theme you will see with the 2021/2022 depictions are that they are heavily based off the Jurassic World versions of the species, if present. While this Pteranodon is better proportioned, it lacks pycnofibres. Also, I couldn’t draw a pterosaur walking on all fours at the time, so I only ever drew Pteranodon flying.
2025
This is probably my most accurate depiction, possessing the Pycnofibres. The way the wings fold when walking is based off how they depict it in Prehistoric Planet. In fact, you may also notice that while drawing this, I had the Tethydraco from the show in my head. I gave it a curved beak similar to Tethydraco/Pteranodon sternbergi because I initially planned to represent it as the latter.
Carnotaurus
Well, Carnotaurus has certainly evolved over time…
2018
Remember what I said about drawing the crest separate with Pteranodon? Here you can see an example of that; all the body parts, even the upper and lower jaws, are separate shapes. The hands have three fingers, and are sticks. It is also, for some reason, standing far more upright than Carnotaurus would in reality.
2022
Again, the Jurassic World influence is ever present here. This Carnotaurus is massively better than its predecessor, but there are a few errors; the skull is too Tyrannosaur-like, and this Carnotaur has downwards-facing wrists (IDK how that would even be possible with their near-lack of arms)
2025
A few smaller changes here, nothing as drastic as with the Pteranodon. Arms are more accurate, and have the correct number of fingers. The 2025 Carnotaurus also has lips and osteoderms.
Ankylosaurus
Ankylosaurus is a dinosaur that I nailed pretty early on. But before I nailed it, Jesus!
2018
Like the Carnotaurus, I drew the body parts of the Ankylosaurus separate. The skull was also just a circle, with a beak also separated. The armour had no spikes and I also gave it a really vibrant colour scheme.
2022-2024
After that ‘creature’, I got better at drawing Ankylosaurus. I tried to draw my 2022 Ankylosaurus twice, but both times it had very little difference to the Ankylosaurus I drew for the JP Wiki last September. Massive improvement; the skull isn’t a circle (it’s a rectangle :D) and it has spikes. This was also based off the version in the Jurassic Films, so was spikier than its real-life counterpart.
2025
There is very few differences here, except the skull is no longer a geometric shape, the feet are less elephant-like and the spikes are less spiky.
Brachiosaurus
2018
Like the previous dinosaurs, the body of the 2018 Brachiosaurus is drawn in separate pieces. The neck was always difficult to draw. Sometimes it was too thin, other ones it was too thick. Sometimes it was too long, other ones it was weird shape. The colour was a generic beige green, likely inspired by the green colours of JP///‘s Brachiosaurus. The front limbs are also the same size as the hind limbs.
2022
I’ve always struggled with Brachiosaurus’ skull, so this is actually far better than most of my 2022 depictions. You get the idea, however. It is based off the Jurassic World ‘Brachiosaurus’, which in turn is based off Giraffatitan.
2025
This is probably one of my favourite drawings of the past year. I’ve made the neck thicker and less S-shaped, edited the feet to be less elephant-like and added some speculative spikes going down the Brachiosaur’s back.
So, what do you guys think? What is your favourite species in Part I? Let me know down below what you think, or if you would like a notification for Part II!
