WILLIAM STOUT

Wow. I'm at the San Diego Comic-Con with two of my colleagues from Bullard and I'm having a kaleidoscope of experiences, no thanks to the local Cheesecake Factory, whose shepherd's pie should not be served to sheep.






Here's an example of the whirligig, serendipitous nature of the exhibit floor. The dinosaur illustrations of Charles R. Knight had a huge though largely unappreciated effect on the popular culture as well as in those who studied natural history. I picked up a new edition of Knight's Autobiography of an Arist from Jim Ottaviani (much more on him later), and discovered that William Stout (a fantasy and natural history illustrator by trade, and the author of the above book's context-setting biographical introduction) was also at the show, as was the book's illustrator. Happily, these folk all signed. Now, if I can just get two Ray's (Bradbury and Harryhausen) to put their John Hancock's next to their forewords, I'll really have something.

Anyway, here's a video showing the casual way someone like Stout can demonstrate their craft: the illustrator is customizing my just-purchased copy of 'The New Dinosaurs' with a free-hand sketch of Archeopteryx. Totally cool.