Mark Simmons

Dino Interlude, September 27, 2025. Elephants, buses, and horses as scale reference for envisioning dinosaur sizes.

And dino interlude part 3: Settling on a useful scale reference for envisioning the bigness of paleofauna. Now off to Moab! (3/3)

Dino Interlude, September 27, 2025. A couple of rules of thumb for drawing four-legged mammals, and how dinosaurs wantonly ignore them.

Dino interlude part 2: Why drawing dinosaurs is different from drawing familiar four-legged mammals. (2/3)

Dino Interlude, September 27, 2025. What's the appeal of drawing dinosaurs?

Hola, todos! We're just about to take off to Moab, Utah. With any luck we'll be able to see some national parks pre-shutdown, but otherwise it's all about the Moab Giants. Here are some pre-trip thoughts on my summer of dinosaur study... (1/3)

It's hard to piece together the Acguy's origins - unlike all the machines Okawara drew in the second half, I've never seen a base Tomino sketch. It's possible Yaushiko just threw it together based on the unused Acg series designs Okawara was working on.

Dom animation model sheet by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

Gogg animation model sheet by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

White Base animation model sheet by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

Acguy model sheet, possibly by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

Oh, and speaking of Yasuhiko: As well as redrawing the Dom and Gogg for animation use, I've now confirmed that he cleaned up the final White Base model sheets, and I strongly suspect he created the Acguy as well. Truly an omnicompetent genius!

Katz, Letz, and Kikka in normal suits, by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

Plus a lot of detail about the early cancellation of the series, which will shortly be followed by notes on the effects of animation director Yasuhiko's forced withdrawal due to a medical emergency...

Model sheet for Mulligan by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

Model sheet for Cameron Bloom by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

Model sheet for Simus al Bakharov by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

Model sheet for Bergamino by Yoshikazu Yasuhiko.

Speaking of model sheets, here are a few minor characters who made unexpected cameos in the recent spinoff series "Gundam GQuuuuuuX".

Acg series roughs by Kunio Okawara.

Acg series roughs by Kunio Okawara.

Agguy model sheet by Kunio Okawara.

Zogok model sheet by Kunio Okawara.

I found some nice copies of Okawara's roughs for the unused Acg series, plus model sheets for a couple of them which were belatedly drawn in 1982 for the Gunpla releases.

Original sketches for Acg series mobile suits by Yoshiyuki Tomino.

Original sketch for mobile armor Bigro by Yoshiyuki Tomino.

Original sketch for Lalah Sune by Yoshiyuki Tomino.

Original sketch for mobile armor Big-Zam by Yoshiyuki Tomino.

Let's see, what other bits and pieces were in this update? I found photos of some of Tomino's original sketches on the Japanese Mandarake auction site... (Just FYI, here Tomino says Lalah is 16 years old.)

Color illustration of the "Acg series" from Kodansha's Mobile Suit Gundam III Story Book.

Almost done updating my First Gundam production history! I've overhauled the chunk covering eps 22-36, in which Director Tomino takes charge of the plot and begins ghost-designing all the mecha. I've also added lots more design sketches and production art.
www.gundamunofficial.com/production/f...

They're doing pretty well considering the situation us oldsters have created for them. I have a lot of concerns about those grown-ups, though.

Swordfish II space fighter from the anime "Cowboy Bebop."

Now you mention it, there's a subtle resemblance to the Swordfish II from the anime "Cowboy Bebop."

Looking at Toymany's web site, I especially appreciate the variety of well-observed and unusual poses they've given their critters. I used to think that one or two koala figures was plenty, but...

I actually liked "Contracted" (and its sequel) quite a lot - the first one doesn't really tip its hand that the zombie thing is really happening until the very end, up until then it plays like it could just be a gruesome body-horror metaphor. "Thanatomorphose" is a real snoozer, though.

That is one fine-looking set of frogs.

I have to say, Ben Miller is really good at writing alt text! Definitely worth reading the captions in this unfolding thread, plus the discussion of exhibit design is always fascinating.

Mesozoic Art II, Palaeoart Portfolio for the 2020s — Tetrapod Zoology Among the most successful of books I’ve been involved in are those devoted to palaeoart. In particular, I’m thinking here of 2022’s Mesozoic Art , edited by Steve White and myself and published by Bl...

New at Tetrapod Zoology .... Mesozoic Art II, Palaeoart Portfolio for the 2020s tetzoo.com/blog/2025/9/...

A carnival-like exhibit entrance with a dinosaur skull, coelacanth model, and pantodont skeleton in cases under freak show-style banners labeling them as "Mesozoic terror" and "the fish that wouldn't die'

I was asked yesterday to post a walkthrough of Life Over Time, the shortest-lived and generally weirdest iteration of the Field Museum’s fossil halls. If you visited between 1994 and 2004, this is the version you saw. I’ve got some time, so let’s do this.

I could've sworn Jason already watched Skinamarink, and had a much more positive reaction to it than I did. Then I wondered "Maybe that was Benjamin?" but no, it sounds like you had the same impression as me. A puzzle!

Which makes me wonder, how would we characterize Alice's Wonderland? It seems like a "Rarebit Fiend"-style cheese dream to me, one that vanishes the moment Alice herself wakes up, rather than an objectively real and persistent world like the (novel) Land of Oz.

#Zavacephale. A very pretty new pachycephalosaur from early Cretaceous Mongolia. 🥰

...surely you've made a deeper study of that than I have! :-)

The idea that all everyone's dreams are somehow connected, and persist beyond the dreamer, is less common. I still suspect that Lovecraft was using it as an allegory for the shared world-building he did with his writer buddies, rather than advancing a theory about dreams as such. But...

I guess the most you usually get is something like the "inscapes" in Joe Hill's NOS4A2, where you can invite people into (or abduct them to) your private dreamscape. Or alternatively, that certain characters have the ability to visit other people's private dreams...

Not as directly relevant to your project, but yes, very good! His short story collection "The Panic Hand" is also really fantastic.

Well, there's Jonathan Carroll's "Bones of the Moon"...

If you come up with something, I'll try to play along!

"Two Gentlemen of Verona," the conclusion! In which everything is (almost) forgiven.

And the conclusion! The ending of "Two Gentlemen" is famously controversial, but the SF Shakes production made some nonverbal adjustments to make the resolution more satisfying. We can't *all* forgive Proteus so easily, can we? (4/4)

The end of Act III, Act IV with bandits and a song-and-dance number, and Act V builds to its dramatic crescendo.

The plot thickens, as Proteus continues his scheming and Valentine becomes a bandit chief.

SF Shakes' "Two Gentlemen of Verona." Here we have the rest of Act II, and the start of Act III as Proteus's scheming undoes Valentine's romantic plans.

The Shakespearean hijinks continue, as Proteus joins his buddy Valentine in big-city Milan and reveals himself to be a total cad. (2/4)