Reconstructing Oviraptor philoceratops (Patreon)

I often get asked to depict Oviraptor philoceratops -- most reconstructions labelled 'Oviraptor' are actually the oviraptorid now called Citipati, and Oviraptor proper doesn't get depicted all that much. I began by producing a rough depiction of the skeleton using measurements taken from the holotype (and with missing parts - like the hindlimbs - inferred from closely related taxa). We get this....

The tail is comically short without feathers and explains why old, unfeathered reconstructions of these animals always look so dumb. The top of the skull is unknown in Oviraptor: there's a suspicion that it had a casque of some sort, so I opted to be conservative and add a low one as per some of the other reconstructions out there. One you've drawn the skeletal proportions, you then have to effectively hide everything with the feathering. We know from Caudipteryx and other oviraptorosaurs that these dinosaurs were as extensively feathered as birds. I did that and....

.... though the placement of the wing feathers isn't quite right since I really struggled with the foreshortening that would affect wing appearance in this view. The remiges in Caudipteryx do not have tight vanes as depicted here (as discussed by Saitta et al. last year in their paper on Anchiornis) but the resolution required means that I can be a bit lazy, rather than have to draw each remix with fuzzy/loose margins. 

An imaginary colour scheme - inspired by sandgrouse - was then slapped on top, and that's what you see above. I will revisit the forelimb feathering and modify it digitally in time, but for now this looks pretty good. I think three or four oviraptorosaurs have been illustrated for The Big Book so far, but a few more are needed... not least of which is Gigantoraptor.

Thanks as always for continuing support - it all helps me spend more time on doing good stuff!