Adam_RL
LightNews LightNews
banner
adamrl.bsky.social
Adam_RL
@adamrl.bsky.social
1.4K followers 400 following 290 posts
I draw creatures (he/ him)
email: [email protected]
Commissions : Open
NO N/F/T's or A/I "Art"
https://linktr.ee/adam_rl
Posts Replies Media Videos
adamrl.bsky.social
Light version: #Halloween
October 30, 2025 at 1:04 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
Jack O' Lantern Sketches 2025 🎃 #Halloween
A series of spooky sketches that I'm going to use as the basis for the pumpkin carving I'm doing this year. from left to right: creepy grimace face; scribbly smile; Cyclops/ Beholder; Vampire Bat; Clown; Vampire; Werewolf and Mummy.
October 30, 2025 at 1:04 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
Cool Things I picked up (or was gifted 🤯) at #DinoConUK. Had a great weekend.

Thank you so much to everyone who visited my stall and said nice things/ bought something!
From left to right: Dinocon Vendor badge; postcards and original drawing by Ivan Kay; Moganopterus print by CM Kosemen; Dodo and Anchiceratops by KakapoJay; sticker sheet by Jay Eaton; Ex Terra 3 (book) by DragonsOfWales/ Andy Frazer; keychains by AugustJosephCo; plesiosaur keychain gifted by RoAR board game; ammonite pin by the Introvertebrates; Marine reptile prints by EmilyHiggsArt; Ankylosaurus and Dunkleosteus stickers by SpeedThief; T-Rex sticker by SketchyRaptor; Stegosaur keychain by WightCoastFossils; Duria Antiquior by Phoebe Ginger; Spinosaurus Skull by Nathan Dehaut; Skeleton coasters and postcards by Katrina Van Grouw
August 19, 2025 at 6:28 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
#DinoConUK is Tomorrow!

As well as selling prints and stickers at my stall (mine is number 14), I am also bringing a selection of original paintings, drawings and sketchbook pages that are up for sale! #Paleoart #SciArt
A collage showing all of the original traditonal paintings/ drawings that I will be selling at #DinoConUk. Everything from acrylic paleoart paintings to pen and ink cryptid illustrations and extant animal studies.
August 15, 2025 at 6:29 AM
adamrl.bsky.social
Here's a re-vamped version of this paleoart piece (originally from 2023) depicting the Rhomaleosaurid plesiosaur Atychodracon.

Atychodracon was a fairly large plesiosaur at 5 meters long, with specimens that date back to the Triassic-Jurassic boundary. #SciArt #Paleoart #MarineLife
A paleoart piece depicting the Rhomaleosaurid plesiosaur Atchodracon. The animal is calmly swimming through shallow waters, with the surface of the water visible at the top of the piece via lighting/ distorted water effects. Dark kocks and the sandy seabed can be seen underneath the large animal. Atychodracon, similarly to Rhomaleosaurus is very robustly built for a plesiosaur with a large (although not as large as a pliosaur), triangular head filled with sharp teeth and a stout/ turtle-like body (minus the shell). . Atychodracon was originally found in the UK, with specimens that date back to the Triassic-Jurassic boundary (early Hettangian). It was a fairly large plesiosaur at 5 meters long. The holotype specimen was housed in Bristol City Museum and Art Gallery (see second image) but was destroyed during world war II. casts of the head and a flipper were preserved however, with features unique enough to be assigned to its own genus (separate from Rhomaleosaurus), erected in 2015.
August 14, 2025 at 5:22 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
New paleoart! A pair of Ancyloceras (a heteromorph ammonite) drift along the coral reefs of the lower Cretaceous waiting for food to pass them by. 🐚🐙 #SciArt #Paleoart #Invertebrates
a vibrant digital painting depicting two Ancyloceras (ammonites with a long, hook-shaped shell as opposed to the typical spiral) in the foreground. The coral reef, along with crinoids (sea lillies) and more typically-shaped ammonites can be seen in the background. An ammonite is classified as heteromorph if its shell is shaped like anything other than the typical spiral/ coil. There is a huge amount of diversity in the shell shapes of hetermorph ammonites, from almost perfectly-straight cones to shells shaped like paperclips!
August 11, 2025 at 10:55 AM
adamrl.bsky.social
Just about finished prepping for #DinoConUK !!!🦖

I've got a nice variety of stuff printed, with a few of these in different sizes.

Please come by my stall (number 14 in the vendor hall) and pick up a print or a sticker! #SciArt #Paleoart
A spread of the prints (and stickers) that I will be selling at #DinoConUK! There's everything from paleoart, to illustrations of extant animals (e.g. sharks) to gritty photomanipulations of your favourite cryptids (Mothman and Nessie).
August 8, 2025 at 9:06 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
I have a stall at #DinoCon 2025!! 🦖

I will be in the vendor hall selling high-quality art prints and (hopefully) stickers!. If you are attending, please come and say hello! #SciArt #Paleoart
An advert page for my stall at DinoCon 2025. Social media handles across the top: adam_rl_ (instagram); @adam_rl_art (X/ Twitter); adam.rl.artwork@gmail.com (email). . Bottom Text: Adam RL Illustration and Concept art Paleoart, Nature and CryptoZoology Themed Art Prints DinoCon 2025 DinoCon is a Palaeontology/ dinosaur themed convention and will be hosted at the University of Exeter on 16th-17th August. As well as the stalls there will be talks from palaeontologists and palaeoart workshops. For more info/ tickets visit www.dinocon.co.uk
July 29, 2025 at 3:31 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
Here's how the tatoo turned out. Really happy with the result!
Macro photo of the ammonite tattoo. (Admittedly not great) photo showing the tattoo placement.
July 7, 2025 at 7:37 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
Here is a page of pen and ink ammonite fossil studies/ designs that I drew as a visual reference for my first tattoo! I tried a few different variations before settling on the 5th design which I think is appropriately simple and reads very well at a glance 🐚 #SciArt #Paleoart #Ammonites
A scanned sketchbook page showing 5 pen and ink drawings of fossil ammonite shells. The first iteration is the most detalied, with lots of small segments in a tight coil. The second iteration is my attempt at translating the textures/ contrast of a polished ammonite into a condensed pen and ink drawing (I don't think it reads as well as the others). I think that the 5th iteration is the most readable and I think that the subtle shading on the segments looks pretty.
July 7, 2025 at 7:30 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
Here's a little portrait of my auntie's black Labrador Florence that I made for her birthday. Always fun to exaggerate hues on animals that are typically considered only one colour. 🐶 #PetPortraits #AnimalArt
A vibrant and stylised digital painting of a black labrador sitting on sand. I used shades of dark purple, blue and burgundy to exaggerate the tones of her fur and very painterly/ textured brushes.
June 2, 2025 at 6:31 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
Felt like I needed to make a painting just for myself as catharsis for a very emotionally draining past week or so.
This one is inspired by a photo I took of South Shields Seafront on Christmas Eve 2024. 🌅 #Landscapes
A fairly loose and stylised take on a coastal landscape in the North East of England. I was aiming to make this one look as traditonal as possible so all of the brush strokes are heavily textured and easily visible. Pink and purple hues dominate the sky while the rocks that jut out into the sea have warm earthy tones.
April 22, 2025 at 9:14 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
Happy #EarthDay!

It's worth taking a moment to appreciate all of the life that we share this planet with and recognising that we have a responsibility to protect it. 🌍🌳🌊
A stylised, vibrant nature study. A pair of (what I believe to be) White Rhinoceroses in a national park in South Africa. The brushowrk in this piece is fairly expressive and loose. The colour palette makes use of a variety of warm pastel hues (yellow, orange, lilac) contrasted against a dark and saturated purple which makes up the shadows/ outline of the two animals. An acrylic painting of a medium-sized (not fully-grown) Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) swimming (or drifting) close to a reef among a few other fishes (bright orange in colour) which it dwarfs in comparison. The blue tint of the ocean makes the beige colour of the oddly-shaped Sunfish appear almost purple, with a yellowish-white underside. The edge of the rocky reef appears green in colour with hints of yellow. It fades into a deep, dark blue at the top of the painting, where it is further away from the viewer. Particles of snow-like ocean detritus can be seen in the foreground. Stylised study of a Zebra Jumping Spider (digital painting). a somewhat loose and stylised study of a mating pair of Ospreys. During the summer months Ospreys breed and raise the chicks. While the female tends to the nest, the males will hunt for fish, averaging catches of 5 fish per day. Unfortunately however if there is not enough food to go around, the chicks will often fight amongst themselves. Older, and therefore, larger and stronger chicks can prevent their younger siblings from feeding, leading to starvation. (source: https://forestryandland.gov.scot/blog/osprey-migration).
April 22, 2025 at 5:35 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
Happy Mother's Day!

Here's a quick little painting of a mother ichthyosaur (Stenopterygius) and her calf. 🐟🦎
#SciArt #Paleoart #MarineLife
A vibrant and slightly stylised digital painting of an ichthyosaur swimming in the foreground and her young calf just beside her. The animal's body is a pale, pinkish-grey with brown mottled spots. The young calf has fewer spots as they are yet to develop. Both individuals have the ripples of the ocean's surface reflecting off their dorsal side (water caustics).
March 30, 2025 at 9:06 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
Study of a Common Octopus (Octopus vulgaris) chilling out on a coral colony. 🐙 #SciArt #MarineLife #Invertebrates
A vibrant tudy of a Common Octopus sitting/ walking across a coral colony/ reef. The bright red/pink of the octopus' head transitions to a dark orange with flecks of gold/ yellow and then eventually to a dark blueish purple at the ends of the extremities/ arms. Each arm is dotted with rows of regular white spots. The animal is outlined with a bold dark purple while the brushwork is loose, resembling oil pastels/ watercolour.
March 23, 2025 at 3:52 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
Study of a Juvenile (not-so) Giant Panda. Could not resist making everything more vibrant. 🐼
A vibrant study of a juvenile Giant panda sleeping in a tree. The brush texture/ style is meant to evoke the effect of watercolours, with the sketch/ line art being purple ink.
February 27, 2025 at 12:40 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
Capybara sketch. Earth's largest rodent, native to South America. Experimenting a bit more with stylisation and colours. 🦛🐭 #SciArt #Animals
A loose, stylised sketch of a capybara in profile view sitting in a pond with green water plants. The colours (typically reddish brown) have been exaggerated with vibrant shades of orange, pink and purple.
January 31, 2025 at 5:59 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
A little stylised sketch of a Binturong (also known as the Bearcat) chilling on a branch. These fellas belong to a group of mammals called Viverrids (which also includes Civets) and are omnivorous, with plants making up a majority of their diet. They also have prehensile tails! #SciArt #Animals
A vibrant, stylised digital drawing of a Binturong chilling on a treebranch, lying on its front with its arms and legs dangling. The colours in this drawing have been heightened so that the typically black and brown coat of the animal appears purple and gold, contrasting against the grassy-green of the background.
January 25, 2025 at 5:42 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
RIP to the absolute legend that was David Lynch.

Here's a little study that I did just over a year ago of the Great Northern Hotel from Twin Peaks. ⛰️⛰️
A grainy, slightly stylised study of the Great Northern Hotel on its cliff above the waterfall from Twin Peaks (1990-1991, 2017).
January 16, 2025 at 10:30 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
Art vs Artist 2024. Nice to see more traditional stuff on here this year. Here's to an even better 2025! ✨ #artvsartist2024 #SciArt #Paleoart
A 3x3 grid of selected artworks that I made this year. From Left to Right: Chinese Pangolin graphite study for World Pangolin Day; Ocean Sunfish Acrylic painting; Mandarin Fish digital study; Iguanodon in a Ginkgo forest (digital, paleoart); some bloke playing guitar; Crystal Palace Park Megalosaurus sketch/ observational study; Pliosaurus kevani front view (orthographic); The titan Cronus (Kronosaurus), King of Gods, devouring one of his own kin (digital); Rhizodus hibberti snatches an Embolomere from the edge of a swamp in Carboniferous Scotland (acrylic paleoart painting).
January 1, 2025 at 5:13 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
My favourite pieces of 2024! 🐟🦖 #SciArt #Paleoart
A gigantic (10+ metre-long) Kronosaurus has its huge jaws around the lifeless, freshly decapitated body of a juvenile of the same species in the dark gloom of the Early Cretaceous ocean. . This piece is a (very unsubtle) homage to this incredibly iconic and terrifying painting by Francisco Goya; "Saturn Devouring His Son" (1819–1823). In Greek mythology, Cronus, a.k.a Cronos, Kronos or Saturn (Roman equivalent) overthrew his father, Uranus, and became king of the Gods. After learning that he was destined to be overcome by his children, he devoured them as soon as they were born. An acrylic painting of a medium-sized (not fully-grown) Ocean Sunfish (Mola mola) swimming (or drifting) close to a reef among a few other fishes (bright orange in colour) which it dwarfs in comparison. The blue tint of the ocean makes the beige colour of the oddly-shaped Sunfish appear almost purple, with a yellowish-white underside. The edge of the rocky reef appears green in colour with hints of yellow. It fades into a deep, dark blue at the top of the painting, where it is further away from the viewer. Particles of snow-like ocean detritus can be seen in the foreground. A page of drawings depicting the late Jurassic Pliosaur; Pilosaurs kevani, in orthographic views (left lateral, dorsal and front view).
December 28, 2024 at 4:44 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
If you see this, post a Dino (or two)

- study from Prehistoric Planet (S1 Ep 4 Ice Worlds) 🌲🏔️
A roughly 2-hour study of a pair of dromaeosaurs in a snowy mountain landscape from Prehistoric Planet (2022), S1 Ep4 (Ice Worlds).
December 2, 2024 at 5:53 PM
adamrl.bsky.social
I decided that I wanted to do a fully-traditional paleoart project to see how it would change my process. I created a series of tonal drawings to decide on the overall/ compostion, setting and pose, as well as giving me something to reference for the final painting stage. #SciArt #PaleoArt
A tonal pencil sketch of a Rhizodus hibberti lunging towards the shore to snap up an unfortunate embolomere that had been sent flying through the air from the force of the impact from the huge predator. A tonal pencil sketch of a Rhizodus (with slightly less elongate body proportions) swimming along the riverbed alongside other Carboniferous scarcopterygians (1-2 meter long Megalichthys) which are dwarfed by comparison. This tonal pencil sketch was the prototype/ block-out for the final acrylic painting. A Rhizodus is seen breaching out of the water with a smaller sarcopterygian fish in its jaws. The edge of the Carboniferous swamp can be seen in the background. In the final version I decided to change the fish in its jaws to an Embolomere (a stem-tetrapod or possibly reptiliomorph) as I thought it was important to show that animals we characterise as being less-advanced or more basal (e.g. fish often mistakenly being considered 'less evolved' than land animals) can still completely dominate in their ecosystem and being 'more derived' doesn't mean that an animal is guaranteed to succeed in its environment. The final tonal pencil composition sketch for this Rhizodus project. This one shows the huge Rhizodus swimming alongside a Megalichtys, a fairly-closely related sarcopterygian as well as several smaller Rhadinichthys (3 can be seen swimming in the background) which is a bony fish and common in the Wardie shale where Rhizodus remains have been discovered. This scene is set in the dark so the animals are lit from beneath, which I think adds an interesting, eerie effect.
December 2, 2024 at 1:10 AM
adamrl.bsky.social
Finally got around to finishing this acrylic painting after starting it months ago!

Rhizodus hibberti snatches an Embolmere (Eoherpeton or something similar) from the river's edge in Carboniferous Scotland. 🐟 #SciArt #PaleoArt #SundayFishSketch
An acrylic painting showing an enormous predatory fish breaching out of freshwater with a salamander-like animal caught in its' jaws filled with fang-like teeth. Rhizodus hibberti (along with all other Rhizodonts) is classed as a basal tetrapodomorph. It is a sarcopterygian fish (similar to coelacanths and lungfishes) which means that it is more closely related to modern tetrapods (such as amphibians and reptiles) than to non-sarcopterygian fish (e.g sharks or salmon).
December 2, 2024 at 12:12 AM
adamrl.bsky.social
If you see this, post a monster.
"Figure 4. A live individual of N. rhombopteryx with three large L. fluviatilis attached to its body. The animal appears to have sustained injuries from a boat collision which attracted the lamprey." A photo-composite piece depicting a large, plesiosaur-like creature with 3 lamprey feeding on its body. The animal has a long, thin neck and four paddle-like flippers. The photograph appears to be taken in dark, murky water.
November 17, 2024 at 12:54 PM