Dr Matt Dempsey
@sketchy-raptor.bsky.social
🦕 Musculoskeletal biologist & vertebrate palaeontologist
🏛️ PhD'd with the University of Liverpool and the Natural History Museum, London
🎓 University of Manchester graduate
🖊️ Sci-illustrator
🎥 Likes movies
https://www.mattdempseydinosaurs.com
🏛️ PhD'd with the University of Liverpool and the Natural History Museum, London
🎓 University of Manchester graduate
🖊️ Sci-illustrator
🎥 Likes movies
https://www.mattdempseydinosaurs.com
Pinned
Hey, new followers!
My name is Matt, and I'm a musculoskeletal biologist and vertebrate palaeontologist, as well as a freelance scientific illustrator.
I mostly post dinosaur content, often with a focus on artist-friendly reference material.
See more of my stuff at www.mattdempseydinosaurs.com
My name is Matt, and I'm a musculoskeletal biologist and vertebrate palaeontologist, as well as a freelance scientific illustrator.
I mostly post dinosaur content, often with a focus on artist-friendly reference material.
See more of my stuff at www.mattdempseydinosaurs.com
Well-preserved Triceratops skulls have a sharp falloff on the rear frill from a vascular texture to "scooped out" cavities. It is likely these cavities were filled out by neck musculature. Many reconstructions overlook them, ending up with necks that are prorbably far too skinny.
November 14, 2025 at 7:29 AM
Well-preserved Triceratops skulls have a sharp falloff on the rear frill from a vascular texture to "scooped out" cavities. It is likely these cavities were filled out by neck musculature. Many reconstructions overlook them, ending up with necks that are prorbably far too skinny.
Going to invent time travel specifically so I can go back in time to 2017 and laugh with vicious mockery in the face of undergraduate me as he very confidently gave a presentation on the case against Nanotyrannus.
Oh young Matthew, what a fool you were.
Oh young Matthew, what a fool you were.
November 3, 2025 at 11:39 PM
Going to invent time travel specifically so I can go back in time to 2017 and laugh with vicious mockery in the face of undergraduate me as he very confidently gave a presentation on the case against Nanotyrannus.
Oh young Matthew, what a fool you were.
Oh young Matthew, what a fool you were.
Arms finished!? Next focal area for 100% manually sculpting will be the feet.
October 25, 2025 at 10:41 PM
Arms finished!? Next focal area for 100% manually sculpting will be the feet.
What it is about dinosaurs that seems to turn off artist's brains when it comes to acceptable levels of derivativeness? I am so, so sick of seeing commercial/comissioned dinosaur artwork that in any other sub-field of illustration would be considered extremely blatant plagiarism.
October 23, 2025 at 12:26 PM
What it is about dinosaurs that seems to turn off artist's brains when it comes to acceptable levels of derivativeness? I am so, so sick of seeing commercial/comissioned dinosaur artwork that in any other sub-field of illustration would be considered extremely blatant plagiarism.
Two cinema visits today!
Good Boy was a creatively spirited little horror that I think probably would have been better at half the length, & the Perfect Blue restoration was a masterpiece, until it wasn't (even considering different ways to read it, I really dislike the ending).
Good Boy was a creatively spirited little horror that I think probably would have been better at half the length, & the Perfect Blue restoration was a masterpiece, until it wasn't (even considering different ways to read it, I really dislike the ending).
October 13, 2025 at 10:12 PM
Two cinema visits today!
Good Boy was a creatively spirited little horror that I think probably would have been better at half the length, & the Perfect Blue restoration was a masterpiece, until it wasn't (even considering different ways to read it, I really dislike the ending).
Good Boy was a creatively spirited little horror that I think probably would have been better at half the length, & the Perfect Blue restoration was a masterpiece, until it wasn't (even considering different ways to read it, I really dislike the ending).
No, *you're* spamming a T. rex WIP too much.
October 13, 2025 at 4:57 PM
No, *you're* spamming a T. rex WIP too much.
The dewlap is finished... I can foresee a very stupid universe full of poor choices where I also decide to manually sculpt the individual scales across the full body. But I do think it's time to commit to some custom alphas, now.
October 13, 2025 at 4:07 PM
The dewlap is finished... I can foresee a very stupid universe full of poor choices where I also decide to manually sculpt the individual scales across the full body. But I do think it's time to commit to some custom alphas, now.
Almost done with the dewlap
October 13, 2025 at 11:17 AM
Almost done with the dewlap
Alright, we're working again. I thought I might have switched to alphas by now, but the wrinkled throat needs a more specific flow.
October 12, 2025 at 5:53 AM
Alright, we're working again. I thought I might have switched to alphas by now, but the wrinkled throat needs a more specific flow.
Was just doing a quick test to make sure the mouth could close, and accidentally created a monster.
October 11, 2025 at 7:53 PM
Was just doing a quick test to make sure the mouth could close, and accidentally created a monster.
Obligatory "I can't decide which MatCap looks nicest for posting WIPs" post.
October 11, 2025 at 7:34 PM
Obligatory "I can't decide which MatCap looks nicest for posting WIPs" post.
I felt like I was on a roll this evening but my tablet started malfunctioning, and I don't feel like fighting with the mouse...
October 11, 2025 at 7:25 PM
I felt like I was on a roll this evening but my tablet started malfunctioning, and I don't feel like fighting with the mouse...
More fun with the Spore vehicle creator... A totally inconspicuous red and blue truck.
October 11, 2025 at 6:51 AM
More fun with the Spore vehicle creator... A totally inconspicuous red and blue truck.
Couldn't sleep, tried something in Spore...
October 9, 2025 at 4:24 AM
Couldn't sleep, tried something in Spore...
Today's cinema trips!
I might raise the Avatar 2 rating to 5 just because of how blown away I was by the artistry of it all.
It was actually my first viewing, I missed the original release, and figured that TV would be an inherently lesser experience, so I decided to wait.
I might raise the Avatar 2 rating to 5 just because of how blown away I was by the artistry of it all.
It was actually my first viewing, I missed the original release, and figured that TV would be an inherently lesser experience, so I decided to wait.
October 8, 2025 at 10:54 PM
Today's cinema trips!
I might raise the Avatar 2 rating to 5 just because of how blown away I was by the artistry of it all.
It was actually my first viewing, I missed the original release, and figured that TV would be an inherently lesser experience, so I decided to wait.
I might raise the Avatar 2 rating to 5 just because of how blown away I was by the artistry of it all.
It was actually my first viewing, I missed the original release, and figured that TV would be an inherently lesser experience, so I decided to wait.
Watching Snowpiercer, spotted John Sibbick's Archaeopteryx.
October 6, 2025 at 12:20 AM
Watching Snowpiercer, spotted John Sibbick's Archaeopteryx.
A dumb analogy - you wouldn't look at a freshly ironed shirt and conclude that fabric doesn't crease.
I think the allure of soft tissue has made people too comfortable with taking slab fossils at face value. It's not like they aren't useful at all for inferring life appearance, but you have to consider that these are non-rigid 3D objects that have been compressed into a 2D plane.
September 20, 2025 at 11:17 AM
A dumb analogy - you wouldn't look at a freshly ironed shirt and conclude that fabric doesn't crease.
I think the allure of soft tissue has made people too comfortable with taking slab fossils at face value. It's not like they aren't useful at all for inferring life appearance, but you have to consider that these are non-rigid 3D objects that have been compressed into a 2D plane.
September 20, 2025 at 11:17 AM
I think the allure of soft tissue has made people too comfortable with taking slab fossils at face value. It's not like they aren't useful at all for inferring life appearance, but you have to consider that these are non-rigid 3D objects that have been compressed into a 2D plane.
As of this week, three out of the four research chapters from my PhD have been published. Data from the fourth is currently being adapted for an in-progress paper.
royalsocietypublishing.org/.../10.../rs...
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
royalsocietypublishing.org/.../10.../rs...
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
September 12, 2025 at 1:01 PM
As of this week, three out of the four research chapters from my PhD have been published. Data from the fourth is currently being adapted for an in-progress paper.
royalsocietypublishing.org/.../10.../rs...
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
royalsocietypublishing.org/.../10.../rs...
royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...
Forgot to announce I have a new paper out this week! Animals that are more front-heavy have thicker, differently shaped forelimb bones to deal with the extra load. Limb bones alone may thus be useful proxies for body shape - but posture complicates things. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
September 11, 2025 at 11:06 PM
Forgot to announce I have a new paper out this week! Animals that are more front-heavy have thicker, differently shaped forelimb bones to deal with the extra load. Limb bones alone may thus be useful proxies for body shape - but posture complicates things. royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/10.1098/...
