-Artist's
Bio
William
Monteleone began making dinosaurs out of modelling clay when he was
a kid. These blue and pink and green monsters were quickly created,
and as quickly destroyed. Once his mother convinced him to use water-based
clay to make his creatures. Glazed and fired, a tyrannosaur, and a triceratops
remain as the only two survivors of that early period.
In
college at UCSB, he discovered that there was a bronze foundry in the
art department. But as an undergraduate engineer he wasn't supposed
to be taking an upper division art class. He took it anyway. Some of
what he learned there he used a few years later when he built a small
foundry with the help of his father. He cast his first serious dinosaur
sculptures in the backyard of his parents' house. "It's a terrific thrill
pouring this golden glowing liquid to create a bronze."
After
college he pursued a career as a Mechanical Engineer. Initially he
worked on photographic equipment for deep ocean research, then later
began designing consumer products for the scuba diving industry. Those
were the years when drafting became extinct. Computers were the new
tools in the toolbox. But even with the most advanced computer techniques
available Monteleone would often begin a design in clay. "When you
design something for people to use with their hands, you have to create
it with your hands. Otherwise it will never work out right."
His
passion for dinosaurs returned in 1991. The art world is full of eagles,
whales, and Native Americans, but Monteleone was looking for something
new. "We all have to look back to our roots to find what deeply moves
us. Dinosaurs, fossil bones and natural history excite me and make me
feel like a kid again." So he began visiting museums, talking with paleontologists,
and attending events like the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology meetings.
His scientific and technical training would proved useful as he dove
into the world of paleontological art. For several years he worked on
sculpture in the evenings, carefully researching every detail.
In
1997 Monteleone quit his engineering job to sculpt full time. One of
his first contracts as an artist was to recreate a Steller's sea cow,
an extinct relative of manatees. His sculpture will go into a travelling
exhibit on the evolution of manatees. "We almost know what they looked
like, but there's still a lot of questions." Hunted to extinction about
1768 A.D., Steller's sea cows were described only in bad Latin, and
nearly all of the illustrations have been lost. With the help of paleontologists,
and using modern animals as his guide, Monteleone sculpted an animal
which hasn't been seen in over two hundred years.
Paleo
art has become his niche. Combining a love of the sciences, with an
appreciation of the natural world William Monteleone is delving where
other artists fear to tread. "There is nothing else I could work on
and have half the fun."
-Paleo
Art
To
behave creatively in art means behaviour with skill. And skill comes
from discipline, not derangement. -Burne Hogarth
What's
different about paleo art from other art? Can't any artist do a decent
job recreating extinct, or scientific subjects? Not necessarily, and
not very well. Paleontological subjects require a pretty good background
in the sciences. While many artists are familiar with North American
wildlife, or perhaps tigers or elephants, few are well read in stratigraphy,
paleoecology, bone histology, trackways, and the latest publications
by people in the field.
Research
is the cornerstone of good paleo reconstructions. Scientists who dig
fossil bones, and who study evolution and extinction are usually very
happy to share what they have been learning. It's up to the artist to
seek them out, to read their papers, and to be accurate in the artwork.
Quite often there are subtle details in good paleo art which go unnoticed,
but create a rich and detailed picture. This is important for aesthetics,
but also because people viewing it learn from that artwork. They take
the images home.
The
paleo artist is also familiar with these unusual subjects. Dinosaurs
pose a particularly difficult problem for artists because we've never
seen anything like them. Their nearest relatives are birds. But sitting
in trees and chirping is hardly a model for a T. rex. Still, the clues
are there. Bone structure, musculature, scale patterns on feet all
work towards the image. That image, the artist's vision is shaped
by all the things he knows, all the things he has seen, and most of
all, by his imagination.
Sometimes
however, he gets lucky. Some extinct animals have living relatives he
can study and know. With mammoths there are skeletons and even frozen
animals with skin, ears, fur and stomach contents preserved. But more
importantly, there are elephants. The artist can watch them walking,
eating, caring for their babies. All this builds a more complete image,
and the artwork can be as good as if mammoths were alive today.
Make
it accurate, make it natural, and make it convincing. The animals must
move as naturally as living animals. The story must be a real one which
teaches what we know. It's a curious blend of science and art, and when
it's done well it's incredibly satisfying. The paleo artist succeeds
when he creates something beautiful, something important, something
unique.
