ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Resurrecting Giants: An Interview with Jason Poole

Updated on October 5, 2017

Dr. Jason Poole is a paleontologist at the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University in Philadelphia, where he manages the museum's dinosaur hall and fossil preparation lab. He has participated in fossil-finding expeditions from the Gobi Desert to Patagonia. Dr. Poole is also a professional artist who has contributed paleontology-related illustrations to publications like The National Geographic and Science, as well as science documentaries like Dino Autopsy (National Geographic Channel, 2008).

I met with him last week to discuss his work in the field, the lab, and at the drawing board.

What sparked your interest in paleontology?

Collecting fern fossils in upstate Pennsylvania and reading comic books where dinosaurs played a part. Marvel comics, especially.

Did your involvement in visual art come from these interests or did it precede it?

I started drawing from Marvel. Then it collided with fossil collecting and realizing that everything we know about dinosaurs comes from fossils. I learned to draw everything in high school, but drawing dinosaurs didn't re-emerge till afterwards. My interest in reading about them never waned, though.

What’s been the biggest surprise in your career as a paleontologist?

For me, the biggest surprise has been working with volunteers and part-time staff and teaching them fossil preparation. Coming up, I thought it would be field work. And I do enjoy field work, but it becomes so much cooler when you see someone else's mind at work and see them realize something about deep time.

How have developments in technology (especially digital technology) directly affected your work?

Computers, the Internet and the ability to store so much information give me new avenues for allowing my artwork to be seen.

I'm still not a big fan of digital artwork. It's funny, I don't know why. I just have a preference for squishing paint and pencil lines. There is a lot of good digital work out there, but it loses some of the romance for me.

Jason Poole and Kenneth Lacovara with jacketed Dreadnoughtus bones in Argentina, 2006.
Jason Poole and Kenneth Lacovara with jacketed Dreadnoughtus bones in Argentina, 2006.

You’ve also participated in the discovery and description of two of the largest known dinosaurs—Paralititan, and more recently, Dreadnoughtus. Could you tell us about each of these experiences?

As far as being in the field, Egypt was my first dig outside of the U.S. It had many life-changing moments and Paralititan was certainly one of them. And Patagonia is one of the best places in the world. There's nothing not to love--beautiful place, people, dinosaurs, great steak and great wine.

I really enjoy sauropods. We've also uncovered a third, called Suuwassea [from Late Jurassic Period of Montana].

A large part of these projects has been fossil illustration and I'm very fortunate to be working with people who have great backgrounds in science and play to their strengths. Matt Lamanna and Jerry Harris are intellectually encyclopedic and able to use facts and see new research possibilities. I thoroughly enjoy working with Ken Lacovara in the field as well. It's always fun to watch how their minds work. There has to be creativity for visualizing how things work and to see where they're going.

Crab sketch by Leonardo da Vinci at the Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne.
Crab sketch by Leonardo da Vinci at the Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne. | Source

Do you have any direct artistic influences?

Yes: Frank Franzetta. I've always loved his figures and how they're not super-muscled or posed, as well as his linework and his handling of moody colors.

Charles R. Knight. His sketchbooks are incredible and his artwork is beautiful.

And seeing Leonardo da Vinci's sketches changed my life. He had the ability to take an object like a blade of grass and get it on the paper in a way that showed a depth of understanding and a sense interest and awe in the object. Definitely a thinking artist that used art to understand things.

As for people alive today, [I like] James Gurney for his inclusive nature and lifestyle in art. While many artists are protective and like to hide their tricks, he takes all the things that he's learned and shares them. He enjoys what he does and learning from other people.

And Gary Staab, both for his 2-D and 3-D work. Phenomenal work, brilliantly nice guy.

What is your preferred medium and why?

I have two: Pen and ink, and acrylic [paint]. Pen and ink is largely about fooling the eye into seeing something that captures texture, contour, and shadow all with lines, and that's really fun. Acrylic gives me a freedom to utilize and explore color in very graphic or painterly ways, depending on the story I want to relate.

Which creatures (both living and extinct) do you enjoy depicting the most?

My go-tos for extinct animals are Tyrannosaurus rex and Apatosaurus. As for living animals, I love elephants. Drawing people who don't conform to the norm of beauty is more fun and real than those in Sports Illustrated, and elephants are like that for the animal world.

What is more challenging to re-create--long-extinct animals or long-extinct environments?

Long-extinct environments can be more challenging when you're really trying to get the players of an ecosystem right. Finding the source material can be very difficult. I would love for there to be a book breaking down all the fossil formations, how they changed, and what was living there, though there are good ones out there.

When it comes to extinct animals, the more we learn, the more we have to change our view of them.

And do you ever find it a challenge balancing artistic freedom with scientific accuracy?

Yes. There are always things just understood by people with a deep background in research. You make assumptions as you go along and may not explain the importance of a [particular animal's] feature. When I work on Devonian things with Ted Daeschler, I have be to very, very thorough about the questions I ask, just so that I don't miss the details that are important.

I did a project a while back with National Geographic and learned a lot about things I did in my dinosaur drawings that I understood but that animators did not. It's interesting being on the other side of that. It helps me understand what questions I need to ask in scientific illustrations.

There are two types of paleoart: Reconstructing an animal, and representing that animal as a living thing. Perhaps a bit of fantasy is needed for the second type.

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)