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Description
Protarctos abstrusus was a species of prehistoric bear which lived 3.5 million years ago, in what is today the high arctic. The animal was noted through fossil evidence for having a sweet tooth much like today's black bear, which it was slightly smaller than. As a species, it bears (haha) no relationship to today's modern ursine species. The two specimens which led to this illustration were discovered on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada at a site called the Beaver Pond. I was pretty intrigued, and I love prehistoric critters, especially mammals, so I thought I'd give the species a whirl. I only had a pair of skulls to work off of, but it was still a lot of fun and while I don't think my bear anatomy is spot on, I remain fairly pleased with my effort. I tried to differentiate its colours from a modern black bear by grizzling its rump a bit (inspired more by gorillas and roan horses than grizzlies, mind you,) and for its pose, I went for the common bear expression of being intrigued by a food source; maybe this guy has seen a honey comb just above him!

Also, drawing a bear was fun. It was intriguing to draw an animal which hasn't been tackled much in art yet, and I know that it's just a bear, an animal pretty similar to what's roaming the Earth today, but it was still a fun challenge. I definitely think that I need to draw more prehistoric critters, because it sure is fun putting flesh on fossil skeletons (even when the 'skeleton' is really just a lone skull or some other bit...)

Thank you for any s, they're greatly appreciated.

(c)Rosanna P. Brost. All Rights Reserved.
Please do not copy, print without permission or share without due credit.

Description
Protarctos abstrusus was a species of prehistoric bear which lived 3.5 million years ago, in what is today the high arctic. The animal was noted through fossil evidence for having a sweet tooth much like today's black bear, which it was slightly smaller than. As a species, it bears (haha) no relationship to today's modern ursine species. The two specimens which led to this illustration were discovered on Ellesmere Island, Nunavut, Canada at a site called the Beaver Pond. I was pretty intrigued, and I love prehistoric critters, especially mammals, so I thought I'd give the species a whirl. I only had a pair of skulls to work off of, but it was still a lot of fun and while I don't think my bear anatomy is spot on, I remain fairly pleased with my effort. I tried to differentiate its colours from a modern black bear by grizzling its rump a bit (inspired more by gorillas and roan horses than grizzlies, mind you,) and for its pose, I went for the common bear expression of being intrigued by a food source; maybe this guy has seen a honey comb just above him!

Also, drawing a bear was fun. It was intriguing to draw an animal which hasn't been tackled much in art yet, and I know that it's just a bear, an animal pretty similar to what's roaming the Earth today, but it was still a fun challenge. I definitely think that I need to draw more prehistoric critters, because it sure is fun putting flesh on fossil skeletons (even when the 'skeleton' is really just a lone skull or some other bit...)

Thank you for any s, they're greatly appreciated.

(c)Rosanna P. Brost. All Rights Reserved.
Please do not copy, print without permission or share without due credit.