El mar se estremeció primero
Final painting
Illustrated for: Personal project / 3° Congreso Colombiano de Paleontología
This illustration was the winner of Digital Illustration category of the PaleoArt Contest at the 3° Congreso Colombiano de Paleontología in 2025.
It depicts an individual of the ophthalmosaurid ichthyosaur Platypterygius elsuntuoso Páramo-Fonseca et al., 2023 hunting an ammonoid Nicklesia pulchella d'Orbigny.
Initial sketch, self-made 3d model reference for the teeth, and color and value explorations
This illustration was originally intended to accompany the publication by Paramo-Fonseca et al., 2023, which described this new species of ichthyosaur, but life got in the way.
I resumed work on it during the weeks leading up to the 3rd Colombian Paleontology Congress.
Revised sketch, advanced value exploaration, and underwater turbulence rendering attempts
Acknowledgments
Many thanks to Cristian Benavides-Cabra, Kevin González, Maycol Sandoval, Pablo Valverde, Sebastián Gómez, Sergio Ávila, Violeta Pardo, Yeimmy Gutiérrez, and my family for their comments and corrections throughout this project.
Thanks also to Francisco Riolobos for providing me with access to a reference video.
References
- Páramo Fonseca, M. E., Benavides Cabra, C. D. & Garavito Camacho, R. (2024). A new species of Platypterygius (Ophthalmosauridae) from the lower Barremian of Colombia and assessment of the species composition of the genus. Earth Sciences Research Journal, 28(2), 103–126. https://doi.org/10.15446/esrj.v28n2.112332
- Benavides-Cabra, C. D., Páramo-Fonseca, M. E., Palma-Castro, H. D., Narváez-Rincón, J. A. & Ramos-Clavijo, M. P. (2023). Stratigraphic distribution of marine vertebrates of the arcillolitas abigarradas member (Paja Formation) from the Villa de Leiva – Sáchica - Sutamarchán region, Boyacá, Colombia. Earth Sciences Research Journal, 27(3), 211–226. https://doi.org/10.15446/esrj.v27n3.108292