James Gurney paints a Koolasuchus

It's kind of an awesome salamander-thing that lived in Australia millions of years ago, and James Gurney went Down Under to hang out with some Australian artists and paleontologists in order to make a big series of dino stamps. On his blog this week he talks about his visit; it sounds like so much fun! Here are some of the first sketches and the initial color sketch of the Koolasuchus (I assume it's pronounced "cool A sookoos", but I sure could be wrong):

It's that last image of the wet, slightly surly Koola flopped down in his pond that I love. It's so expressive. That Koolasuchus is Having A Day.