Upper Jurassic of Portugal - Allosaurus & Stegosaurus

Winning illustration of the first prize 🏆 of the Paleoillustration Contest of the last EJIP-IMERP2023 held in Lourinhã, Portugal.

"An old dying Stegosaurus ungulatus on its last legs serves lunch to two #Allosaurus europaeus and some ranforhynchoid pterosaurs in a clearing in a forest. Paleoartistic reconstruction of the Lourinhã Formation 150 m.y ago during the Late Jurassic of Portugal"

The drawing process was complicated and underwent quite a few variations from his first pencil sketch of a Stegosaurus carcass. The initial plan was to depict an Allosaurus taking advantage of the carcass and encountering Torvosaurus, but the top-down perspective made it difficult to place Torvosaurus well. The tree in front also had its problems, and I even considered depicting Archeopteryx looking from the branch, but this took too much focus away from the carnivores eating.
This is undoubtedly one of my best illustrations and I am very proud that the jury has seen the potential to award it.