Oligobalistes

Tools: Adobe Photoshop​

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This piece focuses on realism, reconstructing an extinct balistid fish: Oligobalistes robustus. Known from just two fossils, these fish hailed from the warm, rocky shores spanning from Russia to Italy during the Oligocene and Eocene. Reconstructing the deep past as accurately as possible is a subset of realism colloquially deemed "paleoart."

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This image won second place in an art contest hosted by paleoartist Sky Jung, focusing on extinct fishes. Fish are among the most prolific fossils known, and are critically underrepresented in art and paleontology.