Knowing that some good friends and colleagues still rate Mastodon, and with Meta's social media sites only getting worse, I figure it's time to start posting here again.
To kick things off, here's some recent #paleoart of the iconic #sauropod Cetiosaurus in a Jurassic landscape. All the plant recons are based on work by @Palaeojules. The composition is heavily indebted to a famous (non-palaeo) artwork.
Oct 15, 2026, 8:42 AM@markwitton @Palaeojules Welcome (back)
@markwitton That's good hear, I'm looking forward to see your art again more often 😊
@markwitton @Palaeojules woaaa. I wonder, what people from Terrible Lizards would say :)
Sadly, neither Iszi Lawrence nor Dr. Dave Hone is here.
@KasTasMykolas @Palaeojules No problems there. Dave Hone and I are alarmingly aware of one another.
@markwitton @Palaeojules I was almost sure about that :) He's been telling that paleo community is quite small. And I've just noticed this:
https://terriblelizards.libsyn.com/tls08e04-the-crystal-palace-dinosaurs
:)))
Anyway, welcome back! It's great to have You here.
@KasTasMykolas @Palaeojules We also created this together, and have worked on a few papers, edited volumes etc.
@markwitton @Palaeojules well this is right up my alley
@markwitton @Palaeojules gorgeous!
Constable would have loved the scene.
[awkward silence]
@markwitton see you in another two years! 😅
Oct 15, 2026, 1:13 PM@markwitton @Palaeojules Welcome back!
@mike Two-years of mentioning Mastodon at DinoCon and SVPCA may have played a role!
Oct 15, 2026, 2:41 PM@markwitton Yay!
I get that this isn't a great medium for you to publish onto, and you'll need other media for that — hopefully Patreon is serving you well.
But for actually engaging with people, this is the best social network I've ever been on.
@mike It's already evident that activity and engagement has grown since I stopped posting in early 2025, which is encouraging. It's also nice to be on a platform that isn't all AI junk and monetisation of basic functions, which is what FB is nowadays. Bluesky is still going OK, and Instagram has good reach, but there's not much science there.
Oct 15, 2026, 3:08 PM@markwitton I could never get the hang of Instagram. It seemed, when I was trying to use it, that it was simply not possible to upload an image from a computer — only to take photos and upload those from the phone.
@mike The desktop/web browser version still stinks. It at least now tells you why certain images can't be uploaded (aspect ratio is one reason) instead of giving generic error messages. It's clearly aimed at phone users, though.
@markwitton @Palaeojules Great to see you back. 😎 Fantastic work as always, thanks for sharing it here.
@AdamStuartSmith Thanks! Was sad to not bump into you at the marine reptile conference, btw, hope all is well!
@markwitton Hi Mark, I was upset not to be able to attend. l’m struggling with symptoms of spina bifida, which have arisen in recent years, and make being away from home and travelling difficult. I’ve had a few operations and l’m adapting to my worsened condition, so hopefully I’ll be able to attend conferences again soon. I miss them and my people!
@AdamStuartSmith I had no idea, sorry to hear this. I hope the surgeries are doing their job and helping you get back on your feet - and yes, it will be great to see you at conferences again!
@markwitton @Palaeojules that's beautiful
@markwitton Amazing artwork, as always! Good to see you here again! Welcome back!
@markwitton @Palaeojules super cool! What's your drawing setup?
@dariozip Just regular old Photoshop, nothing fancy as goes hardware or equipment.
@markwitton Very excited to see you back!