Julius Thomas Csotonyi (born October 11, 1973) is a Canadian

paleoartist Paleoart (also spelled palaeoart, paleo-art, or paleo art) is any original artistic work that attempts to depict prehistoric life according to scientific evidence. Works of paleoart may be representations of fossil remains or imagined depiction ...

and natural history

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

living in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

, Canada. He specialises in photo-realistic restorations of

dinosaurs Dinosaurs are a diverse group of reptiles of the clade Dinosauria. They first appeared during the Triassic period, between 243 and 233.23 million years ago (mya), although the exact origin and timing of the evolution of dinosaurs is t ...

, paleo-environments and extinct animals. His techniques encompass both traditional and

digital media Digital media is any communication media that operate in conjunction with various encoded machine-readable data formats. Digital media can be created, viewed, distributed, modified, listened to, and preserved on a digital electronics device. ' ...

. His art is included in museum displays in many countries. Csotonyi also created the design of the reverse side of the commemorative 25 dollar silver Royal Canadian Mint coin called 50th Anniversary of the Canadian Flag.

Early life and education

Csotonyi was born in Hungary. His family moved to Canada in 1978. His first drawing at age three was a dinosaur illustration, and he continued drawing and painting as a hobby throughout his childhood.Kate Allen
"Paleo Picasso: How dinosaurs became his big draw"
''The Toronto Star'', January 21, 2017. page IN3

Career

While studying for a

PhD PHD or PhD may refer to: * Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), an academic qualification Entertainment * '' PhD: Phantasy Degree'', a Korean comic series * ''Piled Higher and Deeper'', a web comic * Ph.D. (band), a 1980s British group ** Ph.D. (Ph.D. albu ...

microbiology Microbiology () is the scientific study of microorganisms, those being unicellular (single cell), multicellular (cell colony), or acellular (lacking cells). Microbiology encompasses numerous sub-disciplines including virology, bacteriology, prot ...

at the

University of Manitoba The University of Manitoba (U of M, UManitoba, or UM) is a Canadian public research university in the province of Manitoba.pollination Pollination is the transfer of pollen from an anther of a plant to the stigma of a plant, later enabling fertilisation and the production of seeds, most often by an animal or by wind. Pollinating agents can be animals such as insects, birds ...

mutualisms Mutualism describes the ecological interaction between two or more species where each species has a net benefit. Mutualism is a common type of ecological interaction. Prominent examples include most vascular plants engaged in mutualistic intera ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

, on the effects of trampling on

moss Mosses are small, non-vascular flowerless plants in the taxonomic division Bryophyta (, ) '' sensu stricto''. Bryophyta (''sensu lato'', Schimp. 1879) may also refer to the parent group bryophytes, which comprise liverworts, mosses, and hor ...

Jasper National Park Jasper National Park is a national park in Alberta, Canada. It is the largest national park within Alberta's Rocky Mountains spanning . It was established as a national park in 1930 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Its locatio ...

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

and on

bacteria Bacteria (; singular: bacterium) are ubiquitous, mostly free-living organisms often consisting of one biological cell. They constitute a large domain of prokaryotic microorganisms. Typically a few micrometres in length, bacteria were among ...

living in exotic deep ocean

hydrothermal vent A hydrothermal vent is a fissure on the seabed from which geothermally heated water discharges. They are commonly found near volcanically active places, areas where tectonic plates are moving apart at mid-ocean ridges, ocean basins, and hotspot ...

ecosystems An ecosystem (or ecological system) consists of all the organisms and the physical environment with which they interact. These biotic and abiotic components are linked together through nutrient cycles and energy flows. Energy enters the syste ...

and in terrestrial salt springs. He continued using his skills as an artist to create illustrations of ancient creatures and landscapes in his spare time, some of which were published in ''Prehistoric Times''."Julius Csotonyi, Dinosaur Artist, Creates Amazingly Vivid Portraits"
''Huffington Post Canada'', By Bob Weber, The Canadian Press, 09/08/2015 After observing the murals by Rudolph Zallinger, and visiting the Royal Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology, Csotonyi began to produce "paleoart" commercially. He developed a technique which involves photography and digital manipulation as well as drawing to produce imagined scenes and creatures."Meet the man who makes dinosaurs real"
''The Verge'', By Andrew Webster on May 20, 2014 His work has been used by many sources, including ''

National Geographic Magazine ''National Geographic'' (formerly the ''National Geographic Magazine'', sometimes branded as NAT GEO) is a popular American monthly magazine published by National Geographic Partners. Known for its photojournalism, it is one of the most widely ...

'', ''

Science Science is a systematic endeavor that builds and organizes knowledge in the form of testable explanations and predictions about the universe. Science may be as old as the human species, and some of the earliest archeological evidence for ...

'',

Titan Books Titan Publishing Group is the publishing division of Titan Entertainment Group, which was established in 1981. The books division has two main areas of publishing: film and television tie-ins and cinema reference books; and graphic novels and co ...

, and

Scholastic Inc. Scholastic Corporation () is an American multinational publishing, education, and media company that publishes and distributes books, comics, and educational materials for schools, parents, and children. Products are distributed via retail and on ...

, and many museum exhibits, mainly in the Royal Tyrrell Museum,

Royal Ontario Museum The Royal Ontario Museum (ROM) is a museum of art, world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is one of the largest museums in North America and the largest in Canada. It attracts more than one million visitors every year ...

Houston Museum of Natural Science The Houston Museum of Natural Science (abbreviated as HMNS) is a natural history museum located on the northern border of Hermann Park in Houston, Texas, United States. The museum was established in 1909 by the Houston Museum and Scientific Societ ...

Manitoba Museum The Manitoba Museum, previously the Manitoba Museum of Man and Nature, is a human and natural history museum in Winnipeg, Manitoba, as well as the province's largest, not-for-profit centre for heritage and science education. Located close to City ...

, and

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County The Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County is the largest natural and historical museum in the western United States. Its collections include nearly 35 million specimens and artifacts and cover 4.5 billion years of history. This large coll ...

. Csotonyi recently published a book with Steve White, entitled '' The Paleoart of Julius Csotonyi: Dinosaurs Sabre-Tooths and Beyond'', featuring many of his pieces of art, and some descriptions of them. Csotonyi has won the Two-Dimensional Art category for the

Society of Vertebrate Paleontology The Society of Vertebrate Paleontology (SVP) is a professional organization that was founded in the United States in 1940 to advance the science of vertebrate paleontology around the world. Mission and Activities SVP has about 2,300 members inter ...

's Lanzendorf-National Geographic PaleoArt Prize in 2010, 2012, and 2014.

Recent museum projects

Costonyi's life restorations are featured in the recent renovation of the Dinosaur Hall at the

, including large-scale murals.

Publications

*Csotonyi, J.T.; Addicott, J.F. (2001), "Competition between mutualists: the role of differential flower abscission in yuccas", Oikos 94: 557-565, *Csotonyi, J.T.; Addicott, J.F. (2004), "Influence of trampling-induced microtopography on growth of the soil crust bryophyte Ceratodon purpureus in Jasper National Park", ''Canadian Journal of Botany'' 82: 1382-1392, *Csotonyi, J.T.; Stackebrandt, E.; Yurkov, V. (2006), "Anaerobic respiration on tellurate and other metalloids in bacteria from hydrothermal vent fields in the Eastern Pacific Ocean"], Applied and Environmental Microbiology 72: 4950-4956, *Yurkov, V.; Csotonyi, J.T. (2003), "Aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs and heavy metalloid reducers from extreme environments", In Pandalai, S.G. (ed.) Recent Research Developments in Bacteriology, vol. 1, pp. 247–300. Trivandrum, India: Transworld Research Network *Csotonyi, J.T.; Swiderski, J.; Stackebrandt, E.; Yurkov, V. (2008), "Novel halophilic aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs from a Canadian hypersaline spring system"], Extremophiles 12: 529-539, *Yurkov, V.; Csotonyi, J.T. (2009), "New light on aerobic anoxygenic phototrophs"], In Hunter, N.; Daldal, F.; Thurnauer, M.C.; Beatty, J.T. (eds.) The Purple Phototrophic Bacteria, pp. 31–55. New York, NY: Springer Science + Business Media B. V. *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Csotonyi, Julius T. 1973 births Artists from Winnipeg Canadian illustrators Living people Paleoartists University of Alberta alumni