🦖Carlota Forte🐋
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🦖Carlota Forte🐋
@corvuserpens.bsky.social
170 followers 77 following 85 posts
Hello! My name is Carlota and I'm a paleoartist and scientific illustrator based in Portugal, currently working on my Masters degree in Applied Biology.
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Hipparion sp.

Another portrait from the Miocene mammals of Ribatejo, one I had finished last year but never posted.
Hipparion is an ancient breed of three-toed horse that lived 10-5 million years ago across Eurasia and possibly North America and Africa! #sciart #paleoart #extincthorses
Portrait in grey scale of the three-toed horse Hipparion. The animal, facing left, is similar to the extant Przewalski's horse in patterning, with a short black mane and counter-shading, but with a smaller, more refined snout to match Hipparion's skull. In the background, a grassy savannah with a few trees in the distance indicate this horse's old habitat during the late Miocene.
September 10, 2025 at 8:39 PM
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Prionace glauca

Another practice piece done on #krita featuring my favorite shark! Blue sharks can be found worldwide and they're common in the Azores, where I grew up. This served more to figure out brushes and textures, so not so much sci illu but still fun!

#sciart #sharks #digitalart
Digital painting of a blue shark (Prionace glauca), facing left, illuminated top left to bottom right, according to scientific illustration convention. Background in a flat, pastel peach color, to contrast with the intense blues and greens of the animal.
July 28, 2025 at 2:26 PM
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Hey, it's #portfolioday! I'm a scientific and paleo-illustrator about to (finally) conclude her Master's in Applied Biology!
July 8, 2025 at 7:46 PM
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Here are some of my favorite #scientificillustration pieces I did in 2018 and 2019, back when I was doing my SI course!

Lucanus barbarossa, graphite | Flabellina babai, color pencils | Hyla meridionalis, charcoal | Russula torulosa, watercolor

#SciArt
June 19, 2025 at 8:33 PM
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Definite version of my previous mermaid drawing! I much prefer this version. In fact, I might print it on a t-shirt........
#mermay #mermaids #mermaidart #nauticalart
Line drawing of a mermaid sitting on an anchor with her hands crossed over the top. The mermaid stares mischievously at the viewer, hair falling in flowing waves around her. The mermaid's lines are dark teal except for her lips, which are bright red, while the anchor is lined in black. On the anchor there's an inscription which reads "1714".
June 3, 2025 at 7:36 PM
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Something a little different from my usual work, but just so everyone will know, I'm Obsessed™ with mermaids. I designed this to be a tattoo for an original character, but it's only a preliminary version. Anyway, just to celebrate the end of May!

#mermay #mermaids #mermaidart
Tattoo design of a mermaid sitting on an anchor, with long waves of turquoise hair framing her figure. The drawing is mostly linework inspired by vintage tattoos and ink illustrations for children's books, particularly Hans Christian Anderson's The Little Mermaid. Only the hair and lips are colored in, the background is light pastel pink.
May 31, 2025 at 5:07 PM
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Yesterday saw the publishing of the first Portuguese ichthyosaur, discovered at Praia de Água de Madeiros in the Marinha Grande Municipality!
This is NOT that ichthyosaur - it is good old Stenopterygius - but the news are so exciting that I decided to finish this old doodle 😁
#SciArt #paleoart
An adult and infant Stenopterygius quadrissucus, based on specimen SMNS 6293 and skeletal by Ryosuke Motani et al. (2014), in cartoon style with bold lines and simple shading. In this version, the artist chose a black and white counter-shading color scheme, where the animal is darker on the back and lighter on the belly, a pattern commonly observed in many modern mammalian vertebrates. The background is a simple light blue circle, with smaller, lighter circles evenly spread, resembling bubbles. An adult and infant Stenopterygius quadrissucus, based on specimen SMNS 6293 and skeletal by Ryosuke Motani et al. (2014), in cartoon style with bold lines and simple shading. In this version, the artist chose a warmer color scheme inspired by the dusky shark (Carcharhinus obscurus), which can look quite orange in certain photographs. The background is a simple light blue circle, with smaller, lighter circles evenly spread, resembling bubbles.
April 1, 2025 at 5:29 PM
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Drawing/painting horse paws is hard enough already... now imagine three-toed horses 💀💀💀

Anyway here's a WIP from yesterday since it's been a hot minute since I posted paleoart!
March 10, 2025 at 4:00 PM
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Palaeotragus sp.

Another one done for the project! Now it's going back to the dissertation.........
Anyway, scarce remains of an extinct giraffid have been found in Portugal, though in 2022 a new study suggests it might have been a Sivatheriinae giraffid rather than Palaeotragus.

#SciArt #paleoart
A profile portrait of the extinct giraffid Palaeotragus, facing left. The animal has a medium to long neck with a few stripes, similar to the ones found on the hind limbs of okapis, and stark black and white markings to help it stay hidden in the forests it likely lived in. A long, flexible tongue, present in both giraffes and okapis, sticks out of the corner of the mouth, nearly reaching the animal's eye. In the background there's a thick canopy of Quercus faginea, the Portuguese oak. Fossil remains of the genus Quercus from the Miocene have been found in Portugal.
January 21, 2025 at 5:45 PM
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Miotragocerus monacensis

A species of antelope that lived ~20 million years ago during the Miocene and whose fossil remains have been found in Portugal. Another portrait for the Master's project, done!

#sciart #paleoart #extinctmammals
A black and white portrait of an ancient antelope named Miotragocerus monacensis. A bull stares out at the viewer in the foreground to showcase the reverse S shaped horns, while on the background, grazing on a semi-forested prairie, a hornless female.
January 9, 2025 at 5:26 PM
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Time to go back into the grinder.
January 3, 2025 at 3:10 PM
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Sketching the recently described burrowing temnospondyl Ninumbeehan dookoodukah. Fell in love with this little guy as soon as I saw it! Might have been small, with the largest skull measuring ~7cm, but with a mouth lined with sharp teeth I bet it still had a mean bite! #temnospondyli #sketching
Digital sketches of the temnospondyl Ninumbeehan dookoodukah, described by So et al. 2024. At the top, left facing lateral view of a wedge shaped skull with small, sharp teeth; dorsal view of a triangular skull; a square measuring the width and height of the skull. Below, two full body sketches of the animal in life: the first depicts Ninumbeehan in front-lateral view with a tubular shaped body, short limbs and a tail with a speculative caudal fin. The animal is positioned as if it was crawling out of its burrow. The second sketch shows Ninumbeehan in a more neutral, sprawling pose, like a salamander.
December 18, 2024 at 5:33 PM
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And another one, this time with a plesiosaur!
Drawing of an unspecified plesiosaur curled into a circle in comic book style, with bold black lines and a reddish brown circle background. Animal has markings similar to modern day common dolphins, in tones of grayish blue.
December 13, 2024 at 5:25 PM
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Having fun with this simpler, quicker drawing style! I used to draw my OCs like this all the time and since I switched to sci illu, I kind of abandoned it. It's good for just chilling and focus on new, interesting patterns and color palettes! This one feats a Gorgosaurus libratus.
Portrait of a Gorgosaurus libratus facing right, in comic book style with bold black lines. Colors are grayish brown and blue, except around a vivid green eye, with brighter pinks and oranges.
December 13, 2024 at 5:22 PM
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Logotype all done! Ahhh, I'm so happy with it. I really indulged in my favorite drawing style and colors because WELL, it's for ME. I'm the client, I'm the boss, so seal of approval! Featuring my beloved Centrosaurus💕

I have at least one variant I also really like, might make it into a sticker!
Color drawing of a Centrosaurus apertus bust, in earthly pastel colors with a light pink background, shaped like a circle. Also featured is a soft green fern. The art style is comic book/cartoon but still paleo-accurate. Color drawing of a Centrosaurus apertus bust, in earthly pastel colors with a light pink background, shaped like a circle. Also featured is a soft green fern. The art style is comic book/cartoon but still paleo-accurate. Lettering around the outer edge is hand-written and reads: Carlota Forte, Paleoillustrator.
December 8, 2024 at 5:56 PM
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All finished! My watercolor painting (with a little white gouache) for my baby nephew. Featuring sperm whales, blue shark and a manta ray.
Man, I missed watercolor, it's been almost a year since I've used them! Also, can you tell how much I miss the sea?
Watercolor painting in various shades of blue, dark blue and grey, with some brown and red. Image is separated by a waterline: below the surface, an adult and calf sperm whale at the center, three blue shark and a manta ray swim around them, with shoals of fish in white and grey accompanying them. Above the surface: a fishing boat on the right, surrounded by seagulls, a sailing vessel and a lighthouse on the left. In the distance, a misty promontory looms over the sailing boat and lighthouse.
November 18, 2024 at 4:39 PM
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Had to draw the little munchkin they found in Siberia. Might do a larger piece for it!

(small note, used an Eurasian lynx cub as reference for the pose, photographer is Wilfried Martin!)
Pencil sketches of the mummified Homotherium latidens cub discovered in Siberia (Lopatin et al., 2024), plus an in vivo reconstruction featuring the cub with it's back turned to the viewer while looking over its shoulder. Along with the sketches there's a piece of cursive hand-written text, an excerpt from the article describing the finding: "The mummy body is covered with short, thick, soft, dark brown fur with hair about 20–30 mm long. The fur on the back and neck is longer than on the legs. On the upper lip two rows of vibrissae are clearly visible, mostly broken off at a height of 3–5 mm from the roots. In the region of the mouth corner, the hair is significantly elongated."
November 15, 2024 at 4:58 PM
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*softly* holy cow
November 11, 2024 at 4:23 PM
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Case in point AHHHHH
November 10, 2024 at 6:27 PM
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Slowly coming together.....
November 9, 2024 at 5:07 PM
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In light of recent events, both personal and general... Everything is sh*t right now, so I decided to take a break and do something different.

I'm gonna be an auntie in late February so I'm working on a little painting for his nursery, so he can have a little piece of me back home ❤️
Pencil sketches of a blue shark, sperm whales and maritime landscape including a manta ray, a sail boat, a lighthouse and a fishing boat. Color test of the previous sketches, in tones of blue and gray. Base sketch for a watercolor piece, in aquarium view. Below the water line: a sperm whale and it's calf as a focal point, surrounded by other marine wildlife such as blue sharks and a manta ray. Above the water line: a rocky promontory, a lighthouse, a sail boat, gulls and a fishing boat.
November 8, 2024 at 3:16 PM
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Apparently I forgot to post this charcoal piece of two fighting bull Iguanodon??? But yeah, last year I had an idea for how these animals might have used their ridiculous thumb spikes based off of the Dreadnoughtus fight in Prehistoric Planet! #sciart #paleoart
Black and white charcoal piece depicting two bull Iguanodon bernissartensis locked in combat, using their thumb spikes to stab and scratch each other.
October 20, 2024 at 5:11 PM
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Ayeeee, new followers! That means we're all one step closer to being free from the OTHER social media site. Good, I like it here much better.

Hi, I'm Carlota, a portuguese paleoartist and scientific illustrator! Welcome (or welcome back) to Bluesky!!
Graphite sketch of a caracal (scientific name: Caracal caracal) in profile, staring back at the viewer from the corner of the eye. Pastel markers drawing of a Maiasaura peeblesorum mother looking over a nest of hatchlings. The nest is structured like a mound of earth and covered in dried out vegetation like magnolia branches and leaves, ferns and ginkgo leaves. Black and white charcoal portrait of a Lambeosaurus lambei in profile. Digital illustration of a Plesiopharos moelensis, a Portuguese plesiosaur, showing a ventral view of the animal as it swims beneath a shimmering, sunny blue surface.
October 19, 2024 at 7:35 PM
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Gomphotherium angustidens

I honestly don't know what the f*ck was up with proboscideans (jk I do). Especially Gomphotheres. But whatever they were doing must have been right, with the way they exploded in diversity up until the Pleistocene. Done in Clip Studio Paint.
October 18, 2024 at 12:20 PM
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Hipparion sp.

Mostly based off of Przewalski and Losino horses. Done in Clip Studio Paint.
October 18, 2024 at 12:16 PM