Dear Denizen of the Internet,

Thanks for stopping by my Patreon page. I'm a palaeontological artist, author and researcher who you may have encountered previously at MarkWitton.com, my blog, or through my books Pterosaurs: Natural History, Evolution, Anatomy and Recreating an Age of Reptiles. You may also have seen other projects I've been involved with, such as my creature design and consultancy work on palaeontological documentaries (including recent Walking with Dinosaurs projects, the BBC's Planet Dinosaur, Sky's Flying Monsters 3D) or some of my outreach efforts. Finally, you may know of some of my scientific papers and articles on pterosaurs (flying reptiles which lived alongside ancient dinosaurs) and palaeoart. My creative ethos is research based and open: I want to present grounded, interesting and novel takes on prehistoric life, and discuss the process behind prehistoric animal reconstruction. I am not a palaeoartist who draws Tyrannosaurus over and over, nor an author who rehashes the same tried-and-tested factoids about a given fossil species.

Making a living writing about, researching or illustrating fossil animals - even really cool ones - is difficult. For much of the year I make little or no money from my palaeontological work: print sales only bring in so much income, book royalities are paid annually and unpredictable, larger contracts arrive unpredictably, and even 'high profile' patrons have tight budgets (palaeontology, and the industries related to it, are mostly strapped for cash).

What Patreon is, and what you're supporting
Patreon is a crowd-funding scheme for online creatives, a means to support your favourite authors and artists with micropayments each month. In return for your money, you get access to exclusive content and rewards. The more you pledge, the more you receive in return - prints, books and so on. As one of my Patrons, $1 a month enables you to see:

In-progress and exclusive artwork related to upcoming books, blog posts and papers
'Behind the scenes' insights into creative projects
Insights into new research
Excerpts from upcoming books
Competitions

Your pledges support the production of my art and writing, enabling me to tackle more detailed and involved projects, produce content at a higher rate, and improve the quality of what I can produce. Currently, you would support the following projects:

Blogging (detailed overviews of extinct animal palaeobiology and palaeoart methodology)
Peer-reviewed research papers, conference attendance and other academic activities.
Production of 'Book 3' - a technical guide to restoring fossil animals in art (details coming soon, due out 2018)
Production of 'Book 4' - a sequel/remake/tribute book to a palaeoart classic (fingers crossed for 2018 release)

My goal here is to make what I'm doing more sustainable for me, and more interesting for you: to that end, any donation you can offer, however small, is hugely appreciated.

Thanks for reading!

Dr. Mark Witton