What is the ELLESAUR?
The elusive Ellesaur is an imaginary creature, that combines parts of several dinosaurs, and could also be considered a dragon or nessie. One day I sat down with a pen & paper, and this is what came to life!
Since my name is Ellen, then put together with dinosaur, we have The Ellesaur! It has become the mascot for my illustration work, appearing on double-sided business cards, portfolio covers, FCBD bitty books (see below), convention signage, Twitter profile image, NYCC2014 scavenger hunt game, username for NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and even drawn on people's hands!
The design is a little nostalgic, connected to my childhood of playing with many dinosaur toys. It also reflects my silly humor - that such a being couldn't possibly actually exist - having flippers in the front, and feet in back! In some drawings, the flippers have been mistaken for wings, which is fitting... after all, this is a creature open to interpretation, meant to inspire & delight.
Print Your Free Comics!
FREE COMIC BOOK DAY: Sat, May 2nd 2015
Your New Book Is Here!
A wonderful quality of these bitty books is that they can be colored in!
Started as a simple handout, it now serves to inspire young artists' creativity!
This oozing masterpiece (at right) was made during Science Saturday at Rock U.
Have you printed and colored a book?
Send me your photos, to make a gallery!
Enjoy a FREE bitty book of the Ellesaur, made for Free Comic Book Day 2014!
Save and print the provided image, or click to download this document: freecomic2014.pdf
Fold in half twice, so it starts with "What strange footprints!" and ends in "Find the Ellesaur"
Also available at select comic conventions (see events page), as a freebie or for just 25 cents.
Scavenger Hunt NYCC 2014
Click here to read about the
NYCC 2014 Scavenger Hunt
The Ellesaur was blogged about in Den of Geek!
Where to Next?
If all goes according to plan (as things never do), you should see another Ellesaur-themed bitty book for Free Comic Book Day 2016. While I took a hiatus from the NYCC game for 2015, I plan to bring back a related game for the coming year. A menagerie of similarly silly animals is in the works, and will someday join the Ellesaur in a stunning display of nonsense. The Ellesaur may or may not remain a permanent mascot, since the range of my artwork is broader, but will continue to represent this style of whimsical fun. Eventually, I would like to develop a full picture book for stories of the Ellesaur.