Russell J. Hawley attended the University of Colorado in 1985 with the intention of becoming a professional palæontologist. Accordingly, he took classes in geology, biology, zoölogy, comparative anatomy and human anatomy and physiology. But then he took calculus – and failed it. He took calculus again, and failed it again. After failing calculus for the third time, he decided that he would probably make a pretty mediocre scientist even if, by some miracle, he did ever manage to pass calculus so he switched his major to fine art. He doesn’t regret the science classes that he took at UC – nowadays, if Dr. Sundell tells him something like ‘Remember that the fossa antorbitalis is displaced anteriorly’ Russell doesn’t have to ask for a translation.
During the 1990’s, Russell spent part of each summer at Como Bluff, Wyoming, participating in dinosaur digs under the leadership of palæontologist Dr. Robert T. Bakker. Bakker turned out to be a treasure trove of information about reptiles, fossils and geology and, as an artist himself, had lots of advice about how to draw dinosaurs more accurately.
Russell’s artwork has appeared in the America's Smithsonian Anniversary traveling exhibition, games, coffee mugs, Prehistoric Times magazine, Mike Everhart’s Oceans of Kansas and Dr. Dale Russell’s Islands in the Cosmos. He also drew quarry maps for Dr. Robert Bakker back in his Como Bluff days. In 1996 he worked for Raptors to Rex: The Dinosaur Predators, a travelling dinosaur exhibit. After his exile to Wyoming in 1997, he began volunteering at the Tate Geological Museum at Casper College. After several months the director of the museum realized that Russell wasn’t going to go away and started paying him a salary. His current duties include giving tours, writing articles for the museum newsletter, and producing illustrations for the museum displays. He also wrote and illustrated Fossil Critters of Wyoming. His one-man art show, ‘A Thousand Unnamed Worlds’, was on display for two years at the Wyoming State Museum in Cheyenne.
Each artist we collaborate with selects a 501(c)(3) nonprofit to receive 10% of our company's profits from their designs at the end of each year. Russell has chosen The Mars Society as his nonprofit!
