A friend of mine saw a piece of petrified wood at a local gem show, and an artist had painted a triceratops on it. He loved it, but it was around $300, which he could not afford.
He bought a slab of the stone for himself (he collects stones) and later asked me if I could paint something simular for his wife for her birthday (she loves triceratops!)
I had never tried anything like it before, and I've only done one small acrylic painting as a test a year ago. Haven't really used the paints since college.

But...my friend  susanvancamp had given me some painting lessions a while back, so I decided to give it a go.
I sat down and just did it....never looking back.
I'm so happy with the way it turned out! I did not use the same pose as the original painting the customer liked (And I told him I was going to do my own work, not copying someone else) and just used referance shots of what the beast looked like.

My friend was so happy, and his wife loved it!
(my husband was so pleased, he said it did not even look like my work, but more like the realism that my friend  hbruton does. He was very proud that I tried something different for me, and did a good job with a 'new' medium.

Acrylic on petrified wood, sprayed with an acrylic overglaze for protection and a bit of dull sheen. Approx. 8x10