Phoenix pair
Here’s a couple of drawings from an old project;
The client had liked the first version of the phoenix, but asked for it to be more “mythical.” Instead of turning the bird into a creature made entirely from fire (and thus scrapping the “naturalistic” feel of the first sketch entirely), I went ahead and reimagined the creature’s evolutionary path; It went from something that resembled a cross between a falcon and a peacock, to a sort of draconic eagle, complete with combustible plumage that ignites as the creature’s body temperature rises.
The idea of naturally-evolving monsters and mythical creatures, with magic acting as a sort of environmental stressor that shapes their evolution, is an idea I kind of love, and one I’ll be visiting quite a bit in the future.