u/kiwyverncrafts

So...I was going to originally just change some wing details on the first drawing. But as I was working on that, I just kept spotting other areas that bothered me. It eventually got to the point where I said the hell with it and started over again.

Except the face. It was really cute and I didn't want to change much there.

I decided that I wanted more movement this time, which worked out fantastic, because my brain seems much more capable of wrapping itself around bird talons that aren't planted flat on the ground. So now he's playing with/chasing a butterfly as opposed to having the moth on his beak.

And, no, I didn't forget about the back claw on his left foot. Because my art style leans towards simplicity (thanks 15 years of graphic and logo design) I just nixed it since so little might be visible anyway. I tried implying the little nub at one point and it just looked dumb or like he had a weird growth.

I might have referenced a ton of original Lion King stills to help with this pose, too. 😉

Do you ever finish a piece of art and feel like a proud parent?

That's me right now.

Meet my daughter, Safiya. ❤️

He is another critter in my Mythical Cuties collection.

I know that griffins typically have eagle talons in front, but I COULD NOT, for the life of me, work out how to make them look as cute as the rest of the drawing. So I finally just rage-erased them and gave him all lion paws instead.

I also will eventually go back and make his wings/feather style more consistent (probably make them all rounded). I struggled with this one for a while, and as a result, kind of became blind to a lot of the smaller design errors that I made early on. Now, I'm seeing EVERYTHING and it's driving me crazy 🤪.

Overall, though, I was happy enough with his design and color palette to at least share this first version!

This adorable little friend is one of my sweet little fantasy critter babies! I have been tapping into an old hobby in digital art the past few months, working on a small group of mythical creature characters...and have been absolutely loving every minute of it.

I also have plans for more collections, including chonky everyday animals and plump dinos.

I feel like I should name her, but I'm terrible at names. If you have any ideas, I'd love to hear them!