Fantasy Vulture

Started working on my next piece. (I'm telling myself, if I do manage to have four images in my portfolio for IlluxCon, I'll be one happy guy!)

I once again pulled a random card from the WOTC database. This time I got a card for some kind of fantasy vulture (white mana). The point of the exercise is take the card description and use it as an assignment without looking at the art that was already done (so it doesn't influence my own design).

I also didn't look at any reference yet so I doodled away looking for a vulture with some kind of regal features. I tried to steer away from the scrawny-creepy look a vulture can have and tried to giving him an eagle bill (instead of the hooked bill vultures have) while retaining the bald head.

We'll see where that leads.

Also, I wanted to share words from Austin Kleon with you. This is taken from his wonderful book Steal Like An Artist.

The question every young writer at some point asks is: "What should I write?" And the standard answer is, "Write what you know." This advice leads to terrible stories in which nothing interesting happens.
[...]
The best advice is not write what you know, it's write what you like. Write the kind of story you like best—write the story you want to read.
[...]
Draw the art you want to see, start the business you want to run, play the music you want to hear, write the books you want to read, build the products you want to use—do the work you want to see done.