Birds of Fire

First of all: full view please!

This one has been laying around for a while as well. I'm glad it's done and up now . I don't really know where the idea came from. I've always liked the idea of the phoenix, and I hadn't drawn one for ages. Still, this idea kind of evolved over the drawing course. I wasn't sure what I would do with the entire right part of the drawing at the moment I was finished with the left. I came up with the idea of drawing a desert, but couldn't find any good reference pictures that suited my idea. In the end I found one (see below). But I figured it would be boring - having colourful and busy detailling at one side and just a plain background at the other. So I added the flying bird in a whim. I also added the wing. That was actually the last thing I made in the drawing. And, after weeks, it was finally done! I've made several pictures during the drawing process, so if you're interested in how it came to life, don't hesitate to ask, and I'll try to upload them !

I tried to make each of the birds slightly different, either by using slightly different colours or by expression and pose. Like the one on the top left, he'd be the older, calm and content bird, while the bottom left one, with the green accents, would be the brave one. Also, though it's more of an idea than that it can actually be seen, the larger peacocklike feathers on their heads show whether they are male or female. While the males have a simple circle or oval in the middle of the feather, the females have a heart shaped middle. In the image, the one with the purple eyes and the one turning it's head to the viewer are supposed to be female. I also tried to make the woman blend in with the birds, as if she was a humanoid phoenix. I did it, obviously, with the haircolours and the feathers, but also by making her skin look fiery, with black shadows and bright orange highlights.

Wohoo, one more thing that can be thrown off my WIP list! I've been really active at drawing lately, haven't I? Next deviation will be something I've got finished already, but I won't upload it until the end of this week or so. It's something quite different than I usually do, since it's specially made for a contest .

Anywhoo, I can't think of anything more useful to mention, so before I start with complete rambling, I'll wish all of you a wonderful day and I hope you like my drawing. And of course, critiques and comments (and favs, and watches, and points and llamas ) are always welcomed!



Featured (thank you!):
[link]
[link]
[link]
[link]

<Edit>: I changed the contrast and levels to fit the scan with the origional, but it looks like the origional according to MY screen. I saw the way it looked at the screen of my boyfriend, who has a much better screen with a higher resolution and intense colours, and it looked like CRAP! So please consider that if you have a great screen. I don't know how to find something to make it look good on all kinds of screens, so please tell me if you know!

So I guess it can be best watched with an average laptop screen like mine lol </edit>

---

Details:
- Time: long, with a lot of periods in between when I was working on something else.
- Materials: a sheet of paper I once stole from my drawing class, slightly larger than A4, cheap coloured pencils bought at some childrens store and a whole lot of reference pictures.
- Reference pictures: [link] by =TwiggXstock , [link] ~Tigg-stock , [link] by *SalsolaStock , [link] by ~Clickitysnip-Stock , [link] by ~Tigg-stock , [link] by ~Alex80 (which is not stock, but he kindly allowed me to use his photograph) and stock for the bird turning it's head in the viewers direction, but the account has appearantly been deactivated.
- Digital representation: It is a scan which has been changed in photoshop (contrast, levels and such) to match the origional. Also a watermark was added. I had to scan it in two halves, because of it's size. The halves were stuck together in photoshop. The line is still a little visible, especially around the lower bird, but this is as good as I could get it right now. Other than that, nothing has been modified.
- This drawing belongs to ~Liennepien . Do not use without my written permission or claim it as your own. I'll kick your b#tt.