I really like thinking of definitive examples of classic fantasy animals. Ive been trying to draw a dragon that Im happy with for months. Still no luck.

With the griffin, I kept running into the problem of how it would look. Many examples I see online just use a bald eagle on a lion's body. I got to thinking, what if the griffin had a more humanistic form, an ability to walk upright perhaps. I wanted that to suggest in this illustration.

Also, I wanted to make its feathers seem fur like. One thing Ive learned about feathers and wings is the more simplistic they are, the more effective they are.

Whenever I thought about this beast, I always saw it in movement so it was tough for me to nail down a single image I was pleased with. I had it perched on a rock at first, and that was just a bulky mass of ick, so I decided to pose it in mid flight. I really like the silhouette.

I also wanted it to be magical and majestic looking even with darker colors. I wanted to brake the stigma of dark colors being evil.

Progress images can be seen here.