I uploaded some perfume spirit growing-pet type things recently ( http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/full/twobrands.gif - http://pixeljoint.com/files/icons/full/twobrands.gif ) and decided that for ease of customization I should probably make a larger, corporeal form for them to end in as opposed to ending as a pale wispy thing. Also just 'cause. I'm going to have to go back in and make the wispy ones look more like the corporeal ones when I have decided on a design for them.

So I decided to start with the crane/peacock/bird of paradise hybrid and got this far:

... with advice from Hatch on how to make it look less chocobo-y than my initial head did. It's still kinda chocobo-esque but I think it's far enough away now for me to move elsewhere.

The entire thing is going to be AA'd to white (bleh) so lots of work still to be done on the neck/head, obviously... but before I go any further I was hoping for any feedback/input to improve it. The tail is kinda wonky but I am hoping with shading I can make it obvious that it's folding back in on itself and not just defying the laws of physics... short of expanding the canvas I'm not sure of how to fix it, so if anyone has any ideas there and to fix the further wing that'd be nine kinds of amazing. Or anything else that needs fixing :D (leg position?)

The palette is definitely a stand-in palette: these are templates and will be recoloured tons of times each. So I know it's not the best :P