Fantasy Biology: Hurrok

You folks all know how much I ‘love’ horses, especially killer horses with carnivore mouths and seem determined to tag me in the relevant posts  at every opportunity, but one we haven’t touched on so far is the Hurrok from @tamorapierce ’s Tortall.

The hurrok, or horse-hawk, is a flying, carnivorous hexapod that superficially resembles a pegasus, but with bat wings, clawed feet, a carnivore head. Other than that, completely normal horse.

Great.

So let’s start with the Pegasus from this post, with required modifications to turn that creature plan into a Hurrok. A lot of that post is still relevant, but with some modifications.

Keep reading

Fantasy Biology: The Pegasus

The next long awaited post in the Fantasy Biology series, finally looking at the popular pegasus thanks to popular opinion on my Patreon.

Long time followers of this blog have been waiting for this one for a while. You all seem very keen for my take on how to make a six-limbed creature work, get airborne, and ideally be ridden.

There is a lot to talk about with these flying horses. In the interest of narrowing the topic, I’m only going to discuss pegasus with bird wings, not with bat/dragon wings or any other magical flying horses. 

Key features of a pegasus:

The biggest difficulty with making a pegasus ‘work’ is that you have two different types of forelimbs, that both use very different shoulder joints to function. A horse shoulder moves forward to back when running….

But a bird shoulder moves up and down with some rotation when flapping…

Keep reading

Photos taken at http://www.nhm.org/

Bird Anatomy for Artists by Dr Natalia Balo - review by Dr Trevor Weekes, The University of Newcastle, Australia

“For many years bird artists have been searching for an informative textbook on Bird Anatomy. Until now there have been very few books focusing on Bird Anatomy and drawing birds available, but now the search is over. Bird Anatomy for Artists has arrived! Bird Anatomy for Artists is a beautifully presented comprehensive survey of the complete bird from head to tail. The book is full of masterly illustrations that are clear and easy to understand, including black and white working drawings, examples of the artist’s field studies and exquisite colour illustrations. Every part of the bird’s body is outlined in detail with informative text and helpful drawing instructions. Bird Anatomy for Artists is perhaps the most complete textbook available on this subject. I highly recommend this reference book not only for Artists, but for anyone interested in Birds.”

Available from:

http://www.bfineart.com.au/bird-anatomy-for-artists.html

Ohhhh I need this book!

OMG, want! 

I’ve been looking for something like this for years!

You might also want to have a look at this one: Capturing the Essence. He’s by far and away my favorite bird artist out there, he actually worked with David Attenborough illustrating the birds of paradise.

Quarters only, please [x]

(done in procreate)

Just an FYI for those in the US with insurance issues

Important information! Insurance coverage decisions are made by medically ignorant bean-counters. Until we can dismantle the whole shitty system, know how to scare them into submission.

This is like that procedure Mr. Incredible told that old lady

Reblogging for visibility

[Image Description: Text: Medical Hack: So, your doctor ordered a test or treatment and your insurance company denied it. That is a typical cost saving method. Okay, here is what you do:

Reblogging for visibility!

I wonder if anyone has made a list like this regarding Medicare (federal run health insurance) and Medicaid (state run health insurance) because the process for challenging denials is absolutely different, but I’ve never known how to do it myself nor found a guide on how to.

Avian Messiah

Photographer Mark Smith captures an amazing moment where an osprey emerges from the ocean clawed onto its prey

One thing about me is that I did not live a sterile childhood. I ate dirt and sand as a toddler. My parents did not stop me. I was covered in ticks all the time. So was the dog, who it was my chore to pick them off of. I was outside and covered in dirt and mud and touching bugs and mollusks and things 24/7. I lived in the exact opposite of a sterile environment and I developed an autoimmune disorder anyway.

Changeover🔊

First, you think the bird is a fool.

They you realize the bird is smarter than you and actually checked first.

Source: Mehdi Alibeygi

@todaysbird

huh, the full video is almost two minutes long, and what got cut was entirely title and credits:

@animangacreators Challenge #17: Cafe AMC

humbled

Today we succeeded something very important and Brom needs a goddamn nap

Aboleths are the worst creatures in existence

the moon and midnight

Continue Reading

Did I daydream this, or was there a website for writers with like. A ridiculous quantity of descriptive aid. Like I remember clicking on " inside a cinema " or something like that. Then, BAM. Here's a list of smell and sounds. I can't remember it for the life of me, but if someone else can, help a bitch out <3

I FOUND IT BITCHES

This is going to save me so much trouble in the future.

if you like crafting and also free things, might i suggest the antique pattern library?

it’s a not for profit that’s gathering books, patterns, and other materials related to crafting that are out of copyright (or getting permission from copyright holders in some cases) in order to share them online. they scan items, clean them up, then make everything available for free!

free things are great, especially when you’re just starting to get into something. like oh, i’m supposed to spend money on this hobby i just picked up 20 minutes ago???

the first time i ended up on the site, i seriously spent hours just trawling through everything. there’s the usual suspects like knitting, crochet, embroidery, but there’s also woodwork, calligraphy, and books on things like how to mount and frame pictures. with cross stitch patterns, they also make modern charts with the dmc colour codes available.

links to their webbed site and instagram:

https://www.antiquepatternlibrary.org/

https://www.instagram.com/theantiquepatternlibrary/

behold, a glorious cat cross stitch pattern (link goes to antique pattern library page):

[image id: Multicolour charted cross stitch design of a cat sitting on a red pillow with tassels, holding a green ball]

Upcoming Theory Posts

I have been working with GrimaIsBestWaifu, she is currently drafting sketches for my upcoming theory posts. Here are a few works in progress:

Losties, can you take a guess to who each one is?

Here is a hint for the first picture:

GrimaIsBestWaifu finished the commissions:

Goddess Ilia (Aka Meene)

Her appearance is inspired by the Statue of Ilia from the Agents of the Goddess event. Her hair has her original green tinge at the tips, in a manner that is akin to Bondforged Euden. Nino definitely resembles this version of Meene.

Metatron

Grima created this beauty from scratch, with just the inspiration of the other Angels (seen in her colors). We decided that halos for eyes made Metatron look intimidating and it matched the theme of Sandalphon.

Emperor Dane

Emperor Dane was the most obscure of these commissions. His lore is scattered throughout weapons, wyrmprints, adventurer stories, and dragon stories. He was the toughest to imagine, but I think that he turned out great!

I will be using these images in upcoming Lore and Theory posts, so keep an eye out for those. If you'd like to support Grima, her kofi is here.