Firewing [Patreon]

The monthly Patreon reward for EmerySnowtail, for January 2017. Yes, it has taken me five months to finish this. There was a period of about three months where I was unable to draw, and I was not always drawing for the rest of the time, but I still put many, many, many hours into this reference sheet. This is actually someone else's OC (also called Firewing), and these were the instructions I received:

"Firewing is a Pegasus stallion of moderate height. His coat is a black and as deep as shadow. His eyes are the color of deep emerald.
His wings have the color of crimson, blue and white, resembling living fire with every beat of his wings.
The cutie mark: On his flanks would stand out, red fur against the black. A dragon's head, wing and claw, breathing fire.
Mane color and style: Typical Pegasus style, fiery in aesthetic.
He's got a fierce streak, is very protective and loyal."

So aside from the colours colours, most of his design was up to me. His mane is supposed to invoke the idea of a pheonix, and each feather is colourised from hottest at the base to coolest at the tip.
Next time I will definitely not do four angles... I don't know what else would speed up the process, besides not inking the lines. This was equal parts fun and horrific to do. I adore designing characters, but hate colouring/shading. Now to get on with all the other work I'm behind on. I decided to draw a second picture as a gift to Firewing, who was having a bad time, which will be uploaded next.

Drawing of Firewing and AJ