Illustration Friday – Beginning / Disguise

Noooooo…!! I missed the deadline again (darn it!) This one is supposed to illustrate the word “Beginning” from this week’s Illustration Friday challenge. For some reason however, Illustration Friday’s site has been showing next week’s keyword, “disguise”, which means I can no longer submit any art for “Beginning”. Tough luck, I guess. Even though it’s not even Friday yet in some parts of the world!

The Phoenix bird has always been known as the symbol of resurrection, rebirth and immortality. A Phoenix is born from the ashes of its predecessor, so it never really dies. I decided to draw the birth scene of a Phoenix, in somewhat a cutesy cartoon style, which is perfect to illustrate the word “Beginning”.

BUT…!! Since I missed the deadline, I might as well submit this one for “Disguise”. Hey, this can also be about an ugly bird disguising itself by transforming into a beautiful bird! (Cheating, I know… but at least it’s still a little bit relevant). 😀

Done in Photoshop, including the sketch. I restricted myself to only use a hard pastel oil brush and nothing else.