Link: https://www.sylestia.com/forums/?thread=27824&page=2#11 Author: Elise Time Posted: 8/11/2015 at 11:00 PM You mean, the very first design? It struck me as well... I have a hunch this new version is closer to what it was actually intended to be!

Indeed. They do look pretty similar, except the graphics are overall better and less cartoony-looking than last time.

i love the longer neck :OOO

They look so beautiful and elegant!!

Nicely done, to all the artists. I agree with many of the comments above... but overall I think this is an improvement over the current version.

In particular, I love the dancing movement you have given them all. I might quibble about some of the details, but even if they are left exactly as is I will enjoy having them in my stables.

That being said, anatomically there are a few things that seem off to me. As was mentioned by others, birds tend to be rather thick in the shoulders- there is good reason for this, as they need those muscles to fly. The adult male isn't too bad, though he could be a little more robust too, but honestly the adult female simply doesn't have the musculature in her shoulders to be able to fly. Considering these are birds, that is a shame. I will assume you wanted a slender more "feminine" look to her, but honestly she just looks weak, which I don't think is what you want at all. That wonderful graceful pose and long neck would be much better suited to a properly proportioned swan like body, which if you have ever seen a swan raise up and flap her wings? Their body is nicely robust. There is a reason it's the breast of the turkey and chicken that has the most meat, and these two look more than a little anemic.

The other part that bugs me a bit is the gullet. Most birds have a somewhat abrupt thickening at the base of the neck, where the gullet is. This is most evident in pelicans and cormorants, but it is there in many species. even if in some their necks are disguised by feathers. These two adults are more or less lacking that, and with their long graceful necks there should be some indication of it. In fact, it would help make the female look a little more graceful for it, and the male a little more robust. He has a little indication of it, but not, in my opinion, enough. I think it would benefit both of them to have a proper gullet here, lol.

The flowing central tail feathers is another affectation I find amusing, but anatomically a little bizarre. If this were a real bird, those free flowing feathers would make flight a little difficult I imagine. But I understand it would be near impossible to accurately render a more typically stiff feathered tail the way you want to portray them. I am curious how you will deal with the peacock tail mutation here though. I always thought that before, that was a mutation that was thoroughly disappointing because it looks nothing like a peacock's full fan tail.

I suspect the terror beak and toucan beaks on these guys will be comically amusing, even more so than they used to be, lol.


Anyone else see more than a bit of the Archeopterix in the two chicks? There is more than a little lizard in their poses I think. Not a bad thing at all, I actually rather enjoy the throwback look of them. Unfortunately the male chick seems to have lost the back "lyre" tail piece, while the female's gets lost in her body. Still, I love their lively, mischevous expressions.

Over-all I really love this revamp c: the girl looks so majestic

I'm not too knowledgeable in bird anatomy, but here's a few little details:
~the bodies on all of them definitely look a little thin in relation to their necks, more so on the babies
-the female adult's far shoulder seems higher than the other
~both babies remind me of raptors more than birds, I'm not sure if that's intended
-adult male looks like he's just slightly falling off-balance, again I'm not completely sure how birds work, that's just the feeling I get looking at him
~something about the adult male's feet feels off, mostly far one, might just be that it needs shading
-baby girl's wings look a lot smaller than the boy's
~I'm not sure if the design is based off a goose or a swan (or neither?) but I feel the base of their neck/breast area should be more prominent


also, looking at these pictures I cant tell if the aurleon's wings are completely outstretched or if they're missing the essential wing-foldy part

sorry for all the critique /)(\ I do like these parts very much:
~glorious flowy tails
-pretty flowy head things
~graceful lady bird floating down to earth
-long necks
~more feathers than before

Edit: greenmann used the bird words that i was looking for XD

I don't collect or breed Aurleons, so maybe I shouldn't comment. However, I really like birds.

The reason I don't collect Aurleons is, to me, they resemble barnyard birds, specifically, geese. Now there's nothing wrong with barnyard birds of any variety. And yes, I know there are wild geese. However, even though I'm a vegetarian, the current Aurleon's anserine appearance makes me think of eating them, which diminishes my interest in them as pets. One doesn't eat pets. Also, their lack of webbed feet clashes with the rest of the appearance, as though they are defective geese. Finally, a long-necked, heavy-bodied bird's overall look doesn't work well with traits such as Terror Beak and Phoenix Flames, which I think would really look better on a raptor-type bird.

The new Aurleons seem to have the same problem. The dynamic poses are fantastic; don't get me wrong. They look much more alive. But they still look like geese that lack webbing on their feet.

My suggestion, for what it's worth--make Aurleons look WILD! You could head in the raptor direction and give them short necks, slim bodies, smaller feet with talons, and longer wings. Or you could head in the swan direction. Give them the swan's looonnng, graceful neck, webbed feet, and big, powerful wings.

I realize drawing larger wings in proportion to the bodies would be a difficult artistic challenge. However, it would be worth it.

Oh, a minor thing. Several people have commented that the female looks too skinny. The actual problem is that she does not have a keeled breast. The male does. The keel, or carina, of a flying bird is what allows it to fly, because it provides an anchor point for the flight muscles. Without a keeled breast, a creature larger than an insect is not going to be able to fly with wings. That's really what doesn't look right with the adult female; she looks like she should not be able to fly.

My 2.

I love the phoenix look but there necks make them look swan-ish to me idk it looks disproportionate compared to the rest of the body i it could also be the head shape looks to arrow like the males chest also looks alittle lumpy something about the head and neck just seem off to me I love the body though and the idea of the wings out like there about to land or fly off my favorite part is the legs tails and wings and the head chest on the male the female I love the whole body but the head and neck its just to swanlike you guys do a fantastic job I cannot wait to see the end result

They look so nice! Even better than the old design! My projects will look so good now! <3

Good work so far. My only criticism has to be in the female's neck - in comparison to the male's, the female's is... a bit too long. The female's current neck appears to be the same length, or longer, than the body. ACtually, it appears longer. The male's appears more like a swan's neck - not too long, not too short. I'd equate the female's to a giraffe. Too long for the design you are going for.

Beautiful art, though <3

I just have to say how much I love these designs. The female in particular captures the spirit in what I loved about the original female aurleon. They really look much more like phoenixes now.

As far as the body being too thin, I don't know what might have been used as reference but the bodies actually remind me to some degree of cormorants which have a very similar body and large wings. They don't make me think of geese or swans.