ILLUSTRATING FROM IMAGINATION

A while back, a friend asked me to do some illustrations for a science fantasy story she was writing.  One of the characters was a humanoid flier from an alternate reality world.  I didn't want to do another common bi-wing man, and looked for something besides birds and bats as a model.  I chose the dragon fly and the winged seeds of Acer macrophyllum, or bigleaf maple.  I exaggerated the back muscles to power the wings and left the arms and legs long and spindly because they weren't used as much as with walking creatures.

I prefer my concepts have some mechanical credibility and not just be magically fantastic.