#opinicus

[askponyinuyasha]

Astro: Pardon me for prying, but what sort of creatures are you protecting the forest from?

Astro: Or do I have it backwards, and are you protecting the outsiders in the forest from the creatures inside the forest?

Inuyasha: Well, it's both, really. This forest isn't exactly the safest place for just anyone wandering through.

Inuyasha: But there're also ponies who would try to take advantage of this place and only end up tearing it apart.

@ask-wizard-sunburst: What are you protecting the forest from? Do you get many bad ponies or monsters?

Inuyasha: Sure, bandits try to come through here sometimes looking to cause trouble.

Inuyasha: Mostly I end up dealing with-

(Offscreen): HEY!!

~~To be continued...~~

<Next>

(High-res transparent PNGs below the cut)

These guys were super fun to draw and I ended up really proud of the way they both turned out! This is the first time I've ever heard of an opinicus, let alone draw one, so that was fun! And Sunburst is one of my personal fave canon ponies in terms of design and personality.

I could have broken this one down more than I did, instead of making it so much flipping text at once, but... well it flowed nicely in my head... Plus I know where it's going next! And it's going to be a more art intensive micro-arc so it might take me a while to churn out. We'll see!

[a-sketchy-a-day]

Surprise! It's Apex Calamity Anne using the power of all 3 stones.

[flamsinger]

Emin fanart

Fanart of a character from Vale's book series, gryphon insurrection. This is Emin after becoming a seraph!

Posted using PostyBirb

[curiousnaturestudio]

Just a little Gryphon~

[kvalenagle]

For the beautiful interior graphite pieces by Brenda Lyons for the GryphIns series, the plan was to keep them as a perk for buying copies of the books. As more and more fans are experiencing the series on audio, I've been a little happier to show them on social media, just to make sure the audio listeners get to see them, too. The first piece for Eyrie was a deliberate choice: Reeve Brevin, the antagonist, in all her snake-themed peacock glory. While the series has gryphons that are more traditional (Zeph matches the traditional Egyptian gryphon pretty well as a hawk, Cherine matches the traditional Greek gryphon pretty well as a golden eagle), I'd noticed that there were some fans who wanted gryphons to be specifically a North American bald eagle + lion gryphon. While I love all gryphons, I didn't want someone to pick up this story and be disappointed. The choice to go with a green peafowl was intentional, especially as Zeph was on the cover, to let readers know from the outset that you were going to get interesting gryphons in interesting locations with this series.

The interior art pieces were set in the front instead of inside the text so if you picked up the book, you'd see Brevin and Hatzel (another non-traditional gryphon, saber-toothed tiger and the extinct Haast's eagle) first. If you wanted traditional (or bald eagle?) gryphons only, you knew this was a series to skip. But if the idea of interesting gryphons captivated your imagination, you were in.

Later editions would move the interior art pieces into the, well, interior of the novel, near where you meet each of the characters. Zeph and Kia, as the protagonists of Eyrie, also received interior art pieces. The reasoning there was that, once a few books were out, it was clear the series really lived up to its "interesting gryphons in interesting locations" mantra. Zeph may look boring (I'd argue he's interesting and pretty) on Eyrie's cover, but the next few books gave us snowy owls, shrikes, Peruvian diving petrels, European starlings, hooded pitohui, hoopoe birds, snow leopards, great blue herons, and white-tailed kites front and center.

Here at the beginning, however, in March of 2019, we wanted to set an expectation. And while Hatzel did some of that on her own, the choice of Brevin specifically let us show off the harnesses and jewelry the opinici in the series wear. It set an expectation: you won't get gryphons with laser guns, but there's some kind of society here.

I've always been grateful that we met Brenda Lyons. My husband came across her work at local conventions, and came home with one of her pine phoenix pieces for the office. She was working on a cover for another of my books when we all got to talking, and when you have three gryphon fans together, the topic often turns to The Black Gryphon by Mercedes Lackey and Larry Dixon. And how much we all loved Larry's interior art pieces for the series, how they shaped many artists and authors today. Though the first review copies of Eyrie had gone out, there was a moment where we realized there was just enough time before the print files were finalized to do interior art. And the rest is history.

(The choice of Brevin also hinted at the origins of the gryphons and opinici in having a female character with male bird plumage. Growing up with peacocks and peahens guarding the nearby orange groves, I do know the difference between peafowl. But in addition to the nature angle, it foreshadowed the queerness of the characters. With Pridelord's release, it's probably the series with the most trans gryphons in it.)

[rainbowfeatherreplies]

"ALL STATIONS! Drop what you're doing, and STOP RAINBOW FEATHER!"

.....

"Her?" "Wait, you?" "Is it me?" "Him?" "Her?"

Art by @ghoul--doodle!

Featuring Robo Feather aka Featherbot, ol' Lady Feather, Nightmare Rainbow Feather, Medic Rainbow Feather, Rainbow Power Rainbow Feather, Princess Feather, Cyberpunk Feather, Ninja Opinicus Feather, aaaand Cowgirl (boy?) Feather!

[mythozoological-pet-care]

A Guide to Gryphons Pt. 1

A brief introduction: There are several species of Gryphon but I will mainly be referring to the Anglo-Saxon Griffin ,the Opinicus ,and Morph gryphons.Morph gryphons are any combination of feline and avian that is not traditional.

Diet : A gryphons diet should be 55% red meat ,25% dietary supplements (cuttlebone & salt licks ) ,and 35% white meat & fish. Do not feed Gryphon pellets as they are based off of fraudulent research findings. Water should be provided via fountain or spring.

Enrichment:Gryphons require a lot of mental stimulation . So unless you want to say goodbye to your couch, a good reinforced kevlar scratching post is a good idea. Lures,treasure hunts,and puzzles make great enrichment and should be switched up regularly.

Shelter: For Anglo-Saxon gryphons, tall tower roosts work best . Morph gryphons typically prefer caverns with a nest . While Opinicus usually prefer large open nests.

[artblooger19moon]

Opinicus

An Opinicus has the legs of a lion and the tail of a camel. This is the beast that is frequently seen in heraldry, or coat of arms. Sometimes it is shown without the wings, and sometimes its name is spelt Epimacus. The Opinicus was related to the griffin but you could always tell them apart because the front legs were more like the legs of a lion than the legs of an eagle.

[dragoncreator312]

“The Opinicus Pokemon”

Tauros/Kantoian Persian/Pidgeot/Chatot/Breloom/Rillaboom/Zoroark

Flying/Grass

[starcasteclipse-blog]

Inktober Day 22 - Heist (Sketch)

Today was the greatest cookie heist in all of history... 

Posted using PostyBirb

[paleoforest]

Barbary gryphon. Or just griffin with large mane, instead of just half-feathered body

Alternate variant of cock

[askponyinuyasha]

There's talk of giant spiders and other less natural monsters near the old fortress in the center of the wood; Be careful out there.

Zooks: There's talk of giant spiders and other less natural monsters near the old fortress in the center of the wood.

Inuyasha: What?!

Inuyasha: We'll have to finish this later!

Gad: Be careful out there!

Astro & Sunburst: ...

@ask-wizard-sunburst: Did he say 'giant spiders'?

<Previous> ... <Next>

~To be continued...~

(High-res transparent PNGs below the cut, and whoa-nelly there are a lot of them)

Thanks everyone for your patience! This bit took me a really long time because there were so many figures and new poses and effects to draw!

In the intervening time, I did really enjoy seeing everyone's speculations as to who the off-screen character was! Nobody managed to connect the dots that they'd seen this font and text color before!

Anyway I hope to do a couple more entries like this where I can sit back and let the story tell itself. I'll even try drawing some action sequences maybe but hopefully I can avoid drawing too many spiders.

[skindeepcomic]

What would Michelle look like if she was an opinicus instead of a Grecian sphinx?

I normally only take reader questions from patreon or the comments of the website because it's easier for me to keep track of them there, but this one was cute and I wanted to answer it! So it's today's reader question!

[willowwillowbun]

My idea of a seraph from @kvalenagle's Gryphon Insurrection Series

Drew this a while ago, I think while I was reading Opinicus. Not entirely happy with it but I mainly just sketch anyway and never finish anything lol

If you like creature fantasy and gryphons, highly recommend GryphIns! One of my favorite series!

[ask-gadzooks]

"It might be a self defense mechanism- it's invoking a sense of fear in anyone whom it perceives as a threat, possibly!" Astro suggests.

@sleepymushrxxm! Thanks for the ask! Also @zephyr-the-opinicus! Continuing the story with @nox-lunarwing

[kvalenagle]

Me trying to provide helpful clues for both myself and James Scott Spaid, the audiobook narrator, when it comes to which "a motmot" is which.

"Yes?" (Motmot who sings songs about Stripes' stripes) "No." (Motmot who solves all problems using strips of leather) "Brace yourself!" (Motmot who likes water slides)

🎨 @toadalled