About the image:
So not quiet how I wanted it to come out really... But I will get there (I hope)! The wings were a major pain for me. I started with trying a bunch of wing tutorials and said "screw this" and winged it no pun intended(!) I heavily reference an image of a deer msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Com… simply because this was a practice for me. I need to work on realistic anatomy and you can read on if you really care about my scattered thoughts below.

sorry for all the mushy stuff about me coming below.....
I'm going to start working on my "realism"
Not when it comes to concepts, but in making my characters have the sense that "this creature could be real" based on the details in the painting or "this place could exist" in the same concept of the detail placed in the background. (I personally feel that most real images come out boring because its something I can just look around me to see, so I prefer fantasy like images.)

It is one thing when an artist can create a character with made up anatomy or anatomy based on an actual creature. In other words, being able to create art we place in a broad category of "cartoonist". But I also feel it is very important to create realistic images, whether the image is of a still life, scenery, living creature, etc... I have always understood that to be a true artist you must be willing to experiment and try and master the basics of all. I believe to first do this you must understand the major category of realistic art. You need to understand how something actually is before you can truly manipulate it to your own with or without seeing it.

This Fall will be my senior year of high school and I am going into an advanced art class for my chosen medias of drawing. I should really pick up the pace if I want to be truly successful. I don't ever plan to actually go anywhere with my art, it is solely a hobby I really enjoy and would be proud to master it as best I can while I have someone there to encourage me on. This goal is just something to "sooth my soul" in a way, it's a part of me.

Work in progress sketch: fav.me/d7on9f0