#witch phoenix

[corvarrow]

I wanted to do something different this week and tested out this gel pen ~ the headshot was good and then it started skipping really bad when I got to the other one 🤣 idk I have really bad luck with gel pens, if you guys know of any good brown ballpoint pens please let me know

Anyway! I don't think I've ever posted any witch phoenixes here and it's been a while since I drew them anyway, so I thought it might be fun. They are a very large species of avian, pretty much considered a wyvern (they even have a bunch of flexible spines) but with a lot of bird features. The name comes from both where they like to live (near "Witch Mulberry" trees, also a mildly poisonous type of tree), and their coloration. Sadly they do not breathe fire. While they have been known to scavenge they mostly eat fish and the occasional fruit. They are also fairly intelligent but have little interest in humans (except if you are a fishing boat)

[corvarrow]

I love your witch phoenixes! Are they ridden bareback?

Thank you so much! :D They can be ridden bareback, but there are different back spine variants so it depends. For this I have drawn a couple illustrations!

One of the variants has a single line of spines. They can be either about as long as the ones on the neck, or very short

So here's the short/"nub" version (please just imagine a smoother size transition here lol.) No problem riding on this one bareback. The longer one's going to require a harness.

Another variant is the "double spine" one, where it splits into two rows along the back and then converges back into one somewhere on the tail (if it converges at all)

Technically this could be ridden bareback, but you have to fit yourself between the spines. Otherwise, harness.

This is what I'm envisioning for a harness ~ the spines are very flexible and can be flattened if gentle enough so it can just go right on top.

I also thought it worth mentioning that normally you'd just sit, but Tower (the guy in the other art) has magic wings, so he usually flies along instead

And then when he wants to take a break or whatever he just sort of perches on the back for a sec, like this, but in midair. Sometimes he also stands.