This was a creature concept for a design challenge on CG Hub. Participants were supposed to pick a Greek mythological creature and update it in some new way. The creature I chose is called a stymphalian bird. These birds belonged to Aries, had beaks made of bronze and metallic razor sharp feathers that they could launch at victims. I chose to stay away from the metallic aspect of the birds and tried to design them as if they could have potentially existed at one point in history. I thought, what if the ancient Greeks were actually running into some type of monstrous bird and simply exaggerated their description in order to communicate the fear they felt when they saw it. Using this idea as a base I set about creating my birds. I decided that they would be a type of terror bird, a group of large, predatory flightless birds that lived during the Cenozoic era. The stymphalian birds are scavengers standing nearly 12 feet tall. They have large hard beaks capable of crushing bone and razor sharp tallons on their feet as well as their wings which still closely resemble the arms of their raptor ancestors. They would have often been seen feeding on the bodies of fallen warriors after a battle thus becoming associated with Aries the god of war. Artwork © Raul Ramos All Rights Reserved
