I typically begin my designs as pencil sketches in a small sketchbook; this gives me the freedom to intuitively rough in shapes and play with different elements until I feel satisfied. Annie looked over my first draft and requested that I change the position of some of the talons; the sketch shown below is the result. Once the sketch was finalized, I vectorized the drawing. I then was able to see the finished piece mirrored for left and right sides, at which point I decided to incorporate some additional symbolic themes in the  center as a presentational flourish, and to create a desert atmosphere for the piece. This development of the desert theme led naturally to the palette, which was developed in conjunction with Annie.