I don't mean to muddy the waters for you, but consider the folklore of items too. The Italian corno portafortuna or il cornuto charms my grandmother used to wear for example. Or the Ark of the Covenant or Holy Grail. All sorts of options that aren't a creature. If you want to stand out that is...
Viewing post in How do you all cope with 'Freezing creatively'
Honestly I second this Nell, a simple Artifact can be made in an afternoon. I'd be more than happy to help. I've always been better at collaborating with others to help them than finishing my own projects, and since I've at least got something out (which people have been very kind about.) I've got room to help out :)
Frustrated at my rusty art skills as I've been practicing writing for the past half a year now. After deciding I have no idea how to draw a bird that I'm satisfied with, I think I'm switching to a more humanoid folklore creature. I'm much better at drawing mammals. I'm thinking currently of trying out Tuesday's Demon, as I wanted to include a short scene or scenario as well as statistics and picture. My backup is a Plague Maiden.
I do not own a scanner and was planning on using a friend's, if anyone knows any tips to reduce shine when taking a photograph of a drawing, if the scanner thing flops.
Ah I get your frustration. Have you thought about looking for Open Domain art that might work? It's what I did for The Thirteenth Damned Son. I can point you towards some things.
I wish I could help with suggestions, besides use heavy Ink lines, good lighting, and no flash; and up the contrast when you have it on your image editor, it should make it easier to take and edit in a program like Gimp.
I am a master at Gimp and went to collage for graphic design. I just drew a version of Tuesdays Demon that im pretty happy with after about 3 hours of work. I can only really draw humans at lever 5 skill, and alot of folklore creatures are animals with wild biology. I never really use ink in my drawings (Tuesdays Demon is done is Artist's Pencils) unless im drawing in a cartoon style, as im much better at shading that at cross hatching (even if i think cross hatching often looks cooler). Ill try to snap a good picture with no flash and a bunch of soft lights, thanks for that. Im sure I can adjust the levels in Gimp to get it natural looking. Thanks.
anyone reading later feel free to look at my old art here https://imgur.com/user/NellTullDisturbingArt