Thank you! Some of these early doodlings still make me cringe a bit since I can see so many gears I entirely faked (rather than "mostly" faked), but there is definitely a nice progression that happened after this early "building block." 
Thanks for taking the time to comment! I only just returned to DA so I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things here.
Thanks for taking the time to comment! I only just returned to DA so I'm still trying to get back into the swing of things here.
Faking complicated mechanical bits is a long-used and cherished technique in fantasy and scifi art. As far as I'm concerned as long as the mechanism doesn't appear to be falling apart or nonfunctional it's completely legit. 
I have a bad track record with comments on DA myself; I'm just starting to make more of an effort to reply to everyone I can.
I have a bad track record with comments on DA myself; I'm just starting to make more of an effort to reply to everyone I can.
Very true about the mechanical bits. I think the one part I reworked loads of times on the final color piece was the wing-flapping gears. It drove me crazy trying to make sure it looked like they could rotate in a way that might VAGUELY give him lift (it still probably wouldn't, but better it make it look like he can hap-haphazardly flap than not flap at all!).
And yeah, I hear you on the comments... I am still trying to work through the bulk of them from 2005 onward and the amount of time it's taking is ridiculous. >_<
I think the one part I reworked loads of times on the final color piece was the wing-flapping gears. It drove me crazy trying to make sure it looked like they could rotate in a way that might VAGUELY give him lift (it still probably wouldn't, but better it make it look like he can hap-haphazardly flap than not flap at all!).And yeah, I hear you on the comments... I am still trying to work through the bulk of them from 2005 onward and the amount of time it's taking is ridiculous. >_<