Yesterday I posted some sketches of roosters.  
In that posting I had commented that these studies were an upcoming piece. Well here are some more development sketches for it.
 
The Cockatrice like many mythical beings has a somewhat convoluted history to it. Sometimes it’s referred to as a Basilisk, or is claimed to be related to it. A Cockatrice is supposedly born from an egg laid by a cock and then cared for by either a toad or a snake. If you believe some of the literature out there. One of my roommates commented that he wondered whether so many of these monster were so mean-spirited because they came from messed up parents or totally broken homes.