I needed some type of horned beast that had appealing looking horns that could also be seen as demon or demonic. Searched google for Horned Animals and found the Mouflon's horns incredibly compelling. 

Now I needed something to put the horns on. The artwork that inspired me to start this project had the elements illuminated from below. I searched google again but couldn't find what was needed. Decided to take a photo a skull model I have, myself. This is the first attempt at this. 

Overlayed the photo of the Mouflon and the skull to figure out the composition of the demon skull and started the sketch. 

The horn was touching the skull's cheek bone so I started playing around with the angles and height until something satisfactory was found. 

Started the skull sketch but something didn't seem right. When the skull photo was taken I hadn't noticed I had tiled the skull forward. 

Went ahead and took another picture and the skull looked significantly better with the horns. 

Progress of the sketching and mirroring process. Call me lazy but I enjoy symmetry. 

Sketch taking shape. Once the basic idea of the skull had been sketched the modification part started. I wanted something looking angry, malicious, but not too comical or caricaturesque. Starting messing around with the "eye brows" and brow until I found something that looked good. Defined major shadows in order to make it easier and faster to vector. 

Once the main body of the skull was done, the next step were the teeth. The same way I was avoiding something too comical I had to start testing different styles, partly based on the skull model and party modified by me. The first attempt looked too pointy and overly beastly with fangs too small. The second one was too blocky and didn't look natural. Finally settled for the slight more realistic looking curved fangs and human teeth. It feels like a good combination when the goal is to create something demonic. 

The vector process begins and everything is looking great and flowing smoothly thanks to the defined features in the sketching process. Basic Symmetry process is the same as Photoshop. Something not documented but of note is that in this final Vector art screenshot, the frowning brow is overloaded with elements. In the final piece it can be seen how I decided to just merge some of them and completely eliminate others in order to preserve the malicious expression and simplify the design. Looking back now I think this small step ultimately amplified the sensation of pernicious intent in the demon skull's expression. 

Upon deciding on a color scheme the next step was to create a palatable composition around the demon. Recently inspired by circular and symmetrical art I decided to make something that would look like something you'd see in a badge, pin, patch, sticker or other similar accessories. 

The final step was the defining the various factors pertaining to the text. First the phrase. This was chosen because like the main theme and inspiration of the piece was the video game Doom, so was the phrase. It is a direct quote from the game and found it to be appropriate. 

After deciding what it would say, the font had to be selected. This is from personal experience and opinion the hardest part of any project. As can be seen there were three different candidates for the part. Each with a reasoning of its own. The main "feel" I was looking for was something ancient, forgotten and cryptic but still legible of course. First font was some Greek imitating font that felt too stiff. Second was too cryptic and completely illegible. Finally the third and final one somehow felt better than the others. It has a strange Roman aura but also is more rounded in the serifs so it feels rougher than Times New Roman. The font is called High Tower Text and seemed to fit the part. 

However I have to mention that looking a the piece now, it does feel like I could have chosen something more fitting.