Imagine this ghostly thing moving silently, nearly unseen, through the forest. It is monstrous in size, but its movements are subtle...a tilt of the head, a slight twitch of the ear-feathers...until it opens its beak wide, issues a horrible roar-screech, and crashes through the underbrush at its prey.
Yeah. Grizzowl 01.
I agree, the eyes need that blank stare.One thing I think I should mention is that an owl's eyes are distinctive: they face forward. They have binocular vision. That's part of why the face of owls is adapted to be a big dish, and part of why they look...unnervingly human.
None of the examples (with the possible exception of Grizzowl) have that trait, and I think that is part of what they're lacking. The artist should be placing the eyes in the front of the head, just above the beak, not to the side. Giving us a front-on view of the face also helps establish the owlishness: the discs of the "track 2" owlbear make more sense in front of the face than to the side.
My favorite rendition of the owlbear is the one in the Everquest games. For me, this is what an owlbear looks like, no matter what the Monster Manual says:
Female owlbear - EQ2i, the EverQuest 2 Wiki - Quests, guides, mobs, npcs, and more
Unfortunately, there aren't any big shots of owlbears that I've found.
I actually have all the EQRPG books, but no scanner with which to digitize any of the images contained within.There is a picture in the Swords and Sorcery Luclin Bestiary I particularly like, although hunting down that book for one picture may be a mistake.