Oaxacan Octopus, Stage 5 DONE!

^ Remaining markings penciled in. Deciding which patterns

and colors to use is more difficult than coloring itself! 

 ^ Pulling back to show how I've masked other areas.

^ I begin by coloring the teardrops with gradated colors. 

^ Working on the pattern strip above the teardrops. 

^ Purple areas primed... 

^ ...and painted. 

^ Teardrop 'frames' colored. 

^ Moving on to the pattern that continues from the tentacles. 

^ Inner areas painted. 

^ Differences between primed and painted areas. 

 ^ Primed balloon shapes.

^ Priming continued; far right painted. 

^ Balloon shapes fully painted. 

^ Beginning to prime the final sections. 

^ Closeup of Crimson Red vs. Magenta. 

^ Next section partially primed. 

^ I buff sections of the Octopus at a time while removing

the Post-It Notes. Notice how shiny the colored pencil becomes.

^ The Oaxacan Octopus is DONE!

Approximately 12 hours of work spread over 8 days on-and-off. I listened to a bunch of music to help me focus, including Massive Attack, Moby, Goldfrapp, Emiliana Torrini, and The Smashing Pumpkins.

Thank you to everyone who has followed the Oaxactopus's progress!

Oaxacan Octopus, Stage 4!

^ New spade shapes penciled in with Col-Erase. 

^ Spade shapes outlined with Verithins. 

^ All spades outlined! 

 ^ Spades colored in similarly to eyes stripes.

^ Closeup on spades; more markings penciled in. 

^ Same markings on other tentacles. 

^ In-progress view: Apple Green applied, followed by Yellow Chartreuse.

^ Stripes finished. 

^ Blues primed in; Navy Blue painted in along zig-zag border. 

^ Up-to-date look at the Oaxacan Octopus!

I don't have a lot left to color at this point; just have to decide what patterns I want to use to finish this guy.

Oaxacan Octopus, Stage 3!

^ I begin patterning the first tentacle: spots! 

^ I decide on seven spots per tentacle. The remainder is colored as well. 

^ Pulling back to show my progress. Two down, four to go! 

^ I color in between the sucker pads. 

^ Spots added to two more tentacles. 

^ Spots colored; remainder slowly gains color. 

^ I apply Canary Yellow and Yellowed Orange as I go down the tentacle. 

^ I stop with Yellowed Orange before removing the artist tape and Post-It Notes. 

^ Three down, three to go! 

^ The sucker pads get a complementary priming layer. 

^ Green sucker pads on purple = yes. 

^ I add the sixth tentacle's spots. 

^ Singled out with Post-Its and artist tape. 

^ Yellow Chartreuse added around spots. 

 ^ I color around each spot, progressing with Yellow Chartreuse, Canary Yellow, Yellowed Orange, Orange, Red Orange, Crimson Red, and Raspberry (see below).

^ The Oaxactopus at its current state!

Stage 3 spanned roughly 3 hours, 22 minutes; I worked on and off throughout the day, taking breaks to rest my hand. It's filling out again, but my thumb got to the soreness point of staying indented when I pressed on it.

Oaxacan Octopus, Stage 2!

^ Eye stripes primed... 

^ ...and painted. 

^ Remaining spaces filled with gradated colors. 

^ Next section primed. 

^ Next pattern outlined. 

^ Scalloped pattern colored. 

^ The "Oaxactopus" up-to-date.