Oaxacan Toucan - DONE!

Wing coverts impressed with a stylus.

Primed with Lyra Color-Giants, finished with Prismacolors.

I decided to color in some of the impressed lines on the bill.

Right wing finished!

The ARM-adillo was helpful for keeping wanted colors organized.

My original five Color-Giants are getting smaller and smaller.

11x14 colored pencil on Strathmore Windpower vellum bristol paper
approx. 17.6 hours

The Oaxacan Toucan is DONE! I finished her in time for a small gallery showing on Wednesday; I have large prints ready to sell at RCCC in a couple weeks.

For its size, the Toucan was completed in a shorter amount of time than most of the preceding Oaxacan Animals. The majority are 9x12.

Oaxacan Toucan, Stage 2!

Priming the throat area with Lyra Color-Giants.

Adding more layers with Prismacolor and Derwent Coloursoft pencils.

Throat finished!

Stage 2 complete! This represents almost 8 hours of work.

Closeup of the lower throat and chest.

Side view of my workstation.
Yes, my room is wall-to-wall furniture!

I took two 10-minute videos of me working on the Toucan during this stage. If I can figure out how to process the videos properly for web view (Premiere Elements or QuickTime?), I'll share them here.

The Toucan's wings will comprise Stage 3. I want them to be highly colorful and textured, like the Hummingbird's wings. Stay tuned!

Oaxacan Toucan, Stage 1!

SO. I haven't updated my blog since March 19.

That's criminal. Part of it is the exhaustion of working a retail day job - even though I know that shouldn't be an excuse.

The good news? - I've finally begun the Oaxacan Toucan!

Rough sketch drawn directly on Strathmore vellum bristol paper.

Impressed lines using a stylus.

Prismacolors and Lyra Color-Giants.
Color-Giants are AMAZING for laying down large areas of color fast.

A scrap of printer paper helps keep uncolored areas clean.

I picked up a bunch of pencil grips to help ease pain in my hands.

Priming the final portion of the bill.

Finished eye and bill!

My nighttime workstation!

I found this acrylic thing by a Dumpster at my apartment
complex. Couldn't resist taking it home and cleaning it up!
Works great for all my pencil jars and shavings cup.

Banner made by Heather!

As some of you know, I'm going to share an Artist Alley table at Rose City Comic Con with a good friend of mine. I'll have prints of the Oaxacan Toucan available, along with all of my previous Oaxacan Animals. My goal is to finish the Toucan for a smaller gallery showing on Wednesday, September 2 at The Spritely Bean, a comics cafe run by two of my friends and former classmates. 

I still have a good deal of work cut out for me. But thanks to an out-of-the-blue three-day weekend, I've got a little extra time to prepare!