Step by Step

Here is a progression of the Heron drawing to date. So far, I estimate I have put in about 20 hours on this drawing. You will begin to notice that the look and feel of the image begins to deviate significantly from the photo and takes on a life of its own. There are several effects I wanted to capture, though; the bright sunlight shining through the vegetation and the smooth, reflective surface of the water. Lastly, herons are voracious fishers/hunters and I wanted to show this bird in action. I had several other photos, with different angles, different body positions and different lighting, but this one captured best all of the items above. (Click on any of the images to enlarge it)