After doing some quick research, I felt that the Zoo might be right in considering the straight bill on the flamingo (Phoenicopterus minutus) to be older than the Pleistocene. I changed it, but didn’t give it quite a modern flamingo bill; I gave it the slightly different curve of another flamingo from that time.
Not painting the American coots (Fulica americana) would have left a big hole, not only in the pond but in the storytelling (they’re swimming away from that saber-tooth).
After painting out the other nine birds in the sky (to help me meet my deadline) I had intended to paint, for similar reasons I decided I had to at least include the western black vulture (Coragyps occidentalis). It will only take a few minutes today to finish it.
I smoothed out the painting of a lot of the water and started to clean up the tapir‘s (Tapirus) reflection.
After paying more attention to the distant hills and mountains (I propped up both paintings on their side, side-by-side, so that I could match the geological contours of the modern mural), I also began to fill in the plants.
Here’s how the middle third looks at this point (click on this or any of the other images to make them larger):
Oh — I also painted in that tarantula (Aphonopelma) to the left of the fox. I painted some on the right hand third (mostly matching the two landscapes) as well. I hope to finish this second third today.
I love the color variation in the water particularly, and how it helps give even more dimension to the animals. I did a quick pasteup to see the full painting. Quite impressive in its totality, as well as its individual elements.