The San Diego Zoo Murals – Part Twenty Eight

Here’s a close-up of the tarantula (Aphonopelma).

I also completed the painting of the western black vulture (Coragyps occidentalis). I grayed it down considerably from the rest of the birds of prey in flight to place it more in the distance. I made a series of controlled scratches with the back end of my brush to evoke the flight feather quills of the bird.

The value of the American cheetah (Miracinonyx inexpectatus) was equal to the values ov the foreground animals, so I knew I had to change it to convey the illusion of distance I desired. I took some of the sky color and used it on top of the cheetah so that it looks like the cheetah’s coat is reflecting the sky. This also lightened the animal in relation to the other creatures, my main goal in this touch-up.

I worked some more on the reflections as well as the mud surrounding the pond. I also did substantial work on the middle third’s landscape. I glazed a pale wash of ultramarine blue over the bobcat (Lynx rufus) so that it would feel more like a part of the deep foreground mass. Except for the dark areas at the bottom of the canvas, the left and middle thirds are pretty much finished. Above is the middle third as it looked when I knocked off last night.

I don’t know if I can make this goal, but my current objective is to finish the right third today (and all of the bottom dark areas) and spend tomorrow just doing about a hundred little retouches before taking it to my photographer to be professionally shot (all the shots posted on this site were just quick snaps taken with my little digital camera).