CASSOWARY, PART 3

Here most of the neck has been worked on but I still have to finish some of the finer details therein. I have also laid in the under layers of black for the plumage - this will be finished off when the paint has dried. I think at this point, I'll go to work on the background. Doing so will totally eliminate what is there now and I should better be able to bring into focus the head of the bird. I'll finish up by adding the final details to the Cassowary such as the fine hairs and feather barbs etc.

CASSOWARY, PART 2

Normally I would paint in the background first but decided with this painting to complete the whole bird portrait first. It would mean painting around the image later on but it seemed to be relatively straightforward. I do like the warm yellowish overall tone already there but have to paint over the underlying image so will probably put in something more subdued - which I hope will better bring out the bird's colors.
After adding the pale greyish tones of the head, it was fun then to use a brighter blue for the chin and neck. The 'horn' was completed with greys, browns and a little black then I used some of this leftover paint to create texture and wrinkles around the head, working wet-into-wet to blend everything in. The area of the hind neck has more detail so will probably take a little longer to finish - I don't want to rush this area as it's a bit complicated.