I have been working on this piece for longer than I care to admit. I got sidetracked by a couple of commissions (definitely not complaining!)

At any rate, I started on this piece in December, after I found a great reference photo in a Facebook reference photo community, and I just couldn’t resist the color of this guy! I am not sure I’ll ever see a toucan in person, but after spending several hours with this one, I’ve grown rather attached to him.

I painted this toucan in oil on a canvas panel. I started out with a drawing, then a wash layer, followed by a grisaille layer to lay out the darks and lights. After that was finished, I layer down the background and then got to work on this captivating creature. I like to paint things that invoke mood – and for me, mood is invoked by color. I tend to paint fairly bold for that reason. Muted colors don’t invoke a lot of mood for me, so I like bright colors and moody, dark backgrounds, to contrast each other. I also like to paint creatures – everything from human to reptiles, because of the emotion you can capture in their eyes. This toucan checked all the boxes for me. I’m excited to share him with you!

best,

c.