Toucan & Papaya
This painting is an example of one that was compiled over several years. My experiences and travels to the tropics are something I have been doing for more than 25 years, and each time I go I discover something new and fascinating. Remember that gathering research, experience, sketching, etc. can take a long period of time. A few years ago, I witnessed a group of small aracaris gorging themselves on a papaya tree. After doing a little research, I discovered these birds are related to the toucan, and their bills are specifically designed to dig into the flesh of fruits like papaya. They ingest both the fruit and seeds. This is a very important relationship, because the toucan disperses the papaya seeds for future generations.
I wanted to create a painting of this encounter. I gathered all my photo references and realized I didn’t have enough information for the papaya tree to do an accurate drawing. Luckily, I live in Florida, so I went to a grower and purchased a papaya tree.
After creating a leaf rubbing, I knew that the drawing would need to be large to get all the information in—papaya leaves are huge! I decided to change the bird from an aracari to a toucan, because I had more sketches and photos—including a nice shot of the toucan’s blue feet!
Initial Outline
I transferred the drawing onto watercolor paper with minimal detail. As I redrew the drawing, I added the details and used a variety of Verithin colored pencils to create the outlines. For instance, on the top leaf I used light and dark green pencils to draw the leaf margin and the venation. I used the lighter green in the highlighted areas and the darker green in the shadow areas. I also varied the pressure of the pencil lines to create movement by making the lines thick and thin. Once the entire drawing was refined and the detail added in, I started to add color and form to each segment with watercolor pencils.
Dry Application Followed by Water
I laid the first application of watercolor pencil dry. Keeping my light source in mind, I used light green and dark green to create volume and color. Then I applied water on top to blend.
I continued working from the top of the left side of the leaf downward, varying the amount of pressure and greens, making sure to leave highlights to show the puckering of the leaf.
The Papayas
I added color to the papayas in the same manner as the leaves, starting out dry and then adding water to the paper. This time I used the side of the watercolor pencils, instead of the point, to lay down big areas of color and form, following the surface contour of each papaya. I introduced golden ochre to add interest to the papaya. My reference photos showed a lot of variation in color, and this helped me make each one unique and not compete with the leaf. I used a #10 watercolor brush to apply water—the larger brush size made it easier and faster to achieve a smooth, even wash.
Crinkled Dead Leaf
I wanted to add another leaf to my composition, but I also felt that the amount of green in the painting would be overwhelming. It was just my luck some of the leaves on my papaya tree were yellowing, curling, and turning brown. I modified the leaf drawing to add more curls and ripples. I worked the leaf with the same two greens as the fresh leaf and integrated golden ochre, as well as some brown, to show the leaf is in decline.
Blocking in the Toucan
I worked on the trunk of the tree first, to prepare for starting the toucan. Black can be a tricky color. To give the bird’s feathers sheen, it’s important to leave bright highlights and undertones of blues and purples. The beak of the toucan is brilliantly colored, and it’s important that the colors not collide and create “mud.” The throat and part of the chest is a bright sunny yellow. I started out lightly with the shifts of colors on the bill. I placed the yellow, being sure to leave highlights in place. Then I used the black pencil in the shadow areas, and I placed blues and purples close to the highlight area.
Next I went over the areas, section by section, with clear water, using a smaller round watercolor brush. The color became much more intense with the addition of water.
The Eye: The Window of the Soul
The eye is the most important factor in making a living subject come to life on paper. The highlight in the eye gives life to the subject. Place the highlight in the upper left quadrant of the pupil to create the greatest contrast.
Open Papaya
The inside of the papaya is a beautiful orange color. I wanted to show the “flesh” of the inside, with the seeds exposed and some falling from the fruit to show dispersal. The toucan uses the tip of its beak to jab and tear away chunks of fruit. To show the concave nature of the inside of the fruit, the lighting is opposite with the highlights on the right and not the left. I used a purple pencil to add the shadow areas to create color harmony—this same purple is also in the black feathers. To make the round, black seeds shiny, I started with browns and then added black, making each one a tiny sphere.
Now the initial layers of each area are finished.
Creating Depth & Detail
The next phase is to create greater depth by increasing the form and color variation. To eliminate the texture of the paper, I worked back and forth between watercolor pencils and colored pencils. Using cream, white, and a colorless blender I burnished the color, which eliminates the texture of the paper and blends the colors together.
To make sure the toucan is stable on the tree trunk, I placed a cast shadow on the underside of the foot.
I strengthened the colors in the beak and added color and seeds to the chunk of papaya. Then I gently applied a coat of clear water with a large round watercolor brush horizontally to follow the surface contour of the beak. This intensified the colors, while not bleeding into one another. Next I shaded the inside of the mouth with purple. Note how the tree trunk, papayas, and leaves are now emerging with greater depth from the background to the foreground.
To start strengthening the black, I alternated more layers of blues and purples in the highlighted areas, overlapping areas with the black colored pencil. The outline of the feathers was originally done in colored pencil and is still visible, so I don’t lose the wing configuration.
The area where the rump and tail feathers meet has a small stripe of white feathers that overlap onto the tail. This is difficult to achieve with colored pencil, so I used a white gelly roll fine-tip pen to create overlap.
Wax Bloom
The undertonal colors are emerging through the layers of black. I alternated using Prismacolor black, indigo blue, and purple, burnishing the area with a colorless blender.
As the paper begins to saturate, a hazy cast appears over the illustration. This is called a wax bloom, and it occurs when the wax separates from the color and sits on top.
To eliminate the wax bloom, I bunched up a small piece of paper towel and went across the whole body of the bird in a circular motion, avoiding the white of the paper and the yellow area of the throat. As I applied more layers of colored pencil, I used the paper towel to buff wax bloom as it appeared. I repeated these steps over and over again until all the details were in place. The final painting you see here was scanned on an Epson® Perfection V500 scanner. There were 12 scans that overlapped, due to the size of the paper. I used an automated tool in Adobe® Photoshop® to “stitch” the 12 scans together.
