WIP - Wildlife Illustration: Roadrunner - Looking for feedback

[Francisco Varela]

I'm working on a series of drawings themed around the local wildlife here in AZ. The stylistic intent behind this series is to make a loose and almost painterly under-sketch with black and white lines used to define shapes and highlights, similar to a charcoal drawing. The first animal I'm tackling is the Greater Roadrunner. I consider the underlying sketch for the most part complete, but there's always room for improvement.

I would greatly appreciate feedback on composition and shape. I'd also like to hear any thoughts on the stylistic approach I'm taking.

Thank you for reading and for any feedback!

-Francisco V.

Here is the underlying sketch of the Roadrunner.

Here is a the sketch with some lines and tonal areas to better define the features.

[chrisaakins]

@Francisco-Varela I love this! You might want to go in with a white charcoal afterwards to brighten your highkights even more. Good job on the expressiveness while maintaining realism. This is right up my alley.

[Francisco Varela]

@chrisaakins Thank you! I will certainly keep this in mind. Right now I'm picturing the light source coming from the top right of the image, so the top of the beak and the crest feathers are places I can go over with white charcoal. Thanks again for the feedback!