I proclaim this image finished, but I reserve the right to revisit it and revise. I’m looking at those water splashes the crocs are making. And I might want to highlight the kids better, maybe with a back light. But for now, I feel okay moving on to page 31, which will show the kids standing approaching the massive Monarch Butterfly Sanctuary.
I’m almost done with page 28, except for the eagle. I think he needs some special attention. The Caracara eagle has a colorful beak, which I’ll add tomorrow. Of course, eagles don’t really wear orange vests and sky-blue pants, but in my world, they wear whatever they like.
Moving on to Page 28, I redrew the characters and added some food to the picnic basket. I’m going to give Carlos Crocodile’s eyes more attention —from this down-looking perspective it looks like his right eye is in front of his left eye. I didn’t notice this error until changed the angle his head to point towards the incoming eagle. After I fix his eye I’ll add in the background. I’ll try to finish painting this page tomorrow.
Caracara Eagle Driving a taxi
In Lord of the Rings, J.R.R. Tolkien brought in eagles to save the day only when all hope had been lost for mere mortals. I always makes me wonder, “Why didn’t J.R.R. bring in the eagles at the beginning of the fighting?” On second, thought, if the eagles had come into the story in Chapter One, he wouldn’t have needed to write Chapter Two. In my story I’m not waiting a moment too long — I’m bringing in the eagle in the middle of the book, when the kids need help getting out of a tight squeeze with a gang of churlish alligators.
Coincidentally, the national bird of México is the crested caracara eagle, a beautifully colored bird with intense tropical colors.
