Giraffe - Digital Drawing

The goofy look on this giraffe face was what drew me to the picture to draw it. I must say I am not enjoying it as much as I had hoped, but still it is a good exercise in getting back to doing more 'finished' art again.

 I'm using Artrage for this.

Starting with a quick line drawing blocking in major shapes and colour areas.

Blocking the colours  - the reference picture is right next to me.

Next I added the background to help with values.

One can just barely make out the texture of the paint on the background. I used my usual 'recipe' for making dark colours/backgrounds like this : green, blue, red and sometimes a little black.

My custom colour palette.

Adding details to the eyes. I like that I can zoom right in to see exactly what I'm doing. It sure helps prevent eye strain!

 A blend of different colours for the forehead.

This is where I am at now. I've only done some initial colour on the neck, lots more to do there.
I'm working from the head down adding detail.

All I need is a fine audio book to keep me sitting at the computer and this will be done in a few more sittings! (Reference photo is from the Wetcanvas Image Library)