Triumphant - Osprey Color Pencil WIP

Well back at work on the lower section of the tail, this is where there are a lot of patterns and also a lot of stringy (am sure that is not the technical name) feathers that look soft and hang down.  Tried to get the pattern of these by negative drawing.  This is an important tool that I definitely need to practice more on.  With this level of detail I find myself getting pretty tight and do take a lot of breaks. 
I probably am going to have to darken up the under belly, but wanted to wait to get the other leg in and develop the under the wing feathers on the right side before I darken too much.  I find it is difficult, when there is so much white on the paper, to determine how much to darken until the end.   The color adds so much that it might be correct just with the faintest of featherwork that I already have.   So am taking the sage advice to just kind of block it in and then wait (hmmm, think that smacks of patience) until I can better judge the values.  I think I am also going to really have to tame down the blue sky because it seems to me that it is pulling the eye too much, again though, I better wait until I get the main character done and then evaluate because that pop of color might be what really adds some drama to the bird coloration.
Now I kind of have a tickleish situation to deal with.  In the right claw there is a fish, that IRL is pretty bloodied and torn up - well let's face it folks, this is dinner.  I think that I am going to take the road of making it look more like a fish, but not so gruesome as it really is, maybe just a hit of red here or there.   So "they" say, a little red somewhere in every picture is desirable as it adds a spark. 
Thanks much for stopping by and hope you are starting your week off great.