Heron and the Hummingbird

Native American folklore often describe how a specific animal or place came to be. I found this to be an interesting basis for my illustration thesis, mainly because of the imagery that came to mind as I read these tales.

Last semester I chose to focus on the tale, Heron and the Hummingbird, which is essentially the tale of the tortoise and the hare. 

My idea was to paint these images onto black illustration board, using silhouettes from parts of the board.

As it turned out I had to do a lot more work than anticipated to get the value to contrast against the black. Since I was working with oils, the board kept absorbing the paint and deepening the value. I had to apply extra layer of medium to the board as a result.