California Condor Egg

This is one of the projects I did for Pinnacles National Monument - to illustrate a cross-section of a baby California Condor chick in the egg just before hatching. The style is more graphic so that the chick doesn't look so much like an alien old man!

Here I also show the process steps in its creation, and you can see the main reference they gave me was the x-ray image at the top left, which I studied for many hours and used as a base for the illustration. I had to adjust and rearrange some body parts, like the wing, to show certain features better. I also referenced a ton of other photos for the colors and textures. The process was very long and tedious, but was a fascinating study too.

I'm glad they like it!

Art copyright me. Also property of Pinnacles National Monument. Do not use for any purpose.