American Purple Gallinule

Who knows what an American Purple Gallinule is?  Wait for it....a bird.  So yes, yet one more bird painting is underway.  From Elke's and my travels to Ecuador this summer we returned with some pictures of a pretty cool bird we saw up close in the Ecuadorean Amazon.  The APG is a bird that is found in southeast United States and as far south as Central and South America.  Neither of us had ever seen this bird before.  And what a great bird it is.  About the size of a chicken, the APG is found in swamps, ponds, and lagoons.  It's feet and legs oversized for its body and are perfect for standing on large lily pads and water vegetation.  Its feathers are a beautiful blue, green, aqua blend.  And its beak, well, its a big candy corn of striped white, orange, and yellow.
Today I layed out the painting, and blocked in the initial background colors.  I'll return in a few days with the background hopefully pretty much intact. 
Mark