Step 15: Darken the outer edges of the initial guides to create the shape of the goldfinch's body. Use quick, short strokes on the bottom of the body for the fluffy feathers.

Step 16: Use the thin arc on the lower, left side as guide to draw the goldfinch's tail. Follow the basic path of the guide but make the tail shape thinner as you darken the lines. Add a few more diagonal lines within the shape of the tail for the individual feathers.

Step 17 (optional): Draw a circle made up of small, jagged lines under the feet to give the goldfinch a stick to stand on.

Step 18 (optional): For a cleaner look, erase as much as you can of the initial guide lines. Don't worry about erasing all of the guides. It's okay to leave some behind. Re-draw any final sketch lines that you may have accidentally erased.

Step 19 (optional): Goldfinches are colorful, so instead of the usual shading, try coloring your drawing. Using gray, add some shading to give the drawing more dimension and volume. Pick the direction of the light source so that you draw the shadows consistently. Shadows are generally at the cool end of the color spectrum, so add some blue to the shadows.

Use black for the top part of the head to make this an American goldfinch. Use black on the wing as well but leave a strip near the middle and a section on the tip blank. Goldfinches have a very rich black color on their feathers, so push down hard with your pencil to achieve this.

Use orange lightly on the shadows, feet and beak to further emphasize the shape. Now use some yellow-orange on the shadows and a bit on the goldfinch's body as well. Now add yellow all over the body (except the black sections) and right on top of the shadows as well. Push down hard with the yellow color to blend in all the color on the shadows. You can also continue using brown on the shadows as you add the yellow to further emphasize the shape.

Color the tip and outer edge of the goldfinch's tail black too. Use pink and peach right on top of the previous orange for the feet and beak. Use a bit of brown on the beak and feet as well to emphasize the shadows. Use light and dark brown for the stick.

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