Step 15: Darken the outer edges of the initial guides to create the shape of the body. As you darken the guides, don't overlap the shape of the leg on the right. Use a few short strokes on the right side near the roadrunner's tail for a feathery texture.

Step 16: Darken the top edge of the guide on the right to start drawing the shape of the roadrunner's tail. Inside the shape, draw a few thin, long, horizontal arcs for the individual tail feathers. The feathers should overlap each other a little bit at their base. Darken the bottom edge of the guide using curved lines to finish the bird's tail.

Step 17: 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 you may have accidentally erased.

Final Step: Add some value to the roadrunner's body to give the feathers their distinctive pattern. Use a dark value but leave a few small spots blank for a speckled pattern. The crest shouldn't have the speckled pattern. Leave the patch next to the eye blank. As you add the dark value to the bird's body, make the speckled spots longer so that they become streaks. For a more detailed guide on how to shade, check out this tutorial: How to shade.

Don't overthink it. Just place thin, dark lines on the top half of the roadrunner's body. This can be time- consuming, so be patient and take breaks. For the bird's tail, cover each feather in a dark value except for the edges. Use a very light value for the lower half of the body, the legs and the patch of bare skin to the right of the eye.

Add some shadows to your roadrunner drawing to give it more dimension and volume. Pick the direction of the light source when shading so that the shadows are consistent with it.

Add a cast shadow underneath. This helps to emphasize that the roadrunner is running.

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