Very Hungry Toucan

Taylor Cantera

The Very Hungry Toucan was painted by 10 year old, Long Beach community member Taylor Cantera. Taylor was mentored by Andrea James as they worked together to expand Taylor’s original toucan drawing to extend to all four panels. He envisioned that his toucan would be sitting in a tree surrounded by leaves. He wanted to make sure it was very bright, colorful, and happy. Taylor also wanted to put a plate of fruit on top of the box that was filled with fruits for his bird to eat. The Very Hungry Toucan has a full belly from all the fruits and flowers he enjoyed. Taylor learned the steps of enlarging and transferring his image to the box, choosing his color palette, painting multiple coats of paint, and doing final details with blending on the wings and beak of his toucan. His imagination is vivid, and will continue to change the world with his art.