It's a little of one and a lot of the other.
What I did was drew an eagle over transfer tape, cut out the inside, lightly freehanded
the basic details, the eye, beak and some feathers. Then removed the mask and continued with freehand work. All in all it took about an hour and a half to do. Then continued with the candy process made from oriental toner and SG-100.
Thanks again for the compliment, it's always nice to hear positive remarks about ones work. It's what drives all of us painters, am I right?