THIS ended up being super close to the final version (yes I finished the art to buy him!) I just did the hokey-pokey with the wing color channels so they'd stop doing that eye-bending smudge-out in the middle of the gradient transition. This fix took me three hours and multiple passes because my brain strong like peanut. BUT I DID IT and he's in line to become a real boy! I am infinitely pleased.
BONUS view of the layer situation because it was getting pretty dire by hour three (this is not all of it):
Look, we just have to be grateful that I consistently name layers. Deleting ones I'm not using anymore is a stretch goal we can't rely on.
