"Baby Talk" watercolor painting work in progress

How it is done.

or, how I do it anyway.

"Baby Talk" 10x13" watercolor 

OK so I forgot to take the first picture, So lets just pretend that there is a pencil sketch of the birds here.

  I usually put the first layer of the background first, so here it is. Don't worry, it will have more layers of color before it is finished.

 I begin shadows on the subject, here I usually use lots of indigo, for living creatures I also use reds.

 I begin to add color to the subject. I also begin the eyes at this point so I can work on the expression.

Now the painting is almost finished, all that is left is the little details, darken a few shadows, scratch out some highlights.

 Finished painting.