first we start with the sketch, it's important to do the main shape of our painting on the center of the canvas before giving details.

to get a realistic effect i guided myself with some photos i took to myself with my cellphone. in this phase i chose to make a simple sketch: an sketch with the basic shapes and details i wnted in my painting, because there was the posibility of changing, sustitute or erase something out of the sketch during the painting process. besides i didn't make this painting with the intention to give it a refined detail but to entertaint myself and enjoy it.

here starts the best(๑>ᴗ<๑)

ok, with the finished sketch and our ideas clear, we are ready to add some color. But wait! not yet, to ease the process of painting and avoid being many days needlesly into it, we use the G+G mix (Galkyd+gamsol) and we cover the whole surface with it, using a big flat brush.

¡now let's go painting! i start with the skin that is being iluminated, i'm looking for a cold skin tone with the help of the radiant blue paint

little by little we start adding more color and defininf some shapes, shadows and lights. I used the cadmium red medium with some G+G that helps to extend the pigment, lightens it and makes it dry faster

this mix must be used carefully, you don't need to dip the whole brush into it, just with the tips of the bristles lightly touching the surface it's more than enough, beacuse the bushes tend to absorb very easily this mix. besides if you constantly dip the whole brush into the mix it will get more and more polluted with the pigment each time, and this affects the paint tones on each use after it

now we go with the deeper shadows, at the beginning it will look and feel out of place, but as we add detail and color to each part this feeling will disappear. As i say before i'm looking for cold skintones in this painting. so i accentuated it more in this shadows by using more radiant blue.

as you can see, the more details we add the better it looks.

this process can come to be frustrating, since painting is something tha requires patience. and sometimes after hours or days of work we just want to finish with it quickly, and with that we stop learning and progressing; we can even end up ruining the painting. that's why is recomendable to take some breaks every now and then. remember the main idea of this is to enjoy it (✿•◡•)

i started using the detail's brush in this part, for the eyelashes, lips and some small and fine things on the face and hands.

and we've come to the final part of this paintig. (i have to admit that i got so into the painting that i forgot to take pictures of the process of the hair and feahers) this phase was mostly refining the paintitng, which takes plenty of patience and sometimes many tries, but it's totally worth it.

and as you can see there's just one more step to finish and is to take off the masking tape, this must be done carefully, if you take it off to harsh or fast it can peel off the paper we are using as canvas, and it will left a bad finish.

for the fine hair strands i dipped the detail's brush on G+G lightly but many times to get a very smooth look, the same for the feathers with the other brushes, mixing paint with the G+G mix helps get a very smooth look.