Painting watercolor portrait by layering each primary color allows for a better control of edges and tones and makes that challenging subject easier to handle.

Step by Step watercolor layering Demonstration : Profile Portrait of Sophie

This is my drawing on the watercolor paper, I did my original drawing on newsprint and then transferred it on the watercolor paper.I did a contour drawing but also tried to mark places where color was changing.

This is my yellow layer, with two types of yellows. Yellow ocher will work better for the skin tones here and then Cadmium yellow in the background.

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This is my red layer. As with the yellows I am using two types of red, referring to my picture to see where the reds seem more orange or more pink.

With the blue layer, I tried to go very light as it can quickly become too much. I have also two blues, a cooler Prussian blue and a warmer ultramarine. I used the ultramarine for the areas in the shade and the Prussian blue closer to the highlighted areas.

Profile portrait of Sophie

This is the finished painting, I made some corrections and added a gouache background.