This is a watercolor portrait painting, in the same series as :

Drawing on my notebook works better with my lucky hat on, watercolor on paper

Tales of a lucky hat – Watercolor portrait painting demonstration with time lapse video

I painted this portrait by layering colors, waiting for the paint to dry in between layers. If you want a quick outline of the process you can watch the accelerated movie at the end of this post, if you want more technical details, I did write a demo here:

My drawing on Arches watercolor paper hot press 140 lb

I start by painting with blue ultramarine. I have my painting at a 30 degree angle so the paint will slide down on the paper but can still be controlled.

Now I start painting with Yellow ocher, I like this color for skin tones.

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Yarka St. Petersburg Professional Watercolor Pans Same palette of traditional colors the great masters used a century ago. Liquid-poured means semi-moist pans respond instantly to a wet brush. 24 pans in plastic case. Also individual pans. – Master Set

Still working on the yellow ocher layer, I let some drips fall down the paper.

Now I start adding red and various colors, I also brush off some paint in areas I want lighter with a stiff brush and lots of water.

.I paint the background with a watery mix of gouache and prussian blue watercolor.

I then splash with water and diluted watercolor. I remove unwanted stains with a tissue paper.

Tales of a lucky hat, watercolor and gouache on paper

And here is the movie, a few days of painting in just 3 minutes!!