To get to the final painting I work in my darkest darks using staining colors. The eyes are worked on with extra care and time since this is a natural focus for the viewer. I work in more indigo and ultramarine blue throughout the head for darks. The background is done last using about 5 layers of transitions from indigo and permanent carmine at the bottom left up to Phalo Blue (green shade) at the top right. Each layer is done wet into wet and allowed to dry before the next one goes on. The lighter stripe behind the head is lifted with a thirsty brush before the layers are dry. I put the painting away for a few days and looked at it with a fresh eye. Once I felt there was nothing left to do it was signed and shipped!