Practice

This has been a two-day effort--yesterday and today--and is based on a painting from what I believe was done by Fra Filippo Lippi in the 15th century.  The problem with the source is that there is only one person having posted a photo of it to Pinterest, and I can't find a legitimate source for it anywhere on the internet beyond that.  That said, it appears to be close in style to what Lippi may have done.  Regardless I really like the image.

The entire drawing was done with mechanical pencil (HB lead).  The scarf lines were colored over with Signo White Pen, because I found that the pen ink acts as a resist to the watercolor, so it would show through after painting over the lines. 

The hardest part was the scarf portion behind her that is the darkest part at the bottom of her face.  I used one watercolor for dark lines when painting it, and that color wouldn't blend after being applied.  So, the area had to be camouflaged to look more believable and fit in, even though it isn't the focus.  The scarf at the top could use more shading to show dark areas, but I'm leaving it be for now.  It has a serene feel, in any case.