step 1  I have created the sketch, I used a photo of my daughter posing with a shovel in the yard, making our neighbors wonder about us! (sorry, she made me promise not to show the photo!)  I have dried leaves that I collected from the yard to use as reference as well.  

step2   Now I coat all the areas that I want to remain white with a product called Miskit, it is the consistency of thin rubber cement.  As I wait for it to dry, I add my magical herbs to a teaball and make an infusion: pumpkin rind, ginger, rusty mums, pomegranate, & cinnamon

step3  Now the paint (watercolor in this case) is mixed with the herbal infusion and applied to the illustration board.  In this way I can render the sky and other background, later more detail will be added.  Notice how the Miskit  repels the paint? Just wait, it gets better!

step 4  Ahhh, fun! When the paint is all dry (waiting is the hardest part) I start with an eraser on the edges and peel off the Miskit leaving the clean sketch beneath!  Talk about magic!

step5   Now I get to work the pencils!  I use Berol Prismacolor colored pencils and start working in the figure.  I do shadowed areas first, and layer the lighter shades over the top.  Everything is born from darkness!

step 6  The pencil creates layers very nicely over the top of my herb infused paint allowing me to add more detail and vibrant color! Occasionally I will layer a very thin wash of the paint over the pencil and then more pencil over that upon drying.

step 7  I continue working the pencils adding more and more detail, building up the layers.  She is really coming to life now!  The pumpkins become more vibrant, develop more form and detail.

Now she is complete!  She bursts to life as she soars over the pumpkins on her wildflower broom!  Now I need to scan her and get her on the website for you to see!  I hope you like her!

Here is a detail view of the work as it was in progress. This is pretty close to full size.

Yes, the pencil sharpener is my friend!