She begins to glow

I didn't get as far as I would have liked, but my head wasn't quite in it today, so instead of doing anything creative I just made a few logical adjustments and started to add a bit more color. I had to remind myself that the feathers are going to begin to look like flames soon, so I needed to stop being so fussy. I have to say, I was a bit scared to tackle this, and though it's never going to win any prizes for skill or originality, it's talking to me. I'm more pleased than I thought I would be over this.

So, we left off here:

and today we're here:

Phoenix Progress

I almost goofed. I gave the tree and the ocean a bit more depth with some stronger contrast, and I darkened the inner window sill a bit. Not sure if I should darken it more or not. Assuming it's yellow on the outside as well, I think perhaps it's dark enough because the sun is fairly high in the sky and to the right a little, so while the right edge would be in shadow, it might not be in deep shadow because the sun would also be reflecting off of all that sand. It's hard to know when you're making it up as you go along. I'll have to see if I can dig up a reference photo to help.

When we left it:

Today:

So anyway, then came where I nearly messed up big time. I forgot I'd intended to raise the wings a little and started painting over the bird as it was. But then I realized it and was able to change it. I'll have to rework the water again because even though I sat down and drew out a quick sketch from my reference photos, I covered too much of the water when I set about painting the raised wings. I had to mix white in with the paint to help cover over the blue and the brown, so though I'd hoped to get into some bright colors today, I can't until it dries a little. I really wanted to get further along with this today, but oh, well.