Starting with my favourite colour - [Blue]

Hi friends, I actually don't draw/paint regularly... recently I did a painting totally in Blue - my favourite colour. I just wanted to pin it on my office desk. After I am done with the whole thing, I got an idea of writing a blog on the drawings and paintings that I am doing. Though I am not a very good painter to take drawing lessons, this blog would be more like how I am working.
My first post, this one, won't be too descriptive because I am going to show you just the final painting. You can expect more detailed explanation of how I am drawing/painting from the next post.
Here it goes...
Necessary items:
White Chart (I prefer a thick one)
Apsara HB pencil
Apasara non-dust eraser
A soft cloth (which can absorb water well)
Water
A pad to mix colors (a porcelain saucer or a small steel plate will also do)
Brushes I used:
Jayna [#5] flat - series 51 (for backgrounds)
Jayna [#3] round - series 51 (for colouring detailed pictures, #2 will also do)
Mayur [#0] round - series 007 (for highlighting and borders)
(I prefer Jayna brushes because they are of good quality, not so soft, not so hard, they have brilliant tips which can sustain rough use)
Colors I used for this painting:
Camlin Artica water color tubes (this is actually for students)
075 Chinese White (1)
351 Prussian Blue (31)
056 Cobalt Blue Hue (32)
207 Ivory Black (2)
(Did I tell that I am using all blue combinations in this painting?)
How to start?
We always get the sheet rolled. First make it flat by rolling on the other side. Whatever drawing/painting it is, I prefer to do it on the rough side of the sheet... reason? it absorbs the water colors and doesn't flow on the sheet... we get good shades on the rough side... even while doing pencil shading I prefer the rough side.
Especially when I am painting, I draw the outlines, figures everything very lightly. Because after painting the whole thing, those lines should not be seen. My policy, never start anything with the background colouring. I painted the stems and birds with #3 round brush. Here, I painted stems first with a mix of cobalt blue and chinese white. It looked totally plain without any other shades. Then I mixed it with prussian blue (very dark) and gave few touch ups on the stems. I didnot use black in the middle of the painting. Once you use black, you cant change its colour even you mix it with any colour. So, I used black at the end.
Then I worked on the birds. If some part of the bird is white, don't leave it like that because the paper is white. Instead, paint it white. I mixed a tinge of black in the white to show the depth of feathers. Donot paint it plain, give gentle touch ups with the brush to make it look like feathers.
Now, its time to do the background work. I mixed 1:5 cobalt blue in chinese white to paint the background. I used #5 flat brush. Donot scribble with the brush. Follow one direction to paint the background as it is sky. I painted it in horizontal direction with different intensity of the same mix to make it look like sky. Be extremely careful while painting the area near birds and stems. Use #2 or #3 round brush if you have no practice of using a big flat brush.
After this is done, use #0 brush to highlight the birds and stems with ivory black. The background should be light and the birds/stems should look bright. Take your time to highlight them carefully. Be extremely careful while using black. Use a soft cloth incase of blotting. Keep the painting in a dry place until the colours settle. Thats it...