Now that I have color direction for the painting I will start to paint the face. I'll start with the eyes then followed by the rest of her face. After I get the basic silhouette of the face I leave it be for a while and continue to paint the rest of the body. Detailing is normally done at the final stage. For now I just want to fill colors and get correct shades.
I work with layers because it gives me control over the objects I am coloring. Separate layer for shadows, for highlights, for characters and for background.