I really struggled with the opacity on my bird's body and the underwing coverts, making it really hard to add texture. I also realized that my lines weren't very good for showing where the middle of the feather was or where the overlaps were, so I kind of went off of what Jane was doing on the bottom wing. But I think with some final touches on the next step it should look pretty good.  

I’m pretty happy with this but suppose I’m too late to add a background.  Ideas?  

My bird so far: Getting there - I had trouble following paint mixture recommendations because my underpainting was too dark.  Also, I went ahead and painted a background because I didn't want to paint over any of my finished bird - my camera didn't capture my hues very well, my colors are more toned down and warmer... I have done watercolor painting before, but am struggling with using the acrylics and water brushes and getting my washes to the right thickness. I will get a nice puddle on the palate, and it sinks down into the sponge underneath - or, if my sponge is too wet, it bleeds water up into the paints, making things run together.  I may try using my ceramic dish for my mixes and leave the straight colors on the stay-wet surface.  I do like how the water brushes stay nice and clean and I don't have to continually dip into a water cup. Question - the paper has a smooth side and a more textured side.  I used the textured side since I am used to more textured cold press paper.  There is no watermark to show the correct side - does anyone know which side we should be using?  I suspect I may be using the wrong side since the paint sinks right into it - there is no way I could scrub out paint that is thrown by the blow dryer. This took me several days - phew!