Not the best photo but the beginnings of the composition. I have decided to place the cup to the left in this painting, though there is more to be added above what is seen here.
I will add the flower design on the cup once I have sketched in the rest of the composition.

My next watercolour project is a companion to 'Tea Garden' which features a cup and saucer with a poppy design, in a field of poppies. This one will feature the tibouchina shrub with its violet flowers and a representative cup which I have yet to decide on. I have found a cup with violet flowers on but I don't think that I will ever find one depicting the tibouchina so I will use artistic licence and adapt! The actual shrub can be seen on Saiala Road in East Killara, a suburb of Sydney, where I spent the Easter week with my wife, seen in the photo, and our son and his family.

The completed painting. I wanted the grassy background to be quite loose in contrast to the subject, so that it would not dominate. Straight on to planning my next watercolour which will be a companion to the 'Tea Garden' painting and another in my series of cups in a natural setting. It will be based on the tibouchina  shrub with beautiful purple or pink blooms. Very prevalent in the northern suburbs in Sydney.

A background wash of the sunlit meadow has been added to the rest of the painting with progressive textures to be overlaid on top of this to match the background already completed.
This wash is quite loose, but  texture will be added in layers, using masking fluid, in much the same way as a batik is produced.
I do not want the background to be dominant, but it has to 'ring' true to nature, with its slightly understated tones providing contrast to the strongly focussed tones of the subject.

With the background 'meadow' started the composition is more apparent. There will be little detail in the background as I like the contrast between that and the subject. I shall continue on the right hand side in a similar vein to the top but will border the edge just to the left of the ear edge so that it will feel like it is on the outside of the frame.

The body of the subject is now more apparent with the addition of some background colour. There is more to be added to the body in the way of small dark brown areas, and the bottom brown areas need to have the details added and made darker. The background will have more texture which is applied as a more traditional watercolour wash. I shall mask off some texture before adding slightly darker tones. The darker tones to be added to the background just above the subject will accentuate the sun lit quality of the top of the back.

This update just gives a suggestion of the texture on the rest of the body. A lot of the tones are subtle as it is a majority of white skin, even though there is actually very little white!

The folds of skin are formed because the subject is turned to face me leaving its body in profile. They are more prominent just behind the head. A long process but worth the time!

The body takes form with just the addition of a few strategically placed 'patches'. This is only the background colour, as much of this side of the animal is in shade and is quite dark. Much of the rest of the body will be white, but as it is in shade also, there will be many different tones added to give the hide texture.
My strategy for painting is not the usual 'fill in the background with a wash' technique', but to add small areas at a time, and bring them almost to a conclusion before moving on. Some of these areas are quite tricky with watercolour paints, as it cannot be removed once applied, and painting over is almost impossible so I like to know that I am achieving the effect that I am trying for. In my earlier days of painting using the former method, I made errors that I felt spoiled the painting and so I destroyed them. This doesn't happen so often today as I spend longer thinking about it before I apply the paint to the paper. This technique is not for everyone, but it suits my personality!

I added a little more to the snout 'blaze' and have started the fleshy nose. There is more contrast to be added, and some softening of edges yet to be done which should give a more 'natural' look I have added a few spots of masking fluid, which, once removed, should give the nose a slightly 'wet' look. We shall see if I am successful.