I begin with a toned cotton or linen canvas or panel.  After setting down markings, where the size of the head, body, arms, etc. will go (like a map), I next sketch in the figure using simple large shapes, making sure I mark where the facial features will be, measuring with a paint brush or carefully by sight for accurate distances between the features.  The next step is to lay down the darks and the lights, where the shadows will be and where the light falls on the figure.  When I’m satisfied my drawing is correct, I follow with the of skin tones and clothing color always paying attention to color relationships.  Details are left for the end, kind of the icing on the cake.  Hopefully, I will end up with a very satisfying painting as with A Young Girl Reading, after Jean-Honore Fragonard, in preparation for the Copyist Program at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.