Start by lightly sketching your biggest shapes, and slowly, still lightly, refine from there. Using this technique with watercolour can be quite loose and still tell the story you are wanting to with less detail.

Use washy layers of paint to build up the colour where you want it.

For the grass, I used a mix of Cerulean Blue with a touch of Hansa Yellow, and using a wide flat brush (about ¾ in/2cm) both flat and on it’s edge, laid in some colour. Repeat where you want a darker look, adding a little more blue or even a little Raw Umber.

The sky is done the same way, but with the flat of the brush, using a mix of Cerulean Blue and Burnt Sienna. Brush it around the foxes where you want it.

For the foxes I used a larger round brush that gets a lovely tip on it, so you can get both soft washes and detail. Mixing Yellow Ochre (use Goethe if you haven’t got Yellow Ochre) and Burnt Sienna, vary the quantities of each that you use so you have areas that are more red, and more pale. Add some Raw Umber and Janes Grey to the mix to get the dark patches on ears and legs.

For their chests and other lighter areas, mix a bit of raw umber and the sky colour, and add to where the shadows are.

To finish, come back in with your graphite, or a coloured pencil, to make those eyes darker and adjust any details. The graphite works beautifully with the watercolour paint. You can add some coloured pencil for some final touches if it calls to you too!