Description
on my tumblr
I'll explain it here because I didn't want to write on the drawings.
before starting, I'd suggest either stretching out your watercolour paper (google it. there are a few videos that can really help) or buying a block of watercolour paper that is sealed on the sides so it's sort of pre-stretch already. This way, the paper will not ripple when there's water on it...well, not as much, and it often dries very flat, unless you went crazy with your water.
1. First, I sketch out the composition on a separate piece of paper because when I start an initial sketch I tend to erase a lot (you can see the little pencil marks left still), and erasing can ruin the watercolour paper.
2. once i'm sure what I'm going to draw, I copied these onto watercolor paper using light 3H pencil. Tread lightly or else it's easy to damage the surface of the paper with too much erasing and tampering.
3. I paint the background first. I didn't use any masking fluid, so I had to be really careful around the edges. Putting more water down when marking out the edges can ensure that it won't dry when you're done one section, because if it dries, it's hard to give it that fluid look, and watercolour can often end up looking like it's in patches. Water control is really important here. Make sure you keep a tissue with you.
4. I continued this in the morning so the colours are a little different here. sorry there's a big jump here; I forgot to take pictures -_-; But to recap, I did her hair first and then her skin, and then the darker parts of the octopus legs and finally the fish.
5. I started with the hair here, but it's really up to you which part to start first. Just remember that watercolour is translucent so if you think "oh, i can paint the skin into the hair i'll just cover it up with a darker colour later", sometimes it'll still show up even if you've covered it, because anything other than pitch black is still a bit translucent. So be careful at all times. +_+
6. Coloured the rest of her body. Like I mentioned before, adding a dab of really light blue, and by light, i mean using a lot of water to dilute it first but then dab it on a tissue paper so your brush isn't soaked in water, and add it to the shading of the skin can bring out the suppleness of the skin, I find.
7. I waited for the tail to finish drying, and then added another layer that leaves scale-tones from the previous paint-over. I also added shading for the hair and more strands for hair.
8. took some white and added some bubble effect for that underwater look 
. The last step is that I take off the tape that makes sure that everything is neat and square cause i like it that way. I just used those paper-tape, although I kind of made sure I ran my hand over the sticky part just so it won't be as sticky and take of part of the paper when I remove it (which happened before "orz)
I'm disabling comments here because I'm a little busy nowadays, but if you have any questions, feel free to note me - it might take a little bit for me to reply, but at least it won't be pushed back like my comments are 
Finished product:
my watercolour tips/tutorial:
Qinni — Little Mermaid - Walkthrough
