Starting with a sketch in white charcoal, I mapped out which leaves would be staying from the photo, and which were to be left out for composition purposes. (Your eyes are fine - the photo is blurry). I've just started to add the dark red-violet for the branches.

The little bird is nervously perched watching the photographer. Is he well hidden enough by the leaves, or does he need to flee? It's important for the feel of the painting that some leaves are in front of the bird to create a "window" to peek through. Here I've started to colour the leaves and create a background.

You can see the process of refining by comparing the branches in the previous image to the ones in this image. Our little bird is starting to emerge from the background by being placed against the light greens, yellows and purples, while he stays hidden in the shadows (he hopes!). I've been avoiding working on the scarey leaves by focussing on the bird, where I'm more confident. I need to get brave and tackle that foliage.

Now I'm starting to get control over those scarey leaves. I hear my teacher's words echoing in my ears "trees are not green". By which she means, find the other colours - you can see there is a lot of blue and yellow and yes, even purple reflected on the leaves' surfaces. Try it yourself one day, look at a tree, squint, and see if you can see all those other colours.

Finished! I haven't completely conquered my "leaf phobia" yet, but I think this painting has gone a ways to helping me get there.