• Schmincke soft pastels: 001D White, 005D OrangeDeep, 008D Vanadium yellow light, 021O Pozzuoli earth, 040H Vermilion, 044O Permanent red 3 deep, 045DMadder lake, 045O Madder lake, 050O Purple 2, 099DBlack, 690O Cerulean blue
• Paper: sanded paper, e.g. Pastelmat from Claire fontaine in the size 24 x 30 cm in the colour sienna.
• Pastels pencils: White (Faber Castell Pitt), Plum (Carand'Ache)
• Paper stump 

I started by drawing a light sketch with the white pastel pencil. The benefit of a light sketch is that mistakes can be corrected more easily. You can also erase soft pastels with a kneadable eraser, or you can just leave them as they will be covered laterby darker colours. 

I continued with the feathers, so I simplified the whole area of the neck and the body by dividing them into four main parts. I picked one colour for each part. I start with the most obvious, the lightest value. Whenever you don't know where to start, just look for the lightest and the darkest tones. The rest will goby itself. I chose Pozzuoli earth 021O as the lightest colour and Cerulean blue 690O as the darkest. For the other two parts I used Permanent red 3 deep 044O and Madder lake 045O.

Now I will work on the beak. I used pure Black 099D, Madder lake 045O and Vermilion 040H. I took Vanadium yellow light 008D to fill the eye and to surround it very carefully with Vermilion 040H as it is a tiny area. It is much easier to use pastel pencils for details as they´re much thinner. For instance, I used the black pencil to draw the pupil.

I continued my work on the beak of the flamingo, using a paper stump to get a smooth transition. I chose to add Madder lake 045D to get another variation of colour. This way, it looks more colorful and real. To achieve a little bit of shine as well as some crisp areas on the beak and around the eye, I used 2 coloured pencils: One whitefrom Faber Castell Pitt, and one Plum from Caran d'Ache. I also started to work on the top of the neck, adding light feathers with my Pozzuoli earth 021O strokes.

I used vermilion 040H to add reddish feathers. I pay attention to the movement of my strokes, because I want them to follow the contour of the neck and body of the flamingo. This creates both volume and a feather look. For the rest of the body I use the same colours of my priming coat, but I mix them a little bit on the paper. Only this way I can create a little depth. I now paint smaller strokes, because the feathers of this area are very tiny. I use my fingers to blend everything to make it look smoother. I also use the white pastel to add a white reflection of the eye, which helps to create liveliness.

The flamingo is done! Time for the background: I decided to stay within the pink colour range to have a soft contrast. I chose to use Purple 2 050O and I also added subtle touches of Orange deep next to the head.