I stopped drawing on some watercolor papers with a pencil since I realized erasing the pencil lines was responsible for me having problems with those brand paper. Erasing can sometimes burnish paper and make burnished areas more water resistant. Sometimes it can tear surfaces on the more delicate papers
I draw as I go with very light watercolors to map out areas. I am not pressured to copy the reference exactly so the dimensions I just approximate.
Starting with the focal point, I used very light washes and dropped in colors for my base layer. Colors used were permanent rose, cobalt blue, cobalt turquoise, sap green and Winsor yellow.