Today’s post is for the beginner and intermediate watercolor painters out there who are working in typical Western style. (I love Zen Buddhist and Andrew Wyeth works that are light and airy. But not for this painting.)

Compare the red section of my painting with the pink, green and gray portions. The latter three look flat and boring. The red section has more interest because there is depth and richer color. Our minds crave patterns and detail. The green and gray sections have a single layer of color called underglaze. For interest I will add several more color variations and brighter intensity to draw interest. (I blotted the green with a napkin to make it less flat looking. The gray section has already had green added to the black.) I actually started adding shading to the pink section, yet it still looks washed out and flat. It also needs more color intensity. As I progress, I hope you will see all these colors become more alive. Inexperienced watercolor people see: the sky is blue with white clouds, the grass is green, water blue, skin is pink or brown, etc. That is just not true. Almost every color you see is a combination of colors. There are many tricks to make the pigment more interesting: water drops, salt, alcohol, etc. But lets keep it simple for now.