In the August 2014 issue of Watercolor Artist magazine, page 61-65, Judi Betts discusses "toning" watercolor paper to get some beautiful effects. She starts out by dividing the paper into four rectangular shapes, each a different size. She then tones each section with a different color, each painted a light value. (Don't use purple or browns or greys) The yellow should have the same value as the green, blue, and red.
Draw your picture right over the toned areas. When painting, use the complementary (opposite) color of that area. If you have toned with yellow, use purples in that area. (see top left boats). Over orange, use shades of blue. (top right boats) Over green paint reds (bottom left), and over blue, paint oranges.(bottom right).
It's a challenge, and a bit freeing, not to be constantly asking myself, "What color should I use here?"
The object is to notice that you don't have to leave white whites for something to look sunlit, as long as you are using darker values. And the use of complimentary colors enhances the look.
My reference was a picture I found on Pixabay, a free photo site. So this painting was done for my own use, to experiment, not for sale.
When you are painting near the border of two colors, do a little overlapping to obscure the border. For example, have some of the purple painted a bit into the area you would otherwise paint red.
Judi Betts has examples of this on the internet and in this article. She also suggests using five organic shapes instead of four rectangular shapes as a background.
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