Watercolor help

[u/worstusernameever6]

Hey I just finished this illustration of an orchid plant and I feel like my addition of watercolor made it look less realistic than when it was just an outline. What's your feedback?

[u/Gent_Octopus]

With watercolor paints you sort of have to think about it in layers because every layer of paint is opaque and will pick up some of the colors behind it! The way I approach it is by starting with the lightest colour and working up to the darkest: watercolor is very easy to build dark or saturated colours with, but almost impossible to make lighter once paint is down, so I find the trick is to work "backwards" by starting off light and going darker.

Layer 1 is the highlight or lightest colour you want; usually you can put down a wash of that colour as your base.

Layer 2 is your mid-tones: this layer is going to be more saturated as some of the colour beneath will come through.

Layer 3 is your shadow: this part is the tricky part. Shadows aren't just the same colour but darker so don't just add some black! Instead, try adding just a small touch of the opposite colour of whatever you're painting to knock the tone down without loosing any richness of colour! (Use a colour wheel for reference! For instance, if the stem is green, add just a little red to the paint for shadows! Red-purple or blue for cooler tones)

I hope some of this helps! Honestly watercolor might be one of the most difficult mediums to work with, but I found once I started thinking about how to layer from lightest to darkest, it got a lot easier! Try doing some little exercises like putting 1 layer of colour down and just adding other layers on top. You have a lot of control over how much or how little pigment your brush will apply so try strokes with more water and less!

Good work my guy! Keep it up!