GARDEN DANCE
Watercolor - 11x14
I love negative painting! Negative painting is where the artist paints the negative space around a positive shape. For Garden Dance I first painted bright, tropical colors all round on wet paper and then came back in with a dark blue to paint the background. In the process of adding the background I defined the shape of the flower blossoms and leaves. I also used negative painting when I added the shadows between each petal to further define the flowers.
Negative painting is especially important with transparent watercolor because you cannot paint light, colorful flowers on top of a dark background like you can with oils or acrylics.
