art secret 1 - rose dore

Did you know that a color called Rose Dore can give your watercolor paintings the life and luminosity that you're looking for? Use it as your underpainting color and watch what happens. It plays well with other colors and never gets muddy. It's a little pricey but well worth it. 





Hint: Rose Dore works best when you use it very lightly. You can find this at Dick Blick.

First I coated the entire paper with a light wash of Rose Dore. After it was dry I washed the sky area and added a rich pigment of Pthalo Blue. Notice how you can't see the Rose Dore but the sky has a lovely luminosity. When the painting was finished I went back in and added a richer Rose Dore to the tree trunks and along the horizon line to give life to the whole painting.