Step 4 Pre-mix dominate colors

After transferring the drawing to my watercolor paper, I will pre-mix several of my dominate colors, if I am painting on a large painting. I label them with a grey scale value of 1 to 10, with black being 1 and white being 10.  I do not use any black pigment or white pigment on my paintings.  You can see which pigments I use for each color.  I also keep this reference sheet for future use. I file it along with a photo of the completed painting, value drawing and other notes about the process.

I do not use these colors without adding something from one of the other colors or from another color on my palette.  These pre-mixed colors are a starting point for all my leaves and stems.  For instance, there is a banana leaf in the very middle at the bottom of the painting.  When I paint the stem that runs down the middle of the leaf, I will paint the entire stem with color/value 8.  While it is still wet, I will add some paint from color/value 7 at the very bottom of the stem, and add a little Winsor Blue to the stem at the top of that leaf.  It adds a little variety to the stem.