Lilium

Lilium is a watercolor that sold years ago, but I post it as an example of using negative painting to create more interest in an otherwise blaw background. If the background was just the same dark value everywhere the painting would have way too much background and too little interest. I painted the background in layer after layer of glazes, and about half way through began painting around (negative painting) imaginary shapes of leaves and stems then kept painting more layers always painting around those shapes. That is why the leaves and stems in the background are of lighter value then the rest of the dark background, they simply have fewer layers of paint.