Today’s experiment

I found a photograph of an interesting leaf arrangement located next to the red leaf I painted last week.

Just like the fuchsia I painted a couple of days ago, the leaves below are primarily one color, in this case, light green. There are subtle reflections and slight differences in colors, but for practical purposes the colors are monotonic.

Leaf Study
5″x7″ 140# Cold Pressed Watercolor Block

The only area that is strikingly different is that which is in shadow, the shade provided by the other leaves and the stalk.

The point of my experiment today is the background. Below is the next stage of my sketch, with a purple background. I chose purple because it is the complimentary color of yellow. I thought that yellow was most dominant color of the leaves. However, there is a substantial amount of green present. Perhaps I should have used a red color for the background, or a combination: red next to the green edges and purple next to the yellow leaf edges.

Leaf Study with Background
5″x7″ 140# Cold Pressed Watercolor Block

I am not sure that this works, so I tried another wash of red on top of the purple:

Leaf with Red Background
5″x7″ 140# Cold Pressed Watercolor Block

I like the last one best, probably because the background is darker. I will try washing the leaves with yellow to clean up the edges and maximize contrast. Hopefully this won’t be much of a problem.