Sequence

                                   "Hendrick's Head Summer"
                                                                       15" X 22"

Most watercolorists will tell you that you begin with the lights, proceed to the midtones and then punch it up with the darks.  Goodness knows that's the way I was taught and how I've painted through the years.

However, some watercolorists begin with the darks, among them Ted Kautzky.  I've always resisted this idea because when I first tried it, the darks would bleed when a midtone was placed on top of it.
Also, certain color combinations would create muddy  darks.  It always resulted in an ugly mess.

Now that I understand a lot more about the amount of water, brush pressure and color combinations, I've once again tried the darks-first method with a little more success than my first attempts at this sequence.

Here's an example of this approach.