Value Contrast and the Focal Point

Some beginners like to paint with lines when they come to watercolor. They believe that lines are the way to make the object to stand out. The fact is that using lines is a weak language in watercolor painting. We should think about the darkness and lightness of the colors between the areas. The darkness and lightness of color is called a value, and the difference between two values is called a value contrast.

In this student's homework, the color within the house and the outside area are the same value. Although the outlines are trying to help to make the statement, the house is not standing out as a focal point.

To fix this problem, we are going to create the value contrast and make the area outside the house to be a dark color.