Study for Dark Water Reflection

I have been getting ready for my next series of watercolor classes.  This is a study for the Autumn Reflections lesson. Here's how I did this.

I began by painting a variegated wash over the top half of the paper in soft pastel blues, reds and yellows. After drying, I masked the birches, a few leaves and the larger branches with masking fluid, and used a clear gel pen to preserve the white of the tiny branches.  I painted the colorful foliage with bright colors, beginning wet-in-wet and then using a sponge after drying. I made sure to keep the top edges of the bushes soft, and pulled some of the color up into the background, since I knew my dark background color would end up defining the tops of the foliage clumps. To finish the top of the painting, I painted the background with a strong wash of neutral tint, dried the painting, removed the mask and added some detail to the birches.

I wet the bottom of the painting and brushed in some gum arabic to keep the paper wet longer. Then I dropped in yellows, reds, oranges for the foliage reflection, then quickly brushed in neutral tint from the bottom up, and used a fan brush to gently blur the reflection.  Finally, while the paper was still damp, I painted the reflection of the birches with Titanium white. Because I didn't get the timing quite right, I used a few pastel pencils to better define the reflections.

When I do this again, I will be sure to get the birch reflections in more quickly.  Or, maybe I will try drying the painting before I paint the reflections, then rewet the entire water area and paint in the birch reflections.  I will have to experiment.  I also need to push some of the birches backward by glazing them with blue.