Depicting White With Watetcolor

With grandkids around and family coming and going this week it's been difficult to get much painting done, but this morning I grabbed 30 minutes before anyone else was up and worked out the details of one blossom shape on the current painting.  I've been pondering on how to handle a white flower with watercolor for days and feeling just a bit intimidated by the prospect.  If you've handled watercolor paint much you'll be aware that there is no transparent watercolor white paint.  White is what the paper is for.

Jimson Weed blooms during the night, after dark.  Deciding how to depict a moonlit flower has been a new thought process for me.  

When getting highlights or other white shapes in a painting, one must leave those bits unpainted to achieve a real "white" area, whether with a mask or by painting around the shapes that will be left white.  However, when the whole object is white, like these flower shapes, shadows and other subtle areas still have to be depicted if the white area is to be believable.  The secret to convincing the eye is realizing that the lightest value on the paper will be read by your viewer as white, whether it actually is or not.  In the upper left hand corner of the photo you can see the contrast between the still unpainted bud shape and the flower shape next to it.  (a phone picture today, sorry...) Once the bud is painted, the violet areas will read "white flower" even though they are mostly tinted.  Or at least one can hope that'll be the case!  

Thanks for stopping by- Alice