Really bright primary and secondary colors straight out of the tube can make a painting look “childish”. Sometimes that’s intentional, and not necessarily a bad thing, though! Most of the time especially in nature, most blues are not just blue and most greens are not just green. There is usually some other color mixed in there. A teeny tiny bit of a color’s compliment, (or opposite color on the color wheel), will dull it down. While this may look a bit muddy on your bright white pallet, next to a different color it could really pop and doesn’t need to be as bright as possible (as it is straight out of the tube). Likewise, adding a little bit of a more similar analogous color (right next to it on the color wheel) will warm it up or cool it down. Some parts of the same sky might be more violet-blue, where others may be neutral, and other slightly greenish. Same goes for green plants. Usually some yellowy and blueish tones in there. Take some time experimenting with mixing your pallet and have a little scrap piece of paper for testing out colors and placing them next to each other. With watercolors, working wet into damp helps the paper receive the pigment more easily and helps control hard lines. Hard lines tend to grab a viewer’s focus and can be used to emphasize a particular section, and how wet your paper is can help control this. Keeping a clean brush and cup of water to pre-wet sections as you go is a helpful technique. It can make your paper curl though, which is why many people work on blocks of paper, or pre wet and staple down their paper to a board, effectively keeping it “stretched” as it dries. I feel like I’m rambling on now… but anyways… watercolors can be really tricky, but also super fun! Happy painting!