Sketchwork: Door is no one here

Knock knock! Whose door?

I spent quite a bit of time with this painting -- deciding which details to put in, mixing the colors and adding textures. Feels like I've put in too many unneccessary layers because I couldn't get the colors right. On a better note, I managed to preserve the lighter areas this time.

Speaking of lighter areas, I find the white watercolor pencil a bit difficult to use for highlights. For the white paint to show, I wet the pencil tip and apply the color directly. The resulting texture is nice but I can't control it well. Will see if I can find a white Signo pen -- my current one barely works.

I've been wanting to do an ink + watercolor painting. This was a good chance to try it out. I wasn't confident but proceeded with the inking anyway, but not before taking a proper scan of the painting first -- if I ruin it, at least I have a "before" copy.

Before

And here's the reference photo:

Reference

Personally, I prefer the inked version. It gives off a whimisical / storybook vibe.