# Aquarell creative process: paint a night scene with soft pools of light

Language: en
Canonical: [Aquarell creative process: paint a night scene with soft pools of light](<https://allluckly.cn/en/works/aquarell-night-glow/>)
中文：[中文 HTML](<https://allluckly.cn/works/aquarell-night-glow/>)
English: [English HTML](<https://allluckly.cn/en/works/aquarell-night-glow/>)
Published: 2026-10-23T02:46:01+08:00
Modified: 2026-10-23T09:27:50+08:00
Author: Bison

Layer short mint, lilac and warm-white brush marks over deep blue to practise brush size, opacity and empty space. Includes the recorded workflow, colour settings and native exported artwork.

English translation of the [Chinese original](<https://allluckly.cn/works/aquarell-night-glow/>), translated on 2026-10-23. Original publication dates, attribution, code and version notes are retained.

[Video](<https://allluckly.cn/assets/videos/aquarell-night-glow.mp4>)

[English steps](<https://allluckly.cn/assets/videos/aquarell-night-glow.en.vtt>)

[中文步骤](<https://allluckly.cn/assets/videos/aquarell-night-glow.zh-CN.vtt>)

[Poster](<https://allluckly.cn/assets/images/works/aquarell-night-glow.png>)

On a 1400×1000 deep-blue canvas, short brush marks make four mint glows, three lilac glows, one warm-white focal light and five small stars. Shows colour changes, brush size and opacity, and hiding tools to inspect the whole canvas. Real iPhone Duo simulator interaction, excerpted and partly sped up.

Recorded in an iPhone Duo simulator using a local Aquarell build, 1.0.5 (build 1), with a Chinese interface. These are excerpts of real app interaction; selected clips play at 1.1–1.7× speed. No narration; English and Chinese step subtitles are available. Recording starts with the deep-blue canvas already filled. The finished image was exported directly from the app. Store-version features and layouts may differ.

This exercise paints out-of-focus lights at night. Mint and lilac spread along a diagonal, with one warm light in the upper left and a few small bright points connecting the empty areas. It is a simple composition for feeling how one brush changes with size and opacity.

## Prepare a deep-blue base and a layer for light

The canvas is **1400×1000 px**. Fill the background with deep blue `#101830`, then add a layer above for the lights so later adjustments leave the base intact. Find Fill Layer under More → Settings → Layer Tools → Canvas.

The video starts with this background already filled. Choose a soft-edged round brush and test a short mark: a coloured centre fading towards the edge suits the exercise. The same size setting can look different with another brush, so inspect a test mark before deciding whether to resize.

Use very short drags: move a little and release, leaving an almost round spot. If the mark becomes too long, shorten the next movement. For the basic controls, read the [brush size and opacity tutorial](<https://allluckly.cn/en/guides/aquarell-brush-size-opacity/>) alongside this exercise.

## Colours and settings used in this session

Every opacity value below is **brush opacity**. The sizes are for this 1400×1000 canvas. If you halve the canvas, try halving the brush size first, then adjust by eye.

| Use | HEX colour | Brush size | Brush opacity | Count in this piece |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Deep-blue base | `#101830` | Fill Layer | — | 1 layer |
| Mint glows | `#6CF0D7` | 220 px | 50% | 4 |
| Lilac glows | `#B49CFF` | 220 px | 50% | 3 |
| Warm-white focal light | `#FFF1CC` | 260 px | 75% | 1 |
| Small stars | `#FFF1CC` | 32 px | 100% | 5 |

To change colour, open the colour panel, enter and apply the HEX value, then return to the canvas. Read colour and opacity together: a light colour at 50% over deep blue appears darker and softer than its palette swatch.

## Stagger mint and lilac along a diagonal

Set the brush to 220 px and 50%. Place mint marks from the lower left towards the centre and upper right. Keep the lower-left pair closer together and the upper pair a little further apart. The deep-blue gaps are part of the composition; leave them until all colours are in place before deciding whether to add more.

Switch to lilac while keeping the same size and opacity. Stagger three marks below and to the right of the mint ones. The lower-left lilac can overlap a mint edge; leave more space around the other two.

Pause after this group. Repeated strokes in the same place accumulate colour and brightness, changing the delicate effect. Compare on an extra layer before deciding which version to keep. For layer adjustments, see the [layer opacity tutorial](<https://allluckly.cn/en/guides/aquarell-layer-opacity/>).

## Finish with a large light and a few small stars

Switch to warm white `#FFF1CC`, set the size to 260 px and opacity to 75%, then make one mark in the upper left. A little larger and brighter than the nearby glows, it gives the eye somewhere to settle. Keep the edge soft without drawing an outline.

Keep the colour, reduce the size to 32 px and raise opacity to 100%. Place five small bright points in dark areas above, left, below and right, avoiding the most crowded glows. They regulate the spacing rather than fill the picture; a small number is enough.

Finally, hide the toolbar and inspect the full canvas. Look at the light–dark balance before judging each spot’s roundness. If everything is equally bright, removing a few points is often more useful than adding more.

## Keep the original, then share the image

The video ends on the complete composition. Afterwards, I chose PNG through Aquarell’s Share & Export and saved it to Files from the system share sheet. The export remains 1400×1000 px.

The PNG presents the exercise; keep the in-app original for colour and layer changes. For a separate project backup, read [saving and backing up native artwork](<https://allluckly.cn/en/guides/aquarell-native-artwork-backup/>).

![Native Aquarell Night Glow export: a deep-blue background, mint and lilac spots, one warm-white focal glow at upper left and five small stars](<https://allluckly.cn/assets/images/works/aquarell-night-glow.png>)

[Open the 1400×1000 finished image](<https://allluckly.cn/assets/images/works/aquarell-night-glow.png>) · [Continue with a limited palette](<https://allluckly.cn/en/guides/aquarell-limited-palette/>)