I think I finally have the best way of explaining how to negative paint. I put together a video yesterday trying to show you how I go about teaching students how to figure out negative painting. I'm Sorry, I rushed the making of video so the lighting isn't the best, but I didn't speed up the video, this way you can see in real time how I go about negative
painting.
Follow the 3 steps to get the gist of negative painting.
Step 1. the first wash is used to color the objects in a painting. If the color of the objects are white then you will be negative painting those objects too, in the 1st wash.
Step 2. In the 2nd wash cut around objects on top of the 1st wash to create shapes, and while you negative paint those shapes you are also painting the colors outside of those objects to
create the color of the 3rd layer of objects.
Step 3. In the 3rd wash cut around objects using the colors from the 2nd wash.
Step 4. The final step is detail, and not necessarily negative painted details. In the details you will also be painting in some positive shapes.
To get a better understanding of the steps, watch the video and it should make it easier for you to understand.
David