If there’s one thing I love besides glitter watercolors, it’s glow in the dark watercolors. That’s why today I’ll be showing you a painting idea that can easily incorporate glow in the dark elements: a magical forest!
Whenever I think about glow in the dark paint I think about bioluminescent mushrooms. That’s because I’m fascinated by mushrooms and I jump at any chance I get to paint them. When I first discovered that The Smiling Hippo carried a glow in the dark collection, I knew I had to paint something with mushrooms and I’m glad to say today is finally the day.
For my magical forest painting I only used two Smiling Hippo pallets and one glow in the dark full pan. The pallets I used were a mini hippo palette and the “I do it for the TACOS mini palette.” I chose those pallets because not only did they have a lot of green and brown earth tones but also pretty purples and golds that would make a forest piece seem more magical. So if you’d like to create your own enchanted forest with glowing mushrooms, I would recommend you pick a mix of earthy colors as well as pinks, blues, and purples.
Once you have your colors picked out, the next thing you have to do is decide what to include in your forest. You can have one or multiple species of mushrooms, a fairy ring, a few fairies flying around, or maybe some fireflies! Fireflies are actually perfect for glow in the dark paint since they emit a light at night. Once you’ve decided what you want to add to your magical forest you can start sketching out the painting.
For my painting I decided to have the mushrooms be the focal point so I painted a tree log with mushrooms right in the center of the page. 
I only painted a few mushrooms in my forest but you can always add more. If you ask me, there can never be enough mushrooms.
Once you have your trees, mushrooms, fairies, and fireflies drawn out you can start painting. I would suggest you start painting with glitter watercolors and leave the glow in the dark paint until the end. That way you can mix, layer, and blend all the colors you want for your base, giving the subject more dimension than simply using the glow in the dark paint.
After you finish painting your base you can finally add the glow in the dark paint. I added the paint directly on my mushrooms as well as slightly around them. Feel free to add the glow in the dark paint wherever you see fit.
Lastly, once you’re done painting don’t forget to place your paper under a bright light to “charge” the glow in the dark paint. After you leave it under bright light for a few minutes you can then turn off the lights or take the painting to a dark room to see the beautiful glow in the dark elements. 
And there you have it! I hope you enjoyed this painting idea for when you’re unsure of what to paint with The Smiling Hippos glow in the dark paints.
P.S. If you’d like to try Smiling Hippo watercolors for the first time don’t forget to use my link for $5 off your first purchase!: The Smiling Hippo