One if by land, two if by sea...

(C) 2019 Dale DiMauro

In watercolor there is an abstract quality with how the washes dry on the paper. Once you gain a feel for some of the affects you can achieve, one can really use it to your advantage. By no means am I a claiming to be a master of the medium. However, in the above picture, for example, the speckles in the water is where the brush left a few unpainted slivers of paper to the imagination. Also, at the trunk of the tree you have this cloudy area which may suggest the lifting of fog in a different context.

You can strengthen your drawing through your painting. We know that warm colors advance while cool colors recede. This principle is good to keep in mind when painting. 

In addition, you can convince the viewer by painting the horizon dead even with a sureness of hand. This is a great place to build your picture going forward. 

On the other hand it feels good to simply play around with paint. Particularly when you free yourself from expectations. An unconscious element may kick in and the picture develops in a direction you could not foresee. At the end, you can add a little color by dropping in a figure or two as I did in the above watercolor.