I love watercolor painting. It's one of my favorite hobbies.
Thats great! I have been painting watercolor paintings all my life, I do both medium shades and dark shades, My resulting artwork is always so pretty. 
I bet! What types of watercolor paintings do you do? Nature? Abstract?
Im more of a nature type, although it changes some time. 
I love doing nature portraits, especially of old barns and streams.
Thats fantastic, I even seen that some watercolors can be made opaque by adding Chinese white.It is what I use to make the clouds in my paintings. 
I never thought of that! I'll have to try that next time I get in the mood to paint.
Indeed and here is a tip, I often dab my painting entirely or partially with cotton balls, which gives it a good texture and minimizes distortion when wet.