Asian Persimmon (Lum Chee) Watercolor Painting

I try to paint this asian persimmon or lum chee in watercolor.  It is a typical Asian fruit call lum chee in Chinese. It is around from August until this time of the year and has a sweet taste to the orange fruit inside.
This is painted on a 5 x 7 sheet of watercolor paper.  The control I need to learn is to mix (lightly) in the palette and paint (lightly) on the watercolor paper.  I try using the back of a piece of watercolor paper to test the paint before I put on the painting.  This helps me to feel and see the hue and intensity of the mixted watercolor paint.  I found it quite different when paintied on paper then it is on the palette.  It will eventually change to a duller color when the color is dry.  So by painting dabs of color on the scrap piece of watercolor paper I can gauge the overall match of the color to the subject, in this case the asian persimmon.