When you want to paint a night view outdoors you might want to:

• - Premix your darks (indoors): to know/to be conscious about the color palette you will use (what color family you will choose)
• - Start the painting with a fully tinted background (color: can be anything: brown, purple, green, yellow, red) (Can be 'wet' or dry)
• - I paint with oils. When I have a full midtone/dark underlayer - I add in lights first (!)
• - That way when you touch these dots, painting surrounding colors, you automatically get the 'halo' effect
• - Never forget what light is, like viewing a candle: the effect of the light dot in the immediate surroundings/reflections/halo
• - The small lights I apply with the point of the palette knife (or back of a brush will do)
• - Re-add the painted-over lights (and still have the lighter (mix) part in, giving the dot the halo effect. Example green light here in the middle.)
• - Squint squint squint, testing values, simplify the scene
• - Use a mirror to keep testing 'the abstract' shapes and compo
• - Use LEDs if there isn't a street lamp
• - Leave your painting alone when finished, sleep on it and view it again in the morning!