Pink rose
Back in March, I took many photos of the roses blooming at Five Dock Park. Here’s the first painting from this series, will paint one every so often.
Palette & Technique: Used Permanent Rose and touch of Ultramarine for the petals. In retrospect maybe Magenta would’ve been better. Raw Sienna tempered by Paynes Gray for the decayed bits and Cobalt Blue washes over some of the petals. For the darker parts of the petals, I made a dark mix using Burnt Umber plus all the other colours. Also added a hint of Cadmium Red to the petals here and there for a more ‘sunlit’ feel.
For the leaves, started with a light “tea wash” of Sap Green and Paynes Gray, then added another layer, then added Ultramarine Blue to darken the mix. Added Burnt Umber to the mix for the final spots. Used an eradicator brush to make the white veins.
I used Archies Hot Pressed 300gsm paper. Found it hard to flood in the paint while the paper was still wet, as it dries quickly. Led to unwanted blotches and unevenly joined bits in the petals. For next time, I’d like to have more “soft edges”.
Would like to find a good watercolour rose painting demo, to pick up techniques and tricks, until then this is a good as it gets.
Here’s the original photo I made the painting from.
Pink Rose, 2020. Photo by Quillshadow.
