I always think of February as a time for roses. I guess it could be that Valentine's Day is on the 14th. Here in the Pacific Northwest (where I live) roses still have a few months to wait before the sun comes out to give them the exposure they need to bloom. But I do love roses and I love to paint them.
This pretty pink rosebud was painted for Lenora, my SWAP partner. SWAP stands for Sharing With Artist Partners, an international group of artists who share their watercolors with each other quarterly.
I was pleased with the results of this 5x7 painting. As with most of my watercolors, I prefer to paint without a drawing and work out the shapes with my paintbrush as I paint. For this painting I started with the background. I wanted a cooler background so I could play up the warm backlit leaves in the foreground. I used a mixture of Ultramarine Turquoise and New Gamboge for the green background color charged with Carbazole Violet for the darks around and behind the rosebud.
About the rain drops… There are several prestigious rose gardens in the Seattle area. Last year I planned several “outings” to photograph roses and when the day arrived it was raining again and again….yep…that’s Seattle! So after 3 tries I went anyway. Got my umbrella out to protect my camera and came home with a ton of Raindrops on Roses photos.
Let me know if you like this one.
This pretty pink rosebud was painted for Lenora, my SWAP partner. SWAP stands for Sharing With Artist Partners, an international group of artists who share their watercolors with each other quarterly.
I was pleased with the results of this 5x7 painting. As with most of my watercolors, I prefer to paint without a drawing and work out the shapes with my paintbrush as I paint. For this painting I started with the background. I wanted a cooler background so I could play up the warm backlit leaves in the foreground. I used a mixture of Ultramarine Turquoise and New Gamboge for the green background color charged with Carbazole Violet for the darks around and behind the rosebud.
About the rain drops… There are several prestigious rose gardens in the Seattle area. Last year I planned several “outings” to photograph roses and when the day arrived it was raining again and again….yep…that’s Seattle! So after 3 tries I went anyway. Got my umbrella out to protect my camera and came home with a ton of Raindrops on Roses photos.
Let me know if you like this one.
SUSIE
5 comments:
Hi Susie, I have visited your blog several times, but have never had the courage to leave a comment before, lest you discover me! But I wanted to tell you how much I like/love your rose watercolor. When I saw this painting I instantly smelled the rose fragrance. I am struggling to master watercolor and I do say struggling. I have mostly worked in stained glass and now mixed media, but I so very much desire to be able to paint as well as you. Thank you for sharing this.
Hi Susie, I pop in to see your blog when I can, I am like Katie Jane struggling with my watercolour and have good days and bad days, I do take lessons with a wonderful tutor so I will improve. I love the rose, it jumped out the page and I just wanted to cup it in my hands and smell it. Thank you for sharing this wonderful painting with us,
Beautiful and thanks for sharing
the rose is very sensitively done and painterly! wandered over from another blog, and glad I did!
I did a number of big flowers in oil (posted Jan09)-take a look at it whenever convenient. Also, love your genraniums.
cheers, jeannette
Hi Susie. Love your rose. Love all your roses. Your paintings are always great. I love to watch you paint. You are an inspiration. Your website is so full of good info. Thanks so much- Shirley Jordan
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