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Wednesday, March 4, 2015

Rose Rhapsody

Rose Rhapsody
Oil on canvas, 6x9
purchase here
This is one of the paintings I finished on Sunday - and today's super busy day is the perfect time to post it!  I am coming to my easel late, so I will be able to work in peace knowing that I don't have to rush to post.  With these roses, I am working on finding a rhythm to the petals.  By marking the lights and darks first, I am able to connect those areas in a way that makes sense with the flow of each petal.  For the last strokes of highlight on each petal, I am using a rough, stiff, wide bristle brush - and just pulling it lightly over the existing paint, in the direction the petal goes.  Sometimes, I use the palette knife here, but if you see brush strokes - it is the brush.  I am bumping up the color a bit here from the earlier painting, popping the yellows and greens a little, adding to the energy of the piece.  The blue of the sky is very light, blending to white in the center - and the edge of rose is softened to reduce the look of being cut out and applied.  There are so many soft edges with foliage and petals.  All you have to do is squint when you look at your subject - the hard lines will stick out, but all others will soften.  The reds in this painting are cad red light and alizarin crimson - two staples always on my palette.  Of course, they are mixed with various other colors on the canvas, as I seldom premix on the palette.  I push them towards the blue with either ultramarine violet or ultramarine blue, and warm them up with the cad yellows.  Painting number 795 in 795 days - now back to my landscape!

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