Rose painting Tutorial in Watercolour- Diary of a Rose

Rose in Watercolour- a study in accuracy and expression.

I don't really like rather dead lifeless mechanical-looking flower studies, so I always introduce the serendipity and chanciness of watercolour paints to create life and movement.  I cannot see the point of using paint if it just looks like a photograph. I have a photo, I have a memory  I want a painting! 

Flowers are full of energy, they contain life itself. I have chosen to paint 1/2 a rose to create a tension and to abstract it from the normal expectation of a rose study.

1.
Masking fluid is spattered on all over and used to carefully mask out the areas of white within the flower. It' s really important not to just blob it on, be really accurate.I used a masking fluid brush. Originally my paper is larger but as the composition develops I guillotine it down.
The paper remains white  under the fluid until I remove it and tone it down.
I am using Winsor and Newton colours . Quinacridone Red is a superb vivid  pink red, Permanent Rose, Sap greens, Burnt Umber, Yellow Ochre, Cadmium yellow.
Paper is Saunders Waterford High White in NOT

2. Developing the patterns and striations within using simple admixtures of Quinacridone Red and Permanent Rose.

3. A Cadmium yellow is flooded through the background to create a warmth and glow.

 4.

 5. Some foliate shapes are added, I found these in other photos I had  taken.

 6. Masking fluid has been removed - lots of speckles are evident. I hate the background and it's going to get chopped off. You will notice this throws the rose into the forefront.

 7. I'm thinking of adding some water droplets but not to the flower which is pretty abstract  details

 8. Water droplets are painted on the leaf. Various pink washes are added and some Violet and Alizarin Crimson.

9. Finished.Notice some areas of the background move in and out of focus. It's not hyper realist. Thorns are painted in the same pink and there are many subtle washes so that the flower colours are   in the background as repeated local colour. Spattering and splashes are allowed! I use a tissue to remove blotches, though.

For my students to draw. They are so incredibly beautiful. Whelk shells.

Leaf Lace- Lace art

 Tutorial on painting an Autumn/ Fall  tree with a sponge and Winsor and Newton Watercolours. 

by Veronica Aldous

 Creating the tree: The branches and trunk have been masked out and left to dry using frisket

 A dampened wrung out sponge is used to sponge onto damp paper- a sienna watercolour

Details with a brush picking out some branches and shadows . I'm using a Winsor and Newton Kolinsky brush.

 Leave to dry

A green is mixed with the sienna and soft patches are damply applied

The dry painting has had the frisket removed

 A wash of reddish pink and some dry brushed curves to the trunk to give dimension. Note that the wind is blowing it's branches and leaves.

Finished and deepened with browns and blues

 Taken with flash to show the wet paint.I like wet paint!

The Other Tree

Black syrup.The nuns were outraged
At the mess, the overt juiciness,
I stole some for her, letting them fall
Into my hands like sun-wild children's kisses-
Purple from fingertip to elbow
We grabbed at them, crushing them into our mouths
While they were full of heat and sticky solar life
I will steal any fruit for my mother
Gladly immoral.

The nuns cut down the mulberry
Dirty sacrament offended them-
The blood of Pan
Was too much
For their white thin mouths.

Copyright Veronica Aldous

published  September 2015

Madam Unicorn Dream Cinema- Wool felt, pure silk and remnant collage mounted on silk hand and machine stitch with digital print. 24 ins square approx

Little story for you: When I was 16 I used to know a girl called Avril. She was 4' feet 9 inches. I am 5 foot 5 and towered over her. She was blonde. She dated a man called Big Dave who was about 7 foot tall. They used to do the Lindy Hop and jitterbug. Avril wore drainpipes and never any shoes or socks even in Winter. She loved children. I didn't like Big Dave because he used to hit on me when her back was turned. She chucked him in the end. I was glad about that. I kind of love the memory of Avril no shoes dancing....