A rose trio is the next blossom subject for me in watercolor. The question is, can I realistically render three different colored roses?
After rendering a “Sharon” rose, I felt inspired. The next morning I did a search and rescue mission for photographic images to work with on my computer and phone. Finding 3 separate pictures that I liked from my garden last year, I sketched a layout for them and here we go. A multi-colored one, a white, and one yellow blossom. You can see from the image above how I begin by applying a dark wash to where I see the shadows on each of the petal surfaces. Then, I can add some of the gorgeous colors, layer after layer.
The multi-colored one on the top left gets yellow, then Opera Pink, some alizarine crimson, and darkened more with dioxin purple. Purple also shows me where shadows are darkest in the background.
The white is a long-lasting blossom named, “Abraham Lincoln”. Each Presidential petal base has a slight touch of tan shade at the base. A tiny touch of Azo yellow is added to show this subtle color change. The yellow rose is brought to life with more yellow and small touches of burnt amber.
The yellow beauty in the front is from my spice garden. It may have survived the fire, but we won’t know until things warm up in spring. The name tag for the yellow rose is long gone. I darken the background using blues, greens, and splashes of alizaron crimson with purple.
The colors used as a background are purposely not boring and rendered in a fun wet-on-wet texture. I only want to hint at the dense foliage behind. Remember that, roses are one thing that always brings joy. If I am holding them, smelling them, looking at them in person, or painting/drawing them there is most likely a smile on my face.
