Artists & Illustrators - UK (2019-11)

PROJECT

IN MINIATURE

WHAT YOU WILL NEED
I always tell my students to buy the
best materials they can afford, and
to treat them with great care.
Good-quality paints contain a far
higher percentage of pigment,
resulting in a more vibrant and
long-lasting colour. I use professional-
quality Daler Rowney, but I would also
recommend a few other brands,
including Schmincke and Sennelier.
For this project, I used Cadmium
Orange, Cadmium Yellow, Sap Green,
Burnt Sienna and Prussian Blue
Daler-Rowney Artists’ Water Colours.
I use Daler Rowney’s Aquafi ne
cold-pressed 300gsm paper on a
daily basis – this is a good standard
paper thickness and the paper is
fairly bright white, which keeps my
paintings vibrant.
The best watercolour brushes are
made of sable (animal hair) bristles
but I have been very happy working
with a range of synthetic-bristled
round brushes called the Pro Arte
Masterstroke Series 60 range. I used
sizes 0, 2, 6 and 8 for this.

WHAT YOU WILL LEARN
To paint a rose in the loose style of
watercolour requires throwing caution
to the wind and really experimenting
with the shapes you can make with
your brush. By getting confi dent and
creative with your brush, you can
create a big bunch of varied blooms.
Practise your rough-edged C-curve
before tackling the rose.

PROCESS

1

Usinga pencil,drawa faintseries

ofcurves,includingthecurving

leafbranchesanda broad

intersectingcurvefortheflowerbase

Extendthestemuppasttheflower

base,givingyoua centrallinearound

whichtoanchoryourpetals.

Topainta rose,startfromthat

centralpoleandimagineyouare

wrapping layer upon layer of C-curves

around it. The centre of a rose is so

tightly packed with petals, we can jus

see the tips, so paint three Cadmium

Orange C-curves in a fairly tight

bundle with your size 0 brush.

You should be leaving small gaps

between the strokes, but don’t worry

if they do catch and bleed into each

other, your rose will look all the better

for some irregularity.

2

Coat a size 2 brush with a diluted

Cadmium Orange and paint the

next layer of wrapped petals: when

painting a new petal, begin the

C-curve at the broadest point of the

previous petal, creating an overlap.

When transitioning from tip to

broad bristles, really press your brush

down to create the thickest possible

stroke before bringing it back up to

the tip to fi nish off each stroke with

as fi ne a line as you began with.

Three overlapped C-curves tend

to create a complete ‘layer’of petals,

and each new layer requires broader

C-curves than the previous one.

A miniature rose follows the same

steps as the main rose, just with a

size 0 brush. Remember to start

with a concentrated colour and

work your way out, adding water,

not colour, to the brush.

3

Use your C-curves to

form the shape of the

rose, adding petals wherever

you feel necessary.

Work with an even more

diluted Cadmium Orange

and your size 6 brush to

create the thickest petals.

As the rose grows in size,

you will need more than

three C-curves to do a full

layer. The more irregular

your strokes, the better,

as these best replicate the

uneven, curled outer petals

ofopenroses.

1

3

2

Burnt Sienna Sap Green Cadmium Orange Cadmium Yellow Prussian Blue

LEAF STEM MIX

Burnt Sienna +

Prussian Blue

LEAF MIX

Sap Green +

Prussian Blue

Artists & Illustrators 57