Day 2: Roses

I hung out in the nice, warm studio all day, painting roses and waiting for the snow to stop so I could plow the driveway. Instead of stopping, the snow intensified in the afternoon. Supposed to snow another 3″ tonight. Four more inches tomorrow. Guess I’ll get a lot done on this painting!

Normally I’d start painting the dark areas first. But flowers can’t wait! They could crap out in a couple days, so I’ve learned to always paint whatever’s likely to die first! Even in a landscape. If the sunlight and shadow patterns are what attracted you to do the painting, get them nailed early.

Here’s a peek at my palette this afternoon. It helps to have lots of different shades of red. Some colors just can’t be mixed. At the end of each session I scrape remnants into a communal pile and blend. That mix is used to tone my birch panels. I prefer soft shades — grays, violets, pale peach, pink. One of my artist friends tones his canvases with bright orange. I tried that once & nearly had a stroke trying to paint over it.

I don’t often paint roses. I love them, but tend to cringe at the thought of trying to paint all those petals! But now, in the dead of winter, there’s not much else to do, other than fight it out with the rose petals. Sure, floors always need washing, dishes always need doing, but — ugh! As I’ve said before, the key to making a successful painting is in learning how to control your panic!