Next………if you are lucky enough to have a rose in your garden or home you can use it for reference.I find it easier to paint a subject if I can see it but I think you’ll find a rose simply jumps out of your paper at you in a minute anyway! You will need clean water. I must admit typing that line felt utterly ridiculous but I’m amazed so often at how someone happily places their brush in dirty muddy previously used water in a jar,places it on paper and then looks at me in absolute horror when they realise their paper is now also a dirty brown! It’s as though it is a complete surprise to them and yet there was the dirty water staring them in the face.What did they expect to happen! So clean water,clean white paper and step one……. Stand up…………walk away from your paper.(YES! I mean it !)…..and move your shoulders up and down a few times. Then take a few deep breaths……..and then the really hard part. Are you ready for this? Seriously this is going to be very difficult but I want you to move your whole arm in circles please from the shoulder. Let your arm go very loose from the elbow down. Can you manage to make your wrist move in circular movements? Clockwise and anti clockwise? Ten times either way……….my art classes are exhausting I know but this is important!;) If you can do this you can paint roses. You see they can’t be painted with up and down strokes only! YOU have to move,you have to move your brush in circular movements and if you can’t move your arm or wrist in this way I’m afraid you will not be able to follow this demonstration! I want to see life in your work.These are not flat unrealistic paintings,these are to be real roses and since when did you see straight petals on a rose? Are you getting the idea yet? Are you smiling? Then we can continue………. Stage two is simple……… Wet your paper with CIRCULAR brush movements starting in the centre and radiating outwards leaving white areas now and then.Be confident.Enjoy.If you’re stuck close your eyes and see your rose again.It has a deep pink centre but light hits its petals leaving them almost invisible in places.In other areas they are almost transparent. Brilliant.Aren’t you glad you moved your arm now? No square roses here! Next,load your brush with some pink and simply drop it into the wet areas on your paper. DO NOT paint petals! Let the paint do its own thing as it races around to find the wet areas on the paper.Watch it as it flows magically around. You can wet the side of these circular forms and drop some foliage colours in. I’ve let Cerulean blue drop into my greens. This should be a gentle ” whispery” wash.Quiet colours in my classes are called whispers.Dark accents are called shouts.Please just whisper your Summer roses. This is what you’re aiming for in one wash. I’ve aimed for three roses.One large as the star of the show,one slightly smaller and one to be left to the imagination. If you want to you can take a small amount of tissue and “cheat” to wipe away circular areas lightly to increase the effect of larger petals. Please avoid playing too much with this wash though.It will dry to form a soft rose if you get it just right.Sometimes a beautiful rose result occurs on the very first wash and theres no need to go any further but practise helps. Let the foliage run into the rose in places too.Leave soft edges. Don’t try too hard.Just let it happen and leave it dry. Try painting a few and experiment.You’re less likely to overwork one if you have several on the go. As the paint dries you can add some more pink pigment to the centre of the main rose but just a little and let it dry. Do NOT be tempted to put your brush back on the paer at any time as you will disturb the wonderful magic that is happening all on its own.You are to watch,letting the pigment do its own thing. Wet on wet technique is all about letting the paint work with water on paper.Thats why its called Water Colour.Water carries the pigment so in this exercise please let it do just that. There are only two more stages which involve dancing and standing on your head for thirty minutes…..I’m kidding,that’s for my face and figure demonstrations!;) Let your work dry completely before the next final stages.
Painting Roses and Their Spirit
With this post, I want to encourage you to expand the use of decorative art. You can add decorative elements to any art style! See another example in the older blog post: From Decorative to Expressive Art
The Spirit of the Rose Stays Alive in The Fall
Roses surprise me every fall. When other flowers have given up weeks ago, roses still make buds and continue to bloom. Not as galore as in summer, but they try their best on cold nights and cloudy days. The spirit of the rose is born from warmth and light, but once it’s up, it doesn’t quench easily.
In our garden, roses are more my husband’s thing – I collect peonies! But in the fall, I have to admit how superior roses are, queens of the garden, one could say. When the colorful leaves take over the scenery, even the most modest rose flowers stand out simply because they are different in colors and shapes.
It reminds me of how resilience and beauty are connected. So mere persistence in creating makes your art beautiful.
Expressing with Small and Decorative
This painting is a small one, only 20 x 25 cm (approximately 8 x 10 inches). When I was a beginner in painting, the small size felt easier. But nowadays, I prefer big canvases, and if I want to create something small, I usually grab my colored pencils, not brushes. But on the other hand, I like the challenge that the small size gives.
When painting roses in a small size, I need to have an extra focus on the quality of brushwork. Even the tiniest strokes should be elegant, especially if the painting is called ”The Spirit of the Rose.”
Decorative paintings often look very static, but I like to add movement with lines. At best, my small paintings are like short classical musical pieces with a clear melody, lots of short violin strokes, and clever piano tunes in major. It often helps me if I define the desired outcome by other art forms like music or movies.
But decorative art has its limitations. The spirit of a rose is not visible if you only paint one kind of rose and if all that you paint is roses. Add flower variations, how the flowers affect their surroundings, and how the surroundings gather around the flowers. Add elements that resemble the living spirit, and let colors interact too so that the roses are not separate but part of the living scenery. So, painting roses is never just about roses, it also expresses how you see the world.
Painting Roses – Decorative Flowers of Decodashery
Even if single floral motifs are often not so expressive, I am fascinated by the techniques of decorative art, especially folk art. A couple of years ago, I noticed that I need practice with the brushstrokes. I wanted to learn to paint in a decorative style and then combine that with a looser and more abstract approach that I already had in my style toolbox. I think that style should not be a matter of narrowing down but expanding, and I felt that more experience in decorative painting was something that I could benefit from. So I made a course called Decodashery and painted flowers after flowers to improve my strokes.
You see, preparing for the course requires deep understanding. A teacher isn’t only someone who masters the technique but one who can also break it into pieces and explain it. And by doing that, the skill becomes more stable and versatile. So, you can create quicker when knowing how things are constructed, and it’s easier to adapt the technique to your own liking. In the classes, whether you are a student or a teacher, the resilience grows, and the spirit of the rose becomes stronger: ”There’s still time to bloom, and I will do it!”
Drawing Roses and Flower Girls – New Course Is in the Making
This fall, I have not only been painting a new series but also developing a new course.
Its working title is ”Doll World,” and it’s about drawing human figures. I think it’s a skill that enables us to do illustrations that captivate the viewer and something that we all would like to do for fun too. We will draw flowers as warmups and decorate the dresses with colored pencils. I plan to run the class next year and open the registration next month. So stay tuned!
2 thoughts on “ Painting Roses and Their Spirit ”
Wendy says:
Your writing is fabulous , “style should not be a matter of narrowing down but expanding “. I’m looking forward to your illustrated memoir and I think I want to take the class you are building.
Warmest regards
Päivi says:
Thank you, Wendy! I hope to see you there!
Comments are closed.
Step-by-step approach to painting roses
You will need 140 lbs watercolour paper.I have used a rough variety but you may choose one of your choice because this is your painting.I suggest you try and find some scraps of paper that you have put to one side for experimenting on at first.You really will need to try this a few times unless you are incredibly lucky the very first time and I’ve seen that happen a lot with this exercise and heard quite a few students say “Wow” outloud as they realise they’ve done it. I’m not sure which gives you the best feeling.Painting something wonderful yourself or seeing someone you’ve taught paint someting wonderful.I’ll go with the latter because that truly puts a song in my heart. I’ve used only three shades again.Why make life or painting complicated! Alizarin Crimson,Cerulean Blue and Cadmium Yellow were used in this step by step demo with a few variations in added pieces later. I would like you to try variations of shades and see which you prefer.You can follow this demonstration with any colour rose you wish but for beginners I find painting a pink rose the easiest. Before you even think about painting I would like you to mix your shades.Plenty too please. Not little dots of colour on the side of your pallette! Please don’t be stingy with your paint! You will need a red/pink,green (mixed from a blue and yellow please!) and blue. I make my students paint a shade chart before they ever start a painting.Most of us are so eager to paint we don’t take the time to think about getting the correct shades first and that can ruin a painting.This exercise is the most beneficial way I can think of to learn how wonderful watercolour can be. I think of this as a warm up exercise just like in an aerobic class.I’m setting my mood,checking my pallette is clean so I get the best fresh colours and experimenting.It’s like being a child again.Just having fun with no pressure to produce a masterpiece.Lets all be children for as long as possible! Having said that in my step by step Santa demonstration I pointed out that some work can look childish if paint is used straight from the tube or pan.In flowers that can be a useful as it can be the only way to get the correct shade.Even so it is always better to try to add another shade for interest also.This is an example of a shade chart. I have a collection of these shade charts I’ve made over time for demonstration purposes and for several paintings.I can now look at these charts and find shades for a variety of subjects.If you stay to the softer mixed shades you will find your work becomes more exciting and dramatic than the heavier shades which are used almost straight from the tube. In watercolour you want the magical effects of colour mixing together on paper and in this demonstration you are going to have to do just that. Let colours run with water and into each other. Not always easy to do but that is what makes this a great exercise and a great way to use up scraps of paper! Out of interest,do you ever mix shades beforehand this way? Do you mix them in your pallette and remember each shade and how it came about? Do you ever get new surprises when you mix your shades? I love the result on this chart from mixing Burnt Umber with Cerulean Blue.I also love the wet on wet result from dropping Alizarin Crimson into wet Cerulean Blue. So stage one for this demonstration is to get a scrap of paper and mix some shades for the rose petals and for the green foliage areas. I’ve deliberately not shown you a painting yet.I want to try a Chinese technique.My memorable Chinese teacher used to make me do this and I found it worked so……. I want to open your imagination. I want you to close your eyes after reading the next few lines and imagine a summers day. You are in a beautiful garden surrounded by roses. You can smell them. You can reach out and touch their delicate petals. They are the most delicate shade of pink sitting in dense green foliage. See them in your mind for a few minutes. Now mix shades. Take your time.Enjoy this stage.You’ll learn more from doing this than you can imagine.When you’ve mixed some shades then try placing a small circle of one colour onto a scrap of paper.While it is still very wet drop another shade into it and leave it. DON’T FIDDLE! Let it dry. Experiment with a few shades and leave them to dry. DON’T go back into them with a brush,leave them until they are totally dry.It isn’t your decision what happens.This is up to the seperate pigments to decide.One may be boss and push the other away.One may love the other one and run straight into it.Let them work on their own without your unhelpful interference! Let magic happen! Go and get a cup of coffee or somewhere quiet and imagine your roses.Keep them in your mind.Feel excited about them.Maybe they could be a gift for someone.Maybe you’d like them in your garden.But keep their thought absolutely real in your mind while your experiments dry. If you were in my class I’d ask to see your results before we move on but I guess as this is online I’m going to have to trust you’ve done your exercises and move on with the demonstration. The aim of this demonstration is to improve your wet on wet technique,open your imagination,encourage you to leave white paper,help you see light,inspire you to paint more loosely and to make you stop before you think your painting is finished.A hard task indeed!
December 19, 2005 at 2:23 pm #1062453
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Next………if you are lucky enough to have a rose in your garden or home you can use it for reference.I find it easier to paint a subject if I can see it but I think you’ll find a rose simply jumps out of your paper at you in a minute anyway! You will need clean water. I must admit typing that line felt utterly ridiculous but I’m amazed so often at how someone happily places their brush in dirty muddy previously used water in a jar,places it on paper and then looks at me in absolute horror when they realise their paper is now also a dirty brown! It’s as though it is a complete surprise to them and yet there was the dirty water staring them in the face.What did they expect to happen! So clean water,clean white paper and step one……. Stand up…………walk away from your paper.(YES! I mean it !)…..and move your shoulders up and down a few times. Then take a few deep breaths……..and then the really hard part. Are you ready for this? Seriously this is going to be very difficult but I want you to move your whole arm in circles please from the shoulder. Let your arm go very loose from the elbow down. Can you manage to make your wrist move in circular movements? Clockwise and anti clockwise? Ten times either way……….my art classes are exhausting I know but this is important!;) If you can do this you can paint roses. You see they can’t be painted with up and down strokes only! YOU have to move,you have to move your brush in circular movements and if you can’t move your arm or wrist in this way I’m afraid you will not be able to follow this demonstration! I want to see life in your work.These are not flat unrealistic paintings,these are to be real roses and since when did you see straight petals on a rose? Are you getting the idea yet? Are you smiling? Then we can continue………. Stage two is simple……… Wet your paper with CIRCULAR brush movements starting in the centre and radiating outwards leaving white areas now and then.Be confident.Enjoy.If you’re stuck close your eyes and see your rose again.It has a deep pink centre but light hits its petals leaving them almost invisible in places.In other areas they are almost transparent. Brilliant.Aren’t you glad you moved your arm now? No square roses here! Next,load your brush with some pink and simply drop it into the wet areas on your paper. DO NOT paint petals! Let the paint do its own thing as it races around to find the wet areas on the paper.Watch it as it flows magically around. You can wet the side of these circular forms and drop some foliage colours in. I’ve let Cerulean blue drop into my greens. This should be a gentle ” whispery” wash.Quiet colours in my classes are called whispers.Dark accents are called shouts.Please just whisper your Summer roses. This is what you’re aiming for in one wash. I’ve aimed for three roses.One large as the star of the show,one slightly smaller and one to be left to the imagination. If you want to you can take a small amount of tissue and “cheat” to wipe away circular areas lightly to increase the effect of larger petals. Please avoid playing too much with this wash though.It will dry to form a soft rose if you get it just right.Sometimes a beautiful rose result occurs on the very first wash and theres no need to go any further but practise helps. Let the foliage run into the rose in places too.Leave soft edges. Don’t try too hard.Just let it happen and leave it dry. Try painting a few and experiment.You’re less likely to overwork one if you have several on the go. As the paint dries you can add some more pink pigment to the centre of the main rose but just a little and let it dry. Do NOT be tempted to put your brush back on the paer at any time as you will disturb the wonderful magic that is happening all on its own.You are to watch,letting the pigment do its own thing. Wet on wet technique is all about letting the paint work with water on paper.Thats why its called Water Colour.Water carries the pigment so in this exercise please let it do just that. There are only two more stages which involve dancing and standing on your head for thirty minutes…..I’m kidding,that’s for my face and figure demonstrations!;) Let your work dry completely before the next final stages.
December 19, 2005 at 3:41 pm #1062454
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The next stage really does call for using your imagination and knowledge of roses. If you have never seen one it is hard to imagine their beauty.Most have a heart.A central part which is deep,darker than the edges.Everything revolves around this core. Our eye is drawn to this part of the rose and the petals gently radiate getting slightly larger in doing so until they meet the final outside ring. Circular brushstrokes are added to emphasise the petal shapes that have already formed in the first wash. All we are doing is gently enhancing them. A hard line of colour is applied in places and then with a damp clean brush the edges of this line are softened and almost blended away completely into the larger part of each petal we choose to emphasise. These outer petals should blend with the background or foliage in places.Its tempting to put every detail in but if you focus on one side of the bloom for detail and leave the opposite side to the imagination a really lovely effect can be created. It also creates a wonderful loose effect. I’ve also drawn from my Chinese experience to leave two white edges to my painting but you may prefer to paint a complete background. Remember your painting will be in your style just following this as a guideline.However try to leave light areas for sunshine hitting the rose on a summers day. Don’t cover all the paper. Do NOT over work at this stage. Take your time. Stop and see how your flower is progressing frequently. 
Leave one side of the foliage softly edged and on the alternative side exaggerate the line to make the flower more dramatic. Try to introduce some of your background foliage colour into your petals for shadows. At this stage you can form the outer petals by using the foliage shades. In a sense you are using your paintbrush as a pencil adding colour and form where ever you wish but remembering to keep your piece light ,clean and fresh looking. You should now stop,leave your study to dry and only then decide if you wish to add further detail. Out of interest when I add colour in a line next to any given object or petal in this case I call it ” bleeding away” the colour with a wash when I load my brush with water to draw pigment from the given line into the outside areas of a wash. The painting should look almost complete. Its time to ” stop and smell the roses” to see if any further detail will add or detract from your painting.
December 19, 2005 at 4:01 pm #1062455
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I must admit I really don’t enjoy this stage.Deciding if a painting is finished or not.If I am really enjoying a painting I don’t want that pleasure to end.I know just one more stroke could make it even better but experience tells me it can kill a painting even more so. If you can remember to leave a painting when you think it needs just one more touch you’re on the winning side of painting with watercolour! I stopped and smelt the roses with this piece and felt I really could improve it a little. The foliage was too pale.The rose as the centre stage demanded a background to make it “sing”. Not exactly a full orchestra was called for because that could have drowned out the roses singing but a gentle background music with a few strong bursts for drama. I have now several rose paintings on the go all started in the same way.I will share a few more later but here is one finished piece. It has enough drama for me.This one has French Ultramarine Blue added to strengthen the dark shading. It reminds me of a David Austen Rose I have in my garden which is where I took my inspiration from. Bold brushwork has made the foliage vcome alive and petal formations are just detailed enough without too much exaggeration to make it look overworked. But of course this is my painting so I can happily rip it to bits and see all its flaws! I will share a few more rose paintings from this style of painting next but I hope you’ve found this demonstration useful.I really would love to see if anyone can follow this as a guide or inspiration to painting roses without sketching and with using wet on wet techniques. Its a very simple method,fun and experimental as each time I paint a rose it always looks very different……. Now what is that poem. “A rose by any other name………..”
December 19, 2005 at 4:20 pm #1062456
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Here are a few more roses painted in the same way. Of course you may sketch a rose beforehand and I admire that style of painting however I must admit I love the free loose style effect more. I like to feel I have something to imagine when I look at a painting. I like to think if something can move it will or might. If it is a wooden flat piece of work this just won’t get my imagination working to see the image I’m dying to see. This small peach rose study I left as I felt it was fun as it was.It feels like a half written letter and I had said all I needed to say at the time of writing! 
This next one I was trying so hard to overwork one side of the rose for students to see what I meant by overworking and the other side I wanted to show what accidents with watercolour can produce. It’s hard producing deliberate accidents at times but this “cauliflower” would make fabulous foliage and look at the great granulation effect creating texture! 
This one may surprise you. It’s very dark for me and slightly too intense and yet it has its own charm. 
It’s almost verging on the effect of an oil painting with such strong colours and yet it reminds me of Madame Blanch Odins style a little. On that note I find if you paint with oils you miss out on all the magical effects that watercolour has to offer.You don’t get the wonderful wet on wet happy accidents as pigments fight for prime position or choose to create a heavenly harmony.There’s a translucent effect with watercolour that is almost angelic at times. You should be able to reach out and want to smell the roses,pick one or feel it’s soft silky petals. Believe it or not while I’ve been typing this step by step demonstration I have yet another rose painting on the go. I love this first wash……. 
I’ve let an almost neat drop of Alizarin Crimson run into the wet areas in places almost in the fashion of a raspberry ripple ice cream,it looks just as yummy! What do you think? I hope this has been useful,interesting and fun……..and I hope more than anything someone wants to paint a rose now…..I do!;) Happy painting everyone……. Jean!
December 19, 2005 at 4:33 pm #1062427
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Well done, Jean – not my style, but it does tempt me to try it Doug
We must leave our mark on this world
December 19, 2005 at 4:55 pm #1062434
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Jean, thank you so much for this, I guess I don’t have any excuse to avoid trying. —
Roger
Roger – Painting Blog etc -> RogerPf.com
December 19, 2005 at 5:13 pm #1062457
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I didn’t expect a reply from Santa! Something really wierd happened while I was typing this demonstration.All of a sudden I realised I have no idea who is reading what I’m typing.I realised I can’t see faces or reactions the same as I can in a classroom and I can’t see smiles or frowns. I also can’t physically show what I am trying to demonstrate in the written form. So all of a sudden I became incredibly nervous when I was about half way through this! I don’t think thats a bad thing.It’s a very humbling experience and will make me try even harder in future with more scanned stages and details but I can’t tell you how relieved I am to see smiling faces in a reply right now! Thank you Doug and Roger………or should I say Santa and Roger……I’ll relax a little now!
December 19, 2005 at 5:18 pm #1062446
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Jean I have looked at this Demo and your other WIP/demos and I just have one thing to say……. Can you come and live with me…… I’ll explain it to Marge…..
Mike ——- see my progress through the work that I share on my website
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December 19, 2005 at 6:03 pm #1062458
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Oh My Mike………..okay I have REALLY relaxed now and actually I’m laughing here…….what a brilliant reply! THANK YOU!:wave:
December 19, 2005 at 6:13 pm #1062437
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Brilliant Jean, can’t wait until I have time to try all 3 of your demos. I have bookmarked them as they look like such fun all of them. Thank you for taking the time to do this. My time will come after Christmas where I think I will just take days off to paint, not shop, not bake, not cook, not anything but paint. Thank you so much for sharing it fits right into the season.
[FONT=”Comic Sans MS”] Judy
December 19, 2005 at 7:34 pm #1062431
Such an amazingly entertaining read as well as a phenomenal demonstration……. and a real feast for the eye to boot. Too late tonight even for me to start…….. but having read carefully right through……. and knowing exactly what you mean about not seeing the students faces( thats like working in radio …… no instant feedback !!) I found there was just one sentence I didnt understand……
Out of interest when I add colour in a line next to any given object or petal in this case I call it ” bleeding away” the colour with a wash when I load my brush with water to draw pigment from the given line into the outside areas of a wash.
I guess my outsides and insides aren’t clear. could you, tomorrow perhaps if you have time….. do a quick shot of what you mean exactly ? You realise what good practice this is for writing a book dont you < do we not get the robin till next year then ?? :D] What an asset to WC! you are cant give you another mentor point yet but can 5* the thread
All my pastel portraits HERE . currently being updated! Website : www.JayteesArt.co.uk : also needing updating ! . and over in Facebook ‘Self Portraits Studio’ and just re-discovered this wonderful group here ‘Self Portraits Join in the Fun’
December 19, 2005 at 8:03 pm #1062459
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Oh my Jaytee.You really have the ability to make me laugh in just a few lines……. The Robin too? I’m in fits here.Everyone will be bored to tears if I post the robin too so maybe he should wait a little…….why do I get the feeling you are smiling right now? Maybe a little birdie told me,a robin maybe?:) I did wonder if that was a commonly used term or not.”Bleeding away” is an expression I picked up from a few demonstrations so I can’t claim it as my own. I’ll try to explain and you’re right. This will be invaluable help if I ever get a book together.I seriously would love to.I’d like to get people all over the world dancing and singing while they paint.If anyone follows this demo religiously they will already be standing up and throwing their arms around in circles so that’s a great start!;) Let’s imagine there is a straight line on the paper.A horizon line for example. You load your brush with colour and place it on the paper along that line. If you left it there it would dry in a line formation yes? While the paint is still wet in that line you load your brush with clean water,apply it alongside that line of pigment in a sweeping stroke. The pigment will then run to the water.Almost as if it’s bleeding. If you then lay a third line of a loaded brush with water the pigment will run into the next wet section. By placing water in brush strokes next to an area of wet pigment you are allowing the shade to ” bleed away”. It leaves an effect like a graded wash from dark to very light. As it happens the Robin demonstration actually involves this technique! Okay I’ll try to find time to share the Robin too! Thank you for the stars,I feel you should have them for encouraging me.:) Becky, Hi and thank you…..I envy you if you will have time to just paint! I’m promising myself time to do just that after the Christmas celebrations and before I start teaching again. Right now I’m having fun putting my lesson plans together for my next courses and I will share some here because as Jaytee pointed out it is great practise for a book I would love to put together eventually. And you’re right.Christmas is the most wonderful time for giving and sharing…:) …… I hope you have a wonderful Christmas followed by a year of brilliant painting! Hugs,Jean!
December 19, 2005 at 8:24 pm #1062432
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this looks great! can’r read it now – so have bookmarked it.
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