Today I will show you how to paint a simple loose style watercolour rose.
Basically, a rose is built of lots of petals around a core in the middle. In the middle, the petals are quite tight around the core while towards the outside of the flower they become looser and there’s more air between the petals. This is exactly what you should keep in mind while painting a rose: darker, smaller and more condensed petals in the middle and bigger, lighter more ‘airy’ petals towards the outer edge of the flower.
But how do you do this? Start building your flower from the inside out, with little c-shaped curves that are all circled around the same center. Make them quite thin in the middle, hold your brush in an almost 90 degrees angle. Then start using more of the body of the brush as you make your way towards the outside of the flower, make the petals bigger and wider by applying more pressure and holding your brush in a slanted angle. Keep positioning the petals around the same core!
Don’t put new pigment on your brush while you work towards the outside of the flower! We want the petals to get gradually lighter, so just swish your brush around your water to release pigment and go back in with just water and some left over pigment on your brush.
As you can see in the video, after I finish all the petals I pick up any excess water with a dry brush. If there’s too many ‘puddles’ left, these might dry with harsh lines around them, making the flower look patchy. I also put in some more dark pigment in the middle to give the flower a bit more depth.
These are the supplies I used today:
- Winsor & newton professional grade watercolour (Scarlet lake, Opera rose and Mars Black)
- Size 16 synthetic kolinsky brush
- Cold pressed watercolour paper
I hope you enjoyed this one. If you haven’t signed up for the tutorials in your mailbox yet then you can do so below. Take care and stay safe!
Lots of love,
