National Rose Month: Day 25
Posted on June 25, 2021
Rose Demonstration & Tips
If you are new to capturing roses in oils, before you start painting, it is important to think about creating the underlying form of the rose. A closed rose bud is like an egg. Don’t worry about the petals that you see on the bud, just break down the shape as a simple oval, before adding any details. The form of the open rose is like a cup and the center is usually warmer and darker than you think!
My first step is to draw the composition onto the panel using a thin wash of cadmium red thinned with Gamsol. At this stage I am placing the simple shapes. If I am not happy with my composition, I can wipe the panel down and adjust. I love to work from life, but sometimes other priorities such as work and family take precedent. Sometimes I start from life and have to finish from a photo of my set-up.
For the next step I work in the background color onto the panel using a thin wash of color mixed with Gamsol. To create softer edges, I use a paper towel soaked in Gamsol to wipe out certain areas, too. 
I start to establish the darkest dark that I see on the main rose and add some details to the glass vase.
I use the dark tone on the main rose to help me judge the other values. I also squint to help me to judge the color values and try to simplify the shapes of color that I see.
I keep squinting and add more detail to the focal point—all the while I am thinking about lost and found edges and little shapes of color.
I reserve the thickest paint for the flowers (using no medium or solvent), keeping the most detail and hardest edges on the focal point and the roses that are closest to the viewer. If my paint is too thick or if I want to add a glaze, I like to use just a touch of Oleogel by Rublev as my medium. I create the roses in the background with softer edges and less detail to help create depth and keep the interest on the focal point.
My last step is to check edges. I want to make sure I don’t have any hard edges near the outside of the painting. Often I walk a way for a bit to view the painting with fresh eyes—even placing it in another room or upside down. Here is the finished painting!
Grace
(11 x 14 inches, oil on panel)
National Rose Month: Day 24
Posted on June 24, 2021
I have found, after a good deal of consideration, that the best place to seek God is in a garden. You can dig for Him here.
Garden Song
(14 x 11 inches, oil on panel)
Framed painting: $425.00 plus shipping
National Rose Month: Day 23
Posted on June 23, 2021
People die . . . so love them every day. Beauty fades . . . so look before it’s gone. Love changes . . . but not the love you give. And if you love, you’ll never be alone.
—L. J. Smith
Fading Beauty
● Sold (8 x 10 inches, oil on panel)
National Rose Month: Day 22
Posted on June 22, 2021
According to the Masters of Foxhounds Association of America, Englishman Robert Brooke was the first man to import hunting hounds to America, bringing his pack to Maryland in 1650 when he imported his horses and a pack of foxhounds. The first organized hunt for the benefit of a group (rather than a single patron) was started by Thomas, sixth Lord Fairfax in 1747. In the United States, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson both kept packs of fox hounds before and after the American Revolutionary War.
This teacup inspired this painting and the red roses seemed to be the perfect complement for the rider with his red coat.
Hunt Club Tea
● Sold (8 x 10 inches, oil on panel)
National Rose Month: Day 21
Posted on June 21, 2021
“Give her two red roses, each with a note. The first note says For the woman I love and the second, For my best friend.”
In this painting I wanted to play with the different shades of creamy white and the warm colors found in the center of some of these roses. The red roses are the divas that demand your attention in the center of the composition. The soft grey background keeps the focus on the beautiful forms of the roses.
Valentine
(14 x 1 1 inches, oil on panel)
National Rose Month: Day 20
Posted on June 20, 2021
“When tea becomes ritual, it takes its place at the heart of our ability to see greatness in small things. Where is beauty to be found? In great things that, like everything else, are doomed to die, or in small things that aspire to nothing, yet know how to set a jewel of infinity in a single moment. ”
—Muriel Barbery
Teapot with Roses
● Sold (16 x 20 inches, oil on panel)
National Rose Month: Day 19
Posted on June 19, 2021
Blue, white and pink . . . I love the combination of soft roses and a chinoiserie vase. Sometimes your brush strokes need to just suggest the pattern on the vase, keeping the pattern subtle not to overwhelm the main focal point. I painted this yesterday afternoon and here are a few progress shots.
I create a rough drawing of my composition using Cadmium Red. Next I like to lay in the background and remove parts of it with a paper towel soaked in Gamsol for a painterly effect. I tested the color of one of the petals to start my block-in.
My next step is to establish the lightest light and the darkest dark to help me judge the values. I then added some tones that I saw in the vase, keeping the detail and edges soft to create the pattern on the chinoiserie vase. I want the rose on the right to be the focal point so I create the hardest edges there.
Now I work on the rose on the left, keeping the edges softer, so it does not complete with the focal point. I tell my students, creating a focal point is a “Hey, look at me area” in your art, that you need to tell your story and direct the viewer where to look. If everything is important—then nothing is!
Roses and Chinoiserie
● Sold (6 x 6 inches, oil on panel
National Rose Month: Day 18
Posted on June 18, 2021
I love to visit the garden at Ben Lomond’s House in Manassas. The historic roses bloom along with peonies and climb a beautiful white trellis. It is a tranquil spot filled with history as the house was used by a field hospital by both the Union and the Confederate troops during the Civil War.
Garden Glimpse
(9 x 6 inches, oil on panel)
Framed painting: $350 plus shipping
Available for Sale through Paypal
National Rose Month: Day 17
Posted on June 17, 2021
“Blushing is the true color of virtue.” —Diogenes
Soft petals, some of these flowers seemed to blush with the warm tones I observed in the middle. The dark background provided polarity to the softness and color of these roses.
Blush
Framed painting: $450 plus Shipping
(10 x 8 inches, oil on panel)
National Rose Month: Day 16
Posted on June 16, 2021
“Happiness radiates like the fragrance from a flower and draws all good things towards you.”
—Maharishi Maheseh Yogi
Sometimes there is no need for a vase—just a simple, casual arrangement of roses on a table top.
Three Roses
● Sold (8 x 10 inches, oil on panel)
