Morning Sketch 9 – Roses

Things are made up of shapes, and understanding their shapes and structures should – hopefully! – make them easier to paint.

I have a small rose garden, and it always pleases me to see it in bloom. Most of the roses I chose for fragrance, but some I chose because I like them. So, as my roses come back to life after weeks of rain, it seemed fitting to paint roses.

A few videos later . . . open roses are shaped like tea cups. For me, try a coffee up. Paint them like a series of C shapes, but vary the thickness of the C strokes. These made sense. As well, when looking at the roses, I realized my way of seeing things to paint has shifted over the past year and suddenly they became easier to “see” – if that makes any sense.

Above, first play with roses.