Burgeoning

"Burgeoning"
12" x12"
Oil on wrapped canvas
The roses in my bouquet are burgeoning! Each blossom is different, like children of the same parents. This is the sister of yesterday's post. Tomorrow's will be different still. I've joyfully spent two days painting nothing but fragrant delicacies. 

In two weeks I will celebrate 365 consecutive days of posting a painting a day. I have not missed one day in a year. I will be gifting a painting to one of my viewers.  I'll give details on Sunday's post.

Carol

Dailypainters.com
Dailypaintworks.com
My Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Toned

"Toned"
20" x 20"
Oil on wrapped canvas



"Toned "is hardly a romantic, floral title, but it's all I thought about while I was painting her. I toned my canvas with burnt umber and set out to paint a white rose. But the umber kept bleeding through, even though I coated and wiped it off yesterday!  This white rose has an overall color that I can't describe, or I would have titled it differently. 
 
I'll post her this way, but I may tweak her with glazes of other colors if I absolutely can't tolerate her when she's completely dry.  

And you thought I knew what I was doing.  Ha!  
Carol  

Wild Yellow

"Wild Yellow"
6" x 6"
Oil on canvas panel
I came across a valley full of wild yellow rose bushes while looking for blueberries that morning. There were bees all around them, and "bee-ing" allergic, I took only one photo and made tracks out of there.  


I enjoyed painting this little rose, despite her lack of a strong whorl pattern. Her center, on the other hand was strong and commanded attention.

Thank you for "bee-ing" here today.
Carol

Dailypainters.com
Dailypaintworks.com
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Coral Rose

"Coral Rose"
6" x 6"
Oil on hardboard
"That which we call a rose, by any other name would smell as sweet." So saith Romeo to Juliette. But what if it were a chocolate rose? Would it smell as sweet—or sweeter? 

I spent most of the day trying to combine two of my favorite subjects—a rose and chocolate.  Alas, I failed miserably. I wiped off the chalky abomination and made this one instead. Thorns and all! 

I shall try again! 
Carol 

Festive Rose #2

"Festive Rose #2"
6" x 6"
Oil on canvas panel
Her petals lounged against the patterned background as comfortably as a dad in a hammock.  She seemed to wear the print as easily as her own leaves.  


Here's another one of my textured backgrounds that I enjoy making for single subjects.  Roses look good on the multicolored ones.

Thank you for popping in today!
Carol

DPW 
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Apricot Rose


"Apricot Rose"
12" x 12"
Oil on panel
She came with a heady scent, as thick as her petals, as ripe as her color.  This rose was in a bouquet with twenty-three others.  I painted her sister on a 36" x 36" canvas, and couldn't help but honor this one when I revisited my reference photos. 


I love a square format for my single blossom paintings—large or small, the flowers I love to paint seem to fit well in this shape.

But do you think I can find a ready made frame in a square?  Wouldn't you think with as huge as the daily painting movement is, and the thousands of square paintings that are painted each week, that some company would latch on to that market?   I'd do it if I didn't already wear so many hats!  If you are reading this and thinking about it and rubbing your chin, we need: 6x6, 8x8, 10x10, 12x12 and 14x14.  Not even just for us, the painters, but for the wonderful people investing in our art.

Thank you for reading today.


DPW
My DPW Gallery
Brushstrokes@comcast.net

Rose #4

"Rose #4"
24" x 24"
Oil on gessoed panel
This little rose, and I do mean little, was the size of a quarter, full-blown, on the bush. I got her at the grocery store, being hungry for life in the dead of winter. I photographed her in many poses, but this one seemed to capture the essence of who she was. 

 Her outermost petals were raw sienna; unbecoming a lady of her stature. Yet they suited her the more I painted.  So I left them and painted what I observed. Probably they were a result of having travelled under wraps in a refrigerated grocery truck for a week... or more.

This painting and many of the ones featured in my blog are available for purchase on the wonderful website Daily Paintworks.  Please check it out.

Carol

Picket Fence Rose


"Picket Fence Rose"
24" x 24"
Oil on wrapped canvas
Close to the road on my way to somewhere is a home with a picket fence.  The straight white boards shoulder a tangle of greenery, dotted with oodles of fat, white roses. 

I layered cool blue shadows on the outer rim of this rose.  Then rubbed in a cool pink,  knowing that I'd glaze the furnace inside her belly with several yellows.  I kept the innermost petals pure permanent rose, like lipstick on her pouty lips.

This painting is listed with, and for sale through Dailypaintworks.com.

Thank you for visiting,
Carol

Old Rose

"Old Rose"
36" x 36"Oil on wrapped canvas 

This rose faced my placesetting at a dinner party for my friend.  She was the only full-blown one in the bunch. I commented on the way her petals curled and the host sent me home with the entire bunch. The next morning all of them looked like this! I photographed them and have hundreds of images from which to choose.

I began painting in the corners, swirling burnt umber and mineral violet toward the soft edges of the outermost petals. I worked toward the center with lighter and lighter passes. Then when the values were right I began to add glazes of color until the center was rosey enough to be my focal point.

This painting is listed with, and for sale through Dailypaintworks.com.

Thank you for visiting,
Carol







Rose #3

"Rose #3"
24" x 24"
Oil on gessoed panel 
It was evening when I found her yawning into her sleeve.  She had sung her last lullaby and kissed dew drops onto the buds tipping the branches of her sinewy stem. 

I enjoy making square paintings. The corners become important, and need to be different in shape, value and edge. Placing a round flower in a square format can be successful if there's a sense of motion around the center, not just like a dart stuck in the center, with no chance to meander.

Thank you for visiting,
Carol

Rose #2

"Rose #2"
  24" x 24"
Oil on gessoed panel 
When "Morning Rose" (see the post from Saturday, July 23rd) was purchased and shipped to Colorado I was left with a vacancy in my series.  I revisited my reference photos and cropped her lovely face into a square.  She is currently hanging as a companion piece to "Rose #3".

Here I faced the issue of placing a round subject in a square format again. I must enjoy the challenge.  If I recall correctly, the deceased artist Michael Gerry delighted in the same pleasure. He made a living painting large single blooms, many of them square.  

Thank you for visiting,
Carol

Rose #6

"Rose # 6"
Oil on wrapped canvas
20" x  20"
The photo for the painting of the rose above was shot at the Chicago Botanic Gardens in Glencoe, a year ago.  It was evening, before a concert on the Esplanade.  The music was as lively as the flounce of her petticoats.  Even with another 154 luscious images in my camera, I knew I would commit her to canvas within a year. 

I first establish my darks, usually around the perimeter, and swirl them with a piece of sponge, (see yesterday's post) mixing a cool green with the warm red I'll use in the center of the rose. I pay attention to the values in the photo on my digital screen, but ignore most of that detail. I'm merely creating a soft foil to tuck behind the main player. 

Thank you for visiting,
Carol