And we would have something like this –

Now the actual colors are not the only challenge to a painting like this.

Let us talk about the brushes:

I used a Liner #6 as my base brush. Because I have so many edges and tight areas to paint.

However you might find it useful to have some small Rounds, Flats and an Angle Brush handy.

The real hurdle with a painting like this is – what flowers are in back and what flowers move forward.

So we might diagram our painting like so:

FORWARD MOVING FLOWERS-

This is a diagram of how I will work my warm colors from rear to front … W1 to W7.

And the reason for diagramming this image is I don’t want to forget how I am ‘moving’ my flowers.

Because I don’t want the individual roses to appear to be in the same plane.

Now we have the challenge of our Cool Flowers –

And again I diagrammed this movement so I don’t forget to work the ‘cool’ colors.

Now – after many cups of coffee the painting starts to take shape.

So – let me summarize what happens from our drawing to this point-

1- We are using gouache (Titanium White) and mixing it with our Transparent Colors.

2- We are painting our roses area by area, allowing the different roses to dry before we re-work as necessary.

3- For the reds … we used Rose Madder, Opera, Vermillion … ‘painting to our individual taste.’

4- The leaves get a treatment of Turquoise and Yellow and Transparent Brown – all mixed with the Titanium White.

However we have a challenge with the big pink rose –

This diagram illustrates the direction of shadows to apply to the petals of this rose.

And with gouache … we can lighten or darken our colors as necessary with greens and blues… ie. – Antwerp Blue and Verditer Blue.

And there you have it.

Finished Rose Floral Painting