Mastering Yellow Roses in Watercolor

1. Trailer: Hello and welcome to my Skillshare class on painting a magnificent yellow rose. My name is Chris and I'm a Watercolor and digital artists as well as a teacher. In this class, our focus will be on painting a yellow rose with watercolors, yellow rose is often considered a challenging subject. Not only does the Rose have a complex structure, by working with the color yellow can also be tricky. However, by the end of this tutorial, I hope you'll feel more comfortable in tackling such subjects. I'll guide you step-by-step in creating a realistic representation of this exquisite flower. Throughout the class, you will learn in Practice various skills, techniques and concepts that will help you produce your own beautiful paintings. To help you get started, I provide valuable resources including a list of the supplies I used for the painting, ready-to-print, line drawings in different sizes, a Reference Photo and Work-in-Progress Photos. You can also refer to my finished painting for inspiration and guidance as you work on your own painting. In addition, I'll provide you with a helpful PDF file that contains useful information about Mixing and Darkening Colors. If you're ready to create something beautiful, Let's jump right in and get started. 2. Class Project: For your class project, I invite you to paint a yellow flower of your choice using the techniques and knowledge from this tutorial, you can either paint the yellow rose from this tutorial, which is highly recommended, or select a simpler subject that has a yellow petals. The goal is to apply the concepts and skills you've learned and create a unique artwork that reflects your personal style. Feel free to share your progress shots and final painting with the class. You can upload them to the Projects and Resources section by clicking on the create project button, providing a brief description of your process and any challenges you encountered during the creative process can be helpful for other students, as well as for me to provide feedback and support. If you have any questions or concerns during the process, please don't hesitate to ask in the Discussions section. I'm here to help you in any way I can. Lastly, but very, very important. I highly recommend watching each lesson before starting your painting. This will help you to become more familiar with the techniques and better prepared for what to expect in the particular part of the tutorial, leading to a more confident and more enjoyable painting experience. So I highly recommend that you watch each part of the tutorial twice to get a better understanding of what you're going to do 3. Resources: I've prepared some helpful resources for your project, which you can find in the Projects and Resources section. Please note that these resources are only available on the web version of Skillshare, not the app. In the resources you will find a PDF file with a list of the supplies I used for this painting. In a while you don't need the exact same supplies. I suggest using 100% cotton paper because this will give you the best results. You can use your preferred paints and brushes. You will also find reference photos and my finished painting for inspiration. I've included line drawings in different sizes that you can print and transfer onto your watercolor paper. You can choose the size that suits you best. Additionally, there are Work-in-Progress Photos and a helpful PDF about Mixing and Darkening Colors. Feel free to explore these resources and use them to create your own beautiful painting. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask. Enjoy your project 4. Introduction: Hello, Welcome to this watercolor painting tutorial on creating a beautiful yellow rose. Whether you're an experienced artist or just starting out. This step-by-step guide will help you in creating a vibrant and lovely masterpiece. Watercolors are an excellent medium for capturing the delicate than subtle details of flowers. And the yellow rose symbolizing joy, friendship and happiness holds a special place. By employing a few simple techniques and the touch of creativity, you will bring this radian blossom to life on your paper. Painting roses is often considered challenging due to their complex structure and numerous petals. However, I believe that the difficulty lies not in the subject itself, but rather in the patients and techniques we use. Consider this. If you can paint a shape, any shape using a gradient from one color to another, then why not arose, arose, or any other subject is merely a collection of those shapes put together like a finished puzzle. If you can paint one of them, you can paint the rest to. It just requires patience and a bit more focus. Yellow roses may seem particularly daunting given their numerous petals and challenging color. However, in this tutorial, you'll discover that working with yellow doesn't have to be that difficult. Throughout this tutorial, we'll break down the process into manageable steps, ensuring it's accessible for everyone. Don't worry if you're new to watercolor painting, exploring something beyond your current level may pose challenges, but it's the only way you can develop your skills. With a little bit of patience and my guidance. I'm confident that you'll be able to paint this beautiful rose and feel proud of your artwork. 5. Sketch: In the class resources, you will find a sketch that can be used to transfer onto your watercolor paper. The sketch is available for you in two versions, black and in color. And in various sizes. You can choose any size you like. I painted my rose at 12 by 9 ". The two color versions serve different purposes. If you plan to use a light path for transferring your drawing, the black version would be more suitable by placing the black version on your light pad and your watercolor paper on top, you will be able to see the lines clearly. However, if you're using a different transfer method, such as transfer paper like several, the colored version might work better for you. When you trace the lines with your pen. You can easily distinguish which lines you have already traced and what is left. If you were to use the black version in this case, it would be difficult to see the lines you've already traced. Of course, you can also choose to draw freehand. However, I personally stopped doing this after getting a light box. When I have tools that can assist with drawing quickly, I prefer not to spend too much time perfecting my sketch. My main focuses on painting rather than spending excessive time on drawing. Please don't feel that tracing is cheering. I often hear this, but in my opinion, it is not. Tracing simply speeds up the process and helps maintain accurate proportions. If I want to practice drawing, I can always do that in my sketchbook or elsewhere. But for my paintings, I always use a light pad and trace the reference photos. Once the sketch is complete, I wet the paper on both sides, staple it to my gator board, and let it dry overnight. The next day. Hi, apply masking tape to all four sides and I'm ready to start painting. Now let's proceed to the first Painting video, where we will focus on the background 6. Background Part 1: Let's begin our beautiful painting. Typically when I paint flowers, I start by using masking fluid to mask off the main subject, in this case, the rose, so that I can freely paint the background. However, in certain instances like this one, I chose not to use masking fluid. And the reason for this decision lies in how the overall image is divided into sections. Let's examine the reference photo. Of course, I selected this photo because I immediately fell in love with the colors and the lighting. If you've chosen to follow this tutorial, I believe you'll agree with me that it looks truly beautiful. No doubt about it. Sometimes I intentionally take a photo or crop it later in a way that will make it easier for me to paint the subject. I enjoy painting close-up Flowers, and I like it when the main subject partially extends beyond the page. There are two reasons for this. Firstly, it creates a more intimate experience. I feel as if the rose is very close, playing the most significant role in this painting. And secondly, when parts of the Flowers extend beyond the page, it divides the background into more manageable sections. In this case, we have several distinct sections in the background, none of which are too large. We can also considered the Bud and the leaf as sections of the background. Furthermore, the outline of the rose itself is not very complex. It has a simple shape that I know I can paint around relatively quickly. So considering these two elements, background divided into smaller sections, and simple outline of the main subject. I've made the decision not to use masking fluid in this painting. We'll begin painting from the upper-left corner. First, let's prepare some Colors. We will need greens. That's for sure. Initially, I considered mixing my green with blue and yellow, but this time I thought we could use a pre-made Winsor green, yellow shade as the base. This green is very vibrant and it may appear somewhat artificial. So we need a less saturated green with more of an olive tone. A good way to achieve a more natural green in this case, is to add burnt sienna. This will immediately give us a nice natural green. Alternatively, if you don't have this green, you can use a mix of Windsor blue and transparent yellow as your base green. The result will be the same. Using burnt sienna in order to achieve more natural green is just one of the options. Another option would be to add maybe a touch of a more vibrant version of brown. So orange, I decided to use burnt sienna will also need a darker green and I want to keep that in a separate paddle. So now below, I'm mixing the same green mix, Winsor green, yellow shade with burnt sienna. This will be my bass, middle green. To the first mix. I'm adding Payne's gray to dark in it. I hope this doesn't confuse you. I'm darkening the upper puddle only because it's closer to Payne's gray on my palette. Let's recap. The upper paddle is a mix of Winsor green, yellow shade, burnt sienna, and the Payne's gray. It's our dark green. The bottom puddle is a mix of Winsor green, yellow shade, and burnt sienna. It's our bass, middle green. Finally, I'm also adding green gold in the corner because I know I will need a warmer, brighter green. I always like to incorporate green gold into my greens. It's a great color. On the other mixing space, I'm mixing cobalt blue. I'll be using a brush size eight. We're painting wet on wet. So let's first wet this section of the background. Apply water up to the upper part of the rose bud in the background. We don't have to be extremely precise while applying the paint along the edges. In fact, you can leave a small gap close to the pencil lines. The reason for that is that we want to wet the main area of that section very well so that the paint has a nice environment to flow. While the edges may remain dry. We will sculpt the outline with a brush and achieve that nice, clean edge. I hope this makes sense. Make sure that this section is evenly wet. Pick up your light green with more green gold, and begin applying the paint from the lightest colors. Take note of how much the paint spreads on my paper and try to achieve a similar result on your paper. At this stage, it's important for the paper to be thoroughly wet. It's better for it to be slightly too wet then to dry because the paint needs water as a vehicle to move. Also observe how I can carefully paint around the rose, focusing on the edges. Those edges are dry, allowing me to create clear, straight lines. Notice the movement of my brush. I use two types of brush movements. Firstly, regular brush strokes are used when painting the edges or when I want to distribute the initial paint on the paper. Secondly, I use dabbing motion of the brush quite often. This technique releases more paint onto the paper, resulting in a richer color. Give it a try. Now following the Reference Photo more or less, try to arrange the colors on your paper in a similar manner. Transfer the paint from the palate to the paper, ensuring that you're not using too many brushstrokes when aiming for smooth gradients and color transitions in the background. There are few things to keep in mind. Wet the paper thoroughly and evenly. Use a brush that is large enough for the area your painting tried to maintain the wetness of the paint and paper at the same level throughout. Strive to use as few brush strokes as possible. The more brushstrokes you use, the greater the risk of over-working the painting. This is why using a big enough brush is crucial. It allows you to accomplish the desired effect with fewer brushstrokes. Lastly, and very important, after applying the paint, tilt the painting in different directions to let the paint move on the paper. This step is crucial in achieving smooth color blends. Notice how all of those elements are interconnected. The paper needs to be really wet to provide the paint with a vehicle for movement. As sufficiently large brush allows for quick paint application before the paper dries and enables fewer brushstrokes. Quick paint application and a wet surface allow you to tell to the painting, encouraging the paint to move and create smooth color blends. These are the key elements to remember when painting something like this. 7. Background Part 2: Now let's keep the rose, but on the left and move on to the bottom-left corner. In this area, we meet a legal challenge due to the presence of blurry leaf shapes and highlights. But we don't worry about that. We can paint this. Since we are still painting wet on wet. Let's start by applying a layer of water. My water may not be perfectly clean anymore, but that's alright. This area is mostly green, so a slight tinge in the water is acceptable. As you apply the water tried to paint around this small highlight at the tip of the leaf. I must admit that I wasn't careful enough. And I went over it instinctively. I used my finger to remove the water from that spot, tried to be more cautious than me and leave that highlight unpainted. Go over this area with another layer of water. If you feel that there isn't enough water present, I often go for two rounds just to make sure that the surface is really wet. Also remember that when you dab the brush, you release more water from it. When you're ready, start painting this area from the upper part. I'm beginning with the dark, olive green. I added more burnt sienna to my dark mix. Notice how I paint over the sepals of the rose Bud and how I use the dabbing motion of the brush to deliver as much dark paint as I can. Close to the pedal. I added more burnt sienna. Change the colors along the way. Apply the basic colors that you can see in the Reference Photo. Think in terms of color patches. They don't have to be perfect. Just use something similar to what you've seen the Photo. Leave a gap for the lightest part. You may be wondering about the sepals, why we paint over them now. We will leave out a lot in that area, including the sepals later on. For now, focus on applying the main colors that you can see in this area. For the brownish areas, I'm using more burnt sienna. Notice how the colors blend nicely due to the wetness of the paper and paint. Introduce a darker green on the issues still see a shine on the paper. If the surface is becoming more matte like in the upper part, in my case, refrain from adding more paint. You can add more paint only when the paper is still wet unless you want to achieve a specific effect. Now using a more concentrated mixture of burnt sienna and Payne's gray, I'm quickly adding the brown stem of the rose and some brown patches. The more concentrated the paint, the less it will spread. Here, I wanted to paint the brown stem, but keep the edges blurry. Since it's in the background. If the paint was too watery, it would blur excessively. So I needed more concentrated paint to achieve the desired effect. Finally, I feel the lighter gap we've cobbled blue ones done, tilted the painting and lead to paint flow and blend. When it settles and stops moving. Let's move on to the upper right section 8. Background Part 3: In this area, of course, we start by wetting this entire section. It's another manageable sections, scenes, the Petals act as stopping points in two places, which is really nice. One thing to keep in mind here is that in the upper part, we need to start with blue on the left. To continue the color from the left side of the pedal, we want to create the impression of continuity in the background. For this area, I'm using a mix of cobalt blue and burnt sienna. Blue and brown are complimentary colors. So together they create nice neutrals, which are important here. We don't want the background to compete with the main subject by using more neutral colors into the background, the main subject will stand out even more. So I'm using this greenish gray mix of cobalt blue and burnt sienna. And as I move down, I'm adding more green to suggest some plants in the background. As you can see, I'm not following the reference photo exactly. Now I tilt my painting to ensure that the colors blend nicely. I don't want to do too much in this corner. I want to leave this open space to provide a breathing room in the painting. Finally, we can tackle the bottom right corner. It's a very dark area, so the water doesn't have to be clean. It's okay if it appears dirty. At least we can see where we're playing it. Start from the upper part and try to match the color with the area just above it to maintain the continuity of the background. As you move downward, add more burnt sienna mixed with your dark green. Continue painting with these dark colors, making sure that the paint you're using isn't too thick. It should be dark, but still flowy. While the paint is still wet, you can drop in more of the dark color to make sure that it stays quite dark when it dries. As you know, watercolors tend to dry lighter. So if we want to apply just one layer like in this case, we need to ensure that the paint is darker than necessary at this stage to account for the lighter drying effect. Okay, This is how it looks at this stage. Now we need to let it dry completely. Make sure it's really dry. Before moving on to the next step, I left it to dry overnight. There is no need to rush. Practicing patients will yield better results. And as you know, haste makes waste 9. Lifting Out: At this stage, it's time to bring out our secret weapon. The scrubber brush. The one I use most often is a Winsor and Newton's Galleria brush size for I've had it for several years now and it does exactly what I need. I believe that the scrubber brush is an underrated tool, but in fact, I use it in almost every painting. It's incredibly useful. A scrubber brush doesn't have to be fancy. There are brushes specifically designed for scrubbing, but for me, scrubber brush can be any brush with slightly stiffer bristles than traditional watercolor brushes. I've found that flat brushes for acrylic painting usually have bristles that strike the right balance between stiffness and softness. But as always, something that works for me, it doesn't have to work for you. It's a matter of trial and error to find what works best for you. I also have a small snap Princeton shader brush that I sometimes used for lifting Out tiny details. Bristles are much softer compared to my workhorse, the Galleria brush. I've tried other brushes as well, but the one from Winsor and Newton works great for me. So I stick to it. Initially it was quite stiff, but over time the bristles have become softer. Now I'm dipping the brush in water and removing the excess on a paper towel with just damp bristles. I'm rubbing the edges of the rose about to activate the dried paint. Then I quickly dab that area with a paper towel to remove the paint. This softens the edge, making it more blurry, which is exactly what we want to achieve for this shape of the rose. But sometimes I may need to go over the same area a few times to leafed out enough paint. Occasionally, I need to use a bit more water. It depends on this specific situation. I've noticed that green is one of the easiest colors to leafed out. So I'm always very cautious when working with green scenes. I don't want to lift too much. Notice that I keep the brush angled from the side that is not yet painted. I also use this technique to create the shapes of the sepals. By lifting Out the paint, I create something that I called ghost shapes. So semi-transparent shapes that can be colored if necessary. There is also that strong highlight and now I'm softening the edges of it. In addition, I'm bringing out a lighter shapes of the leaf using the same technique. I sculpt leaf with the brush using gentle strokes. Pressing too hard my you leafed out too much paint, so I'm cautious and gentle. The amount of pressure applied determines the lightness or darkness of the spot. We can manipulate the pressure to achieve lighter or darker spots, depending on the colors and layers applied. After lifting Out to paint, we may reveal the color that was underneath or obtain a paler version of the lifted color. Sometimes these parts may appear to white, but that's not a problem since we can always apply a layer on top to modify the color. And that's what we will do in the next part. 10. Rose Bud and Glazing Technique: We have lifted out the paint, so let's allow those spots some time to rest. In the meantime, we can focus on painting the rose, but for the pink color, I'll be using permanent rose, which is always my go-to color for warm pink. We will also need a worm, yellow. So in my case, I'm using Winsor yellow deep. Load your brush with a watery consistency of permanent rose and start applying this color from the top part of the rose, but try to paint around the lightest areas and the sepal. If you need a break, if you need to pause and paint a different spot. Like in this case where I moved from the center of the Bud to the upper part, leave a soft edge. This way, even if it dries, you won't end up with a hard line. In the upper part. I also use a touch of Winsor yellow deep. Use a clean damp brush to soften the edges. Continue our playing the pink color. Since this time we're painting wet on dry, not wet on wet. The paint consistency needs to be watery. If it's not wet enough. The edge of the paint will dry quickly and result in a hard edge which we don't want. We want the colors to blend nicely on the paper. So either use the wet-on-wet technique, which is great for blending colors, or in this case, wet on dry water down the paint significantly so that there is ample time for blending the colors before they dry. At the bottom of the rose, but use more yellow and apply some burnt sienna to the sepals that we created by lifting Out the paint. While the paint is still wet, we can drop in more intense colors to make the colors richer. If the paint is starting to dry, you may end up with some soft edges and some hard edges, as in my case, sometimes this effect is desired, but other times it's not. In this situation where I don't want any hard edges. I have to apply the paint to the entire area. Again. With a clean, damp brush. I'm running the brush through the paint to suggest another Now let's allow the rose but to dry and move on to the lower part to work on that area. Here we have the leaf in the background where we are lifted out. The paint looks soft and nice, but it's a bit too white. Now we can use a technique called Glazing. Are Glaze is essentially a thin layer of paint. However, there is a specific layer that has its own name. A Unifying Glaze is a Glaze that is usually applied at the end to unify all the colors of an object. Glazing is closely connected with optical mixing. Optical mixing occurs on the paper when one layer affects the layer beneath it. For instance, if you put a yellow layer over a dry blue layer on the paper, you will get green. On the other hand, physical mixing happens on the palette where you mix two or more colors to create a specific color. For example, you would mix yellow and blue on the palette to get that green. Surprisingly, the resulting color looks different in physical and optical mixing. Here is an example. Now let's take a closer look at what a Glaze can do. Important note to remember, each layer must be completely dry before you apply another one. I cannot stress enough how crucial this is. Let's consider a dot painted with permanent rose. In the following examples, I will apply a glaze over this dot, and we will observe what happens. In the first example. I applied the same color. I applied another layer of permanent rose. Even though I didn't use thicker paint. The town of our daughter became darker through Glazing. We can darken the tone of color. In the second example, I applied a cooler quinacridone magenta. The dots not only changed in terms of tone, but it also became cooler. Glazing allows us to change the temperature of a color to a cooler shade. In the third example, I applied a warmer Winsor red. The dot not only changed in tone, but it also became warmer. Glazing enables us to change the temperature of a color to a warmer shade. In the fourth example, I applied transparent yellow dot. Not only changed in tone and became warmer, but it also changed in hue to an orange shade. Glazing allows us to change the hue of a color. Now, take a look at all these beautiful examples of Glazing. Each of it represents three layers of different colors and how they affect one another. In the last circle, you can see an example where the previous layer was not dry enough. I initially applied Windsor blue-green shade, thinking it was dry. I then Glaze did with permanent rose. Unfortunately because the blue layer was still damp, although it was dry to the touch, the wet pink paint pushed back the blue, resulting in a backwash effect. I applied a yellow stripe when I was sure that everything was completely dry. Now let's go back to our painting and see how Glazing works. For Glazing, we need to use a transparent paint. In my case, I'll be using green gold with a touch of Winsor, green, yellow shade. This will give me a nice fresh green. Load your brush with a watery mixture of the color, and then very gently and quickly apply a Glaze of that color over the selected area. Imagine your painting with a delicate feather, just gently touching the surface of the paper. Notice how this warm green Glaze adds depth to our leaf It changes the temperature, the hue, and creates a sense of warm light on it. We can also glaze over with a bit of cobalt blue. Now in the bottom part of the leaf, we want to create a darker area. However, this can be tricky because green is easy to lift off. If we wrap our brush to match on the surface, we may end up with lighter spots as will lift off the green from the first layer. Even though it's dry. The solution for that is to use staining paints which are more difficult to lift off in this painting. In our case, we are not using all staining colors, so we cannot rely on that. Nevertheless, I want to take the risk and the darker green with this mixture loaded on my brush, I take a deep breath. And with just two or three quick brushstrokes, I applied the paint, being careful not to wrap the same spot multiple times. I only have one chance to do this as going over the same spot again would create a mess. Luckily, it turned out fine. I'm also applying a Glaze of green gold with Winsor green to other areas to make the colors more vibrant. In that a little corner, I noticed that I need more dark green, so I'm dropping in some of that dark green mixture. Now that the Glazing is complete, we can return to the rose Bud. Since I don't think it has fully dried, I'm going to use a hairdryer to dry it further. When using a hairdryer, the paper heats up quickly. Once you stop drawing, wait for awhile until the paper cools down. If you start applying paint too quickly, it will dry rapidly due to the paper temperature. So make sure the paper returns to its natural state before proceeding. There isn't much to deal with the Bud. We simply need to paint the sepals and perhaps add a few details. Let's start by mixing the green. I'll be using the same colors, Winsor green, Payne's gray, and burnt sienna. But this time, with more burnt sienna to create a brownish green. Apply the paint to the sepal, starting with the green and adding more burnt sienna to the tip. Create a nice color transition. Now, add a darker green under the Bud. This helps bring out the 3D form of the Bud. Adding dimension contrast in values and interests. If the sepal appears to light, apply another layer to darken it. I decided to add more Winsor yellow deep to the sepals. There is also a tiny spot that needs a green hue. So add any green hue there and darken that area under the Bud a bit more. In general, it's a matter of adjusting the tonal values. We know which colors go where. Now we need to ensure they are light or dark enough. Finally, when everything is dry, we can soften some of the edges in the upper part of the Bud. We can also leafed out a bit of paint from the edge of the sepal to create more dimension. The sepal gains a bit more body as we can now see its thickness. Lastly, we can add a small Shadow, mixing permanent rose with burnt sienna to create a shadow color. Using a light touch paint, a line along the circle to indicate the shadow and further enhance the sense of dimension. I realized that the Colors wherein the vibrant enough so I applied and Glaze of yellow in the bottom part to make the color more saturated. Additionally, I applied one more Glaze of pink over the Bud to give it a richer pink tone. Although I didn't record this step, you can see the final result in the painting where the bot appears with a bit more vibrant pink Q. And that's all for now. We can now move on to painting the leaf on the right and finishing the background 11. Leaf: In this part, we'll focus on painting the leaf in the bottom-right corner of the painting. I'll be using a brush size eight for this step. To achieve a warm, fresh green for the leaf, I'm mixing green gold as the base color and adding Winsor green, yellow shade. To add that lively freshness to the mix. Load your brush with the green mixture and begin painting the leaf using the wet-on-dry technique. Since it's a small and manageable area, we can quickly cover the leaf with the green color. Leave the edge with the highlight and painted, and also keep the tips of the serrated edge white. We're going to apply some red to those tips. Now, add a touch of Payne's gray to the green mix to darken it. And dropping that color to suggest some core shadows. Apply it along the edges. And on one side of the veins, the left side of each feign should be slightly darker. Clean your brush and remove the excess moisture. With a clean, almost dry brush. Tried to leave out some highlights. Use just the tip of your brush and run it along the right side of the veins. After it, wipe, clean the brush by dabbing it on a paper towel. We're aiming to remove some of the paint so we don't want to drag it from one place to another. You may need to swipe the brush several times in the same spot to see the desired result. There is a sweet spot when the paint starts to dry out and lifting becomes easier. Now we can use a hairdryer to dry the leaf. Once it's dry, mixed permanent rose with the Winsor yellow deep to create a red color and paint the tips of the leaf with the color where needed. Using the green mixture we used earlier, darken some areas to create shadows on the leaf. Work very lightly to avoid disturbing the previous layer too much. After our playing, the green. Quickly rains and block your brush. With a clean damp brush, gently soften the edges of the leaf. You can dry the leaf once again. Now and it's completely dry. We can apply a Unifying Glaze over the entire leaf. I'm using a watery mix of green gold. With it. Just a tiny touch of Winsor green. Apply this color as quickly as possible over the entire leaf. This will help unify all the colors and make the green appear richer. And with that, our background is complete. You can now take a break, and in the next part, we'll begin painting the rose 12. Rose - Initial Layer: Before we begin applying paint to the rose, I highly recommend watching this entire video first to familiarize yourself with the process before diving into the rose. Let's start by softening some of the edges. While this step is not necessary, it can help unite the main subject with the background, and more importantly, create a smoother overall appearance. Use a scrubber brush to gently smooth out the, any jagged edges or areas where the green may have overlapped the rose petals. Now it's time to start painting the rose using a larger brush, such as a size 12th. Let's prepare the colors will need, will definitely need Winsor yellow as a clean base, yellow, which will consider as our cool yellow. We can use Winsor yellow deep as a warm yellow. Makes two yellows together in the middle to create a neutral primary yellow color that is neither a worm nor cool. We'll also need permanent rose. So prepared that color in a separate mixing area. Load your big brush with the middle yellow and keep the paint very watery. Start applying it from the upper part of the rose. At this stage, we're not focusing on painting individual petals. Instead, our goal is to cover the entire rose with a base layer of yellows and pinks. This approach allows us to establish a solid foundation and get a sense of achievement. Painting petal bipedal at this point could result in inconsistent Colors. These jointed petals, and it can become overwhelming. By applying an Initial Layer to the entire pedal, we create a unified bays and reduce the overwhelm. Important points to keep in mind. Use a big brush that holds plenty of water. A size 12 brush works well for a painting that is 12 by nine. Use a very watery paint. For this stage. We're painting wet on dry, so a watery consistency helps avoid hard edges. Ideally, when you apply the paint to the paper, you should see water beating up on the edge. If you tilt the painting, focus on overall impression of the rose rather than details. Look at the rose as a whole and apply the basic colors of warm and cool yellows and pink in the appropriate areas. Don't worry if some pink flows into a yellow area or vice versa. It adds a personal touch. Preserve the highlights by painting around them. Don't worry about the hard edges that may form. We'll address them later with the scrubber brush. Observed the reference photo before you start painting and take note of the highlights you should paint around. If it helps, you can even mark them lightly with a pencil. In areas where the Petals appear more pink, use permanent rose. Remember to keep your paint very watery throughout the process. The varying shades of yellow and pink, we'll create a beautiful interplay on the Petals. Using to dry paint and two small brush will lead to quick drying and too many brushstrokes Resulting in an overworked look. That's why it's crucial to emphasize using a big brush and very watery paint. This approach prevents brush marks and allows the colors to blend seamlessly. Once you've applied the Initial Layer to the entire rose, leave it to dry completely. I left it to dry overnight. In the next part, I will introduce you to the concept of Shadow Colors 13. Tonal Values and Shadow Colors: Let's discuss the concept of creating Shadow Colors. Understanding how to create shadows will not only be beneficial for painting this rose, but for any subject you tackle in the future. First, let's talk about Tonal Values. Tonal values simply means how dark or light color appears. The best way to understand these values is by removing the Colors and turning the image into black and white. When we do this, we can clearly see the different tonal values. We won't be distracted by colors. Instead, we can focus on how dark or light each part is. For example, let's consider a colorful photo of our rose. And it's black and white version. In the black and white photo, we can observe that some petals are very light, having light tonal values, while the center of the flower darker with darker tonal values. This is crucial to keep in mind when Painting. Getting the tonal values right is the most important aspect of every painting. Correct tonal values help create the shape of this subject. Add a sense of light and make it look three-dimensional. Even if your colors aren't perfect. If you're tonal values are correct, your painting will still look good. If something feels off in your painting. This might be incorrect tonal values. So it's a good idea to have a black and white version of your Reference Photo, whatever your painting, you can take a photo of your painting while working on it, convert it to black and white and compare it with the black and white Reference Photo. This way you can check if you're moving in the right direction and if some areas need to be darker or lighter. To demonstrate the importance of tonal values. Here's an example of a painting with incorrect Tonal Values. As you can see, something is not quite right. And that's because it lacks dark tones. When we view it in black and white version, this becomes evident by adding the correct tonal values, the dark tones, and using a wide range of values, the painting immediately becomes more vibrant and lifelike. Different colors have varying tonal value ranges. Some colors have a narrow tonal value range, while others have a wide one. For instance, let's take a Winsor, yellow. On the left, It's very pale and watery. And on the right it's a Winsor, yellow at full strength. When we turn the swatch into black and white, we can see that Winsor yellow has limited tonal value range. No matter how much more yellow we add, it will never become dark. Conversely, let's consider Windsor violet. It has a very wide range of tones, from a very light, pale, watered down version, to have deep, dark, full strength. Q. Remember that every color, even black, can have a very light tone because we can add more water to any color. We can water it down and make a very light tone. But not every color can achieve a very dark tone. This understanding of tonal values is essential as we move on to discuss methods of creating Shadow Colors. There are four main methods that I personally use and find effective for creating Shadow Colors. These methods are as follows. The first one is use a darker tone of the same color. This is the simplest method. Often adding more of the same color can create a darker tone, which is enough to create a shadow effect. However, some colors have a limited tonal range. So using this method may not always be possible. If you reach the full saturation of a color and still need a darker tone. The next methods Can be considered. The second method is to use an analogous color. Look for our color on your palette that is similar in hue and from the same color family, but has a wider value range. For example, Winsor yellow may have a limited tonal range, but Windsor Yellow Deep, which belongs to the same color family, offers a slightly wider range. If needed, you can explore analogous colors that are even darker or come from a color family right next to it, such as some oranges or even reds, while still maintaining the color harmony. The third method is to use a complimentary color. Complimentary colors found on the opposite side of the color wheel can create darker and less saturated tones of a given color. For instance, adding a touch of blue to orange, we'll darken and desaturated. Be mindful that using a complimentary color may result in a doled and less vibrant appearance. Consider the effect you want to achieve before using this method. This method can be great, for example, to create a shadow of yellow because we can add just a tiny touch of violet to yellow. And this way we will create a nice neutral Shadow color, but it will be neutral Shadow color. So you have to consider whether you want a neutral Shadow or you want a more vibrant Shadow. In our rose painting, we will need a more vibrant Shadow. So we're going to use a different method. And the fourth method is a neutral color. Using neutral colors, like neutral tint, Payne's gray or black is a quick way to dark and unmute colors simultaneously. However, be cautious as using black or neutral tint may dull down the color and diminish its vibrancy. Instead, try mixing burnt sienna with Payne's gray or with ultramarine blue to create a neutral gray with a broad tonal value range. This mixture can serve as a Darkening agent without completely darling the color. These four methods are sorted from the one that produces the slightest change in the base color to the one that changes the color the most significantly and darkens it the most. Examining our Reference Photo, we notice that shadows in the rows are not dull. When comparing them to other roses, we can see there vibrant colors. This indicates that using the complimentary color and neutral color methods could risk muting the vibrant C2 much. We are left with the first two methods using a darker tone of the same color and using an analogous color. Those are always the first methods of Darkening. So making a shadow color that I consider, and if they are not enough and I still need something darker, I usually go for the fourth method, and I usually use burnt sienna and Payne's gray to dark and my color and achieve the Shadow color. In this specific area, we can see the variation in yellow tones. The top petal looks like a pale and diluted version of a Winsor yellow. Moving down, we can see a cleaner and more saturated yellow, still within the same color range as the color darkens. Further, we can introduce a different yellow with a wider tonal value range, such as Winsor Yellow Deep. Finally, at the center of the flower, where the darkest shadows are full strength, Winsor Yellow Deep may not be enough. In this case, we can consider adding either burnt sienna, which offers a broader tonal value range, but may slightly dull the color or reach for an analogous color on the color wheel, like orange or red. And with a wider tonal value range, this approach allows for a warm range of tones to maintain the vibrant seen the Shadows. Few that was quite intense, but I hope you're still with me. Take a deep breath and let's now tackle the rose 14. Shadows: Now that we understand the theory behind creating shadows, Let's put it into practice. Make sure that everything is completely dry before proceeding. I'll be using a brush size eight on my palette. I already have the necessary colors. Winsor yellow, deep, Winsor yellow, and permanent rose. On the right side of the palette, I'm mixing Winsor yellow deep with permanent rose to create an orange shade. I'm also preparing burnt sienna in the upper part, but I'm not certain yet if I'll be using it. Let's start from the center of the rows where the darkest area is located will be painting wet on wet. So I'm wetting the area that I'm going to paint. Although this is a small area where wet on dry technique could be used. I've chosen wet-on-wet to give myself more time to work and allow the colors to spread and blend. Loading my brush with the saturated orange, I'm dropping it into the darkest area and allowing the paint to spread in the water. I realized that I needed slightly darker tones, so I'm also dropping in some of the burnt sienna. Burnt sienna has a slightly wider tonal value range than Winsor yellow deep, but it's also a bit. So I'm using just a tiny touch of it. I'm being very careful to paint around the smaller petals, which will be yellow. I haven't applied water to those Petals. Remembered to use dabbing motions of the brush to release more paint. Moving upward, I'm shifting the color to Windsor yellow deep. One section is now complete, continued to the next dark section, and repeat the process. Apply a layer of water and then drop in the Colors. Use orange in the dark areas and shift to yellow where it's more yellowish. The objective of this stage is to go petal by petal and apply the shadows, starting with the shadows allows us to establish the darkest areas on the rose by painting the darkest areas. First, we have a reference point and know that we cannot go darker than that in any other areas. It may be tempting to dark and the oranges even further, but I suggest refraining from doing so. Adding colors that are too dark and LDL can easily diminish the vibrancy of the yellow petals. Build the colors and values slowly with the current colors we're using. If you feel the need, darken some areas further. In the end, you can always do so. But for now, please don't go too dark. Usually it's good to use darker tones in order to get a very wide range of tonal values. But yellow is really a very special case. And if you go too dark, you will just kill the vibrancy and freshness of the yellow. Don't rush at this stage. Remember, there is no need to finish the painting today. Really. You don't have to finish this painting today. Take your time. Goes slowly section by section and gradually built the dark tones of the Petals. This process can be repetitive. So instead of showing you each individual petal, I'll show you the result after completing this step. There aren't really many Petals to paint at this stage. Here's what I have after finishing this step. Now, let it dry and we can move on to the next step where we will focus more on each petal 15. Developing the Petals: Now that we have painted the dark areas of the Petals, we can focus on adding the necessary details to each individual petal. Begin by wetting the first petal. You're going to work on. Use the wet on wet technique as it allows us for soft blends of colors without the risk of hard edges. Avoiding hard edges is important for achieving the delicate effect of rose petals. The objective of step is to finish each pedal, comparing it to the reference photo, and making any necessary adjustments. For example, you may need to add a touch of peachy color at the top, and the more yellow on the left to this pedal. Wetting the pedal will give you more control over the colors as the spread and blend. If you accidentally go over a pencil line, don't worry. You can easily fix it with a scrubber brush, creating a smooth edge. Use this scrubber brush to also soften some of the edges in the center, ensuring a smooth blend between the yellow and orange tones. The upper petals have a very pale yellow color from the first Initial Layer. It's important to maintain this light tone because it suggests a strong light passing through the Petals when adding colors at this stage, do so carefully to avoid covering the entire pedal. On the add stronger yellows or oranges where necessary, such as on the edges or where the petal meets another pedal and creates a subtle shadow. Below the reference photo for guidance. Move on to the next petal in the upper part. Wet the petal, but leave a gap on the upper edge to preserve the highlight. Permanent rose to the petal, leaving the upper edge and painted. The right side. Add Winsor yellow deep. Continue working on each section, taking your time and treating each section as an individual small painting. Remember that the goal is to create a cohesive and beautiful image of a rose If you need to rotate your painting to paint from a different perspective. Actually this can be beneficial for seniors subject in a new way and focusing only on the colors and shapes without any preconceptions. Whether you're looking at it straight, upside down or from a site. The important thing is to paint what you see as you progress. Use wet-on-wet technique and apply water glazes before dropping in yellow and oranges. Stick to the three colors you've been using so far. So Winsor yellow, Winsor yellow, deep, and permanent rose. Well, I'm using those colors. You may be using different colors. So just try to stick to your colors by building Colors and towns with these three colors, you will achieve vibrant Shadows and reach glowing colors in the rose. Pay attention to the details of each petal, such as bike color Petals where yellow lens with pink wet those Petals really well. To allow the paint to spread and mingle. Apply an orange in the upper part, close to the highlight, and then sweep on pure permanent rose to indicate the curl of the pedal. The Winsor yellow deep, and let the colors blend in the middle. For stronger colors, you can use paint that has already dried on the palette and less water. Finished this part by working on the two small petals that are tucked behind. Keep the highlights on the edges but don't worry if you go over them, you can always lift off the paint with a scrubber brush. In the next part, we'll focus on three big petals at the bottom. 16. Big and Curled Petals: In this part, I'll show you how to paint the three large petals at the bottom. And we'll also revisit the smaller Curled Petals. Let's start with the pedal on the left, with only the curl of the pedal, not the inside part. We want to create a sharp edge in the inside area. Prepared permanent rose. Bud, begin painting with a mix of Winsor yellow and Winsor yellow deep transition slowly to permanent rose. Remember that dabbing the brush will release more paint than a regular brush strokes. Use more Winsor yellow deep to paint a hard edge of the pedal. The more permanent rose to make the color richer. Mix Winsor yellow deep with permanent rose to create a vibrant orange and apply it to the edge. Tilt your painting to let the colors naturally blend and flow on the paper. Always make sure that the petal is wet enough for the colors to blend easily. We have to skip the central pedal for now, since it's touching the left one, which is still wet. So let's move on to the pedal on the right. Apply a water layer. Bad, avoid wetting the inside part of the pedal. Dropping the colors, yellows, oranges, and permanent rose. The painting to encourage natural blending of the Colors After painting the two side petals, we need to dry them before moving on to the middle petal. Once everything is dry, continue painting the middle petal, width, the petal first, then the Colors. Now we can go back to the smaller petals and finished coloring them. The big curl needs more saturated yellow, as well as additional pink and orange on the edge. Apply the same approach to the second curl. The next smaller Curled Petals are tacked one behind another to create a sense of dimension. Darken those petals where they meet, suggesting a shadow from the pedal in front. Use a darker tone of yellow or orange if needed. Remember, Take your time and observe the reference photo for guidance. Wet the Petals when necessary, and the colors gradually tilt the painting to encourage blending 17. Finishing Touches and Unifying Glaze: So here we are in the last part, and I hope you're still with me and you have the patients to continue working on this rose. Firstly, I want to soften the edges where the scrubber brush. I'll go from pedal to pedal and look for any areas that need softening, especially near the highlights. Softening the edges will help create a nice glow on the Petals. Hard edges next to highlights the big harsh light. So softening them will give a soft and the radiant look to the rose. I'll also fix any uneven edges where I went over the lines with the paint, being careful not to remove, to match and create white spots. Next, I'll create some soft highlights that we might have missed. By lifting Out the paint in certain areas, we can create subtle spots of light. Notice how softening the edges of the highlights changes their appearance and gives a more pleasing look. It's like someone turned on the lights. I'll also leave out some paint from the Curled Petals to create subtle light tones. Although we could theoretically add some blue for the bluish tones in the reference photo. I think it's unnecessary. And would introducing unwanted greens. We want to keep this entire rose in the warm tones, so we don't want to get any greens here. Now using our small brush size for, I'll add a few tiny details. Mixing a stronger reddish orange mixed with Winsor yellow deep and permanent rose. I'll add it to the darkest details. With the same brush. I'll add some lines on a small petal to create texture. Paying attention to the direction of those lines to show how the petal is Curled Lastly, I'll add some pink details to the pedal on the left to create a more three-dimensional look. This includes adding shadows on the folder and a touch of yellow below. Finally, using a large brush, I'll add pink to create another fold. Blending the color on one side while keeping hard edge on the other side. At this point, the painting could be considered finished. However, I like to give it a final overall look and consider if any areas need another layer. This is where a Unifying Glaze comes in. A thin layer of paint that changes the existing colors on the paper. For example, I'm using pure Winsor yellow to make the yellow in some areas richer and to enhance the vibrancy of the colors underneath. I'll add more yellow, orange, or pink in areas that need a boost. And with that, the painting is complete. It's been an intense journey, but I believe that the patients and perseverance were worth it. This yellow rose is truly beautiful with its dancing yellows and pinks on the Petals. Shimmering light spots and a lovely background. I hope you feel proud of your painting. Thank you very much for watching. I hope you learn something from this tutorial and you enjoyed it. Happy painting till the next time. Bye