Barbara Parish ~ Aquarellist

Panama Rose
Watercolor Demonstration ~ SOLD
11"x15" watercolor paper
© 2012 Barbara Parish

Curves, flips, connected. 

Soft folds, crisp ruffled edges. 

Color intense to tone. 

Values light to dark.

All on a stem with thorns. 

Can you guess what I am talking about?  Yes! ROSES. 

Roses are one of the most beautiful flowers, yet a new painter has a hard time with all the edges and close action of the petals.   

Here comes the word SIMPLIFY.  Ask yourself what does SIMPLIFY mean to you?  I look at the word simplify and think of less, fewer, selected.  My job of creating a painting is to grab the essence of my subject, not to report every edge and line I see.  Got it?
The rose side view painted with fewer petals, hard edges, with lost edges on the leaves.  

Another technique, I start painting a rose in the center with a dash stroke, and then with the chiseled edge of a flat brush I carve one small line after another, each overlapping in a continuous swirl.  After three layers of swirl I rinse my brush, tap my paper towel to absorb some water from the brush, go back to the rose and touch some edges to release the line.  Now I have lost edges and hard edges.  Try it! 

This technique can be used in all your paintings to create a painterly look.

Join me for a live demonstration August 18^th, Big Bear Lake One-Day Watercolor Workshop.  
To Register:  click Barbara Parish