Rose fougère

This is a little pastel that I completed last year. The original image was that of quite a different flower, but I wanted a red rose (for Valentine's day!) to contrast with the complementary green vase. The background is a Japanese paper screen, and I tried various methods to make it as realistic as possible, including overlaying an off-white colour and scratching through to a white base colour. The final result is a hybrid of this, plus flat broad vertical glazes.


A la loupe...

The rose was an exercise in edges and shading. Generally, the leading edge of a rose petal has a sharp edge, but this sharpness fades with blending or hatching the colour shift towards the next, inner petal. (This colour shift is probably best seen in the drooping petal on the upper bloom).  The darkest red used in the picture is a very useful Madder from Schminke, hue 045, shade 068B. The support is Canson.