Working Petal by Petal

Erasing the grid lines from each petal as I work it--locating and isolating each in turn. I am trying to work building the gradual blending from light to dark, noting both the shadows and highlights. As with all real objects, I have both cast shadows and contour shadows. This is what gives work depth. As I work I must keep in mind the shape. These petals are not flat. The go up, around and out. They have dimension. And the challenge is to show this in each petal. Color and value gradates up and out of the petals. While there is a natural change from the blush to white, there are also qualities to these hues. As the petal goes away from me, even the white will become darker, tinted as the light shifts.

There are also the bright highlights where the light source hits the rose dead on. These must be the brightest, purest whites of the piece. But even where the “color” is darkest. There will be light and dark qualities to the shapes. Parts in deep shadow will be almost gray to almost deep blush.

So I work with layers of blush, pale pink, salmon white and a full array of grays, warm and cool, with hints of very pale blue to blue-gray. Even a hint of green and violet.