Roses with Moira Mudie - February 14th, 2015
Understanding how to paint roses begins with understanding their structure. Moira Mudie began her workshop by outlining that structure found in a yellow rose.
Moira Mudie had brought a real pink rose for study too.
Begin by looking at the edges around a rose.
Draw an outline of these edges. The outline will not be symmetrical.
Then, using the side of the brush, fill in the rose with red ink.
Create a solid red image.
Next, Moira Mudie turned to white ink. This white ink provides the edges of the petals, which are a lighter tone.
Create cups in white.
Then create a stack of white cups.
Afterwards, add the other edges of the petals in white also. Moira Mudie showed the workshop participants that the edges are angular and nested within one another.
Using white ink, highlight the lighter edges of the rose petals.
Also add darker red ink to the shadows of the rose petals; that is, the sides of the petals that are hidden from the light.
The result is that your rose begins to look like the rose you had imagined painting.
With some sumi-e ink, add the sepals, which are leaves about the base of the rose.
Then it was our turn to paint roses with help from Moira Mudie.
Then Moira Mudie returned to demonstrate how to create the leaves. Use the side of the brush to create a large, flat leaf with a point at its tip.
A rose has a branch with five leaves.
Add veins to your leaves with a pointed brush.
Your side veins should be like a wishbone to your main vein, Moira Mudie reminded the workshop participants.
The result is a painting of a rose you might have thought you could not do!
You can add a green tint to your leaves for effect.
Use the side of your brush to add the green tint.
Moira Mudie brought several of her paintings for the workshop, including a yellow rose.
This red rose was similar to the one painted in the workshop. A semi-absorbent paper works best for painting the rose.
This pink rose was painted using a similar technique to the one Moira Mudie demonstrated.
Roses will remain high on the list of flowers to paint for the workshop artists.