More Roses

 "Golden Rose" -- oil on canvas 6x6"

 "White Rose" -- oil on canvas 6x6"

 

 "Lavender Rose" -- oil on canvas 6x6"

 

 "Hot Pink Rose" -- oil on canvas 6x6"

 

These roses were in the bunch I bought on Tuesday, when I'd ventured into the Elk Rapids grocery store in search of interesting donuts to paint.  Thank goodness all the donuts looked so blase!  

We've had tons of rain lately, so there wasn't much else to do, other than housework.  That always takes a backseat to painting.  It's still a bit too early to plant anything here in NW lower Michigan.  So painting it is!

 

Roses are hard to draw!  All those doggone petals!  I think what assisted me in being able to draw these was my experience in drawing and painting the dozens of cupcakes earlier this year.  The swirls were a puzzle!  As I painted the cupcakes, I kept thinking if you can do these, surely you can figure out how to do roses!    

To make a successful painting, a good deal hinges on your ability to control your panic.  Betty Edwards, in her book, "Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" teaches how to ignore that part of your brain that sends out negative thoughts.  The left side of the brain likes pronouncing such negative thoughts as it looks awful!  You can't draw!  But the right side is more concerned with measurements: is it straight up and down?  Leaning a little?  How much?  Is it lighter or darker?  Bigger or smaller?  Betty believes that if you can see, you can draw.  Her book changed my life!

Although I've been doing a lot of little paintings since the first of the year, don't think I'm giving up on big still lifes -- or plein air landscapes!  There's only so much a person can crank out in a day.