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Roses on Stage

Roses-on-Stage (FINAL?)Write

Oil on canvas 16×12″
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UPDATE 9/22/07: Please see my friend and painting mentor Nel Jansen’s painting of this subject and her step by step process. It’s really great!

I’ve been working on this painting for three weekends, painting, scraping off what I painted, and painting again. When I started I was working from life but I ran out of time, the flowers died, and I had to work from the photo. It just wasn’t as much fun. I was determined to finish tonight and I think I have. I may still touch it up a bit, so any suggestions are welcomed!

I read that it’s better for one’s learning with oil painting in the beginning to do 30 small, quick (an hour or two) paintings than to work on one painting for 30 hours. I can see why! So that will be my next step. My goal with oil painting is to mix the right colors the first time, put down the paint, and leave it alone but I’m not there yet as the following progression demonstrates:

Roses-1-P1010511

Initial sketch with dark areas blocked in. Feeling optimistic and enjoying the high contrast and working with the beautiful fresh flowers on their little stage (seen in the middle of this post).

Roses-2-P1010512

Got the fabric blocked in and some of the vase. Still optimistic.

Roses-3-P1010522

The flowers are getting a little chalky but it’s still going ok. I made the top left flower smaller.

Roses-4-P1010529

I’m liking the vase but having trouble with the background and have now painted and wiped off the two top flowers a couple of times.

Roses-5-P1010531

What happened to my nice fabric and how did it turn into this little swirl? Yet another rendition of the top left flower which I now want to kill (if it wasn’t already dead and gone).

Roses -6-P1010532

More fabric swirl (after wiping it off it’s somehow returned) only now it’s lavender instead of pinky-purple. I decided I couldn’t salvage the look of the fabric which now resembled a big spider and decided to make it a table top and make the background more subtle. I again repainted the two top flowers, added highlights to the front flower, detailed the vase yet again and called it a day (literally–I finished at 12:15 a.m.) and posted it to declare it done!

9 replies on “Roses on Stage”

This is an interesting post and I enjoy walking through the steps with you. I know exactly what you mean by “losing” great moments and then have to accept it and move on.
I think your finished painting is lovely and the vase is great througout.. I must admit though that I also think youn fabric was nice and I actually even liked the swirl, as well as its lovely “round” colour in the second last image! But the star of your painting is that beautiful rose in the foreground!
ronell

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What a wonderful journey to share with us all Jana, I admit to laughing through your commentary more than once.
I agree with Ronell, that front rose really does take centre stage, it is beautiful! I also liked your ‘swirl’ in the fabric.
Does the bottom of the vase appear a little angular on the right side?

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Jana, so sorry, I was viewing the last small painting that you posted as your final step..Totally missed the huge ‘finished’ picture at the top, where I see you curved the vase around beautifully.
My apologies…it’s early, lack of coffee, lack of sleep and newly coloured ‘blonde’ hair!
LOL!

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Thanks for sharing the steps with us jana!
I love the colors in the final painting, but also loved the swirl in one of the steps. I really LOVE the initial sketch with blocked in dark shapes. It would have been hard for me to move on past that. It’s a beautiful and very contemporary painting. It has alot of passion in just that first stage. I love lines more than I like shapes, and that initial painting is wonderful!!

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Jana, good for you for sticking with it. Nothing is more heart-rending than watching a painting slide off into oblivion under your brush. Having said that, I think image number three, while you were still optimistic, is the best. The flowers and the vase are so fresh and painterly! I’ve found it really hard to use fabric as strongly patterned as the one you chose for you background. Somehow the pattern makes it harder to see the overall values.

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