The Veil

untitled rose value study (WIP)

Stacy L. Rowan

The gray veil of winter has descended on eastern Pennsylvania. October is full of bright, endlessly blue skies, brilliant red and gold leaves and joyful orange pumpkins. November rolls in and replaces this celebration with a low gray ceiling, misty, rainy days and gutters full of leaves past their prime. Is it any wonder that I just ordered five tubes of colorful watercolor paints? Two oranges, a turquoise blue, a deep gold and a bright yellow. The perfect antidote to gray November days.

A Partial Plan

untitled rose value study

Here is another update on my value study for the rose painting. As you can see, I completed the initial shading on the main rose and started working on the rose bud. I decided to flesh out the form on both roses, the leaves and the stems on my first pass. Then I will come back and work on my hierarchy of lights and darks.

As I am working on this, I have realized that I think of this drawing as being tall and thin with the roses standing up (like it is posted here). But it needs to be long and thin, as if the roses are laying flat, to fit the space in my mother-in-laws dining room. Hmmmmm... That part of the plan I am still working on. My current thinking is to finish this drawing, because I like it in it's own right, then do some tweaking in Photoshop for the painting. Or I may try some thumbnails to get a feel for the changes. I'll keep you posted.

Preparing to Paint

value sketch for rose WIP

copyright 2007 Stacy L. Rowan

Tomorrow my art group meets again. In preparation I decided to start a value study for the rose painting. I am using several different references for this painting, so I felt a value study was important. For one thing I need to make sure that the lighting is consistent throughout the piece. Also, I felt it would be easier to work from one reference while painting instead of flipping through a pile of papers to find exactly what I need when I need it. You'd be surprised how quickly a wash can dry when you don't remember if you wanted a soft edge or a hard one!

I could have done a smaller thumbnail sketch to block in basic values, but I chose to make a drawing the same size as my study painting. It can be tricky to get the values correct in the center of a rose where so many petals meet. I find it is easier to work larger when the details are more complicated. The other reason I decided to work larger is that it has been awhile since I did a graphite drawing. I knew I'd enjoy creating a more finished drawing. So I let myself have fun.

I haven't decided yet whether I will work on the background more tomorrow or try to finish up the graphite drawing. Maybe I'll work a little on both.

Art Group Meets Again!

untitled work in progress

watercolor on canvas 5" x 12"

copyright 2007 Stacy L. Rowan

Last Tuesday was a happy day. The group of ladies I paint with met for only the second time since May. We normally meet once a week year round, but our fearless leader, Dana, had hip replacement surgery in the Spring and needed time off to recover.

Painting can often be a solitary activity, so I really look forward to getting together with this group. We give each other critiques, ask for advice on art and life and share some laughs. I also hear a lot about what I have to look forward to in life in the coming years, since I am the youngest in the group by 15 years or so.

Last week I started working on a small painting that is serving as a study for a much larger commission. My mother-in-law wants a very large watercolor of a rose to go in her dining room. After much discussion, I have decided to try painting on watercolor canvas. This will eliminate the need for glass and make the final painting much lighter.

Since I have not worked on watercolor canvas before, I decided it would be a good idea to do a smaller study painting first. This will also help me trial the composition, which is a bit tricky since the painting is to be long and thin.

My initial reaction to the canvas is that it is similar to working on hot press paper. The paint does not sink into surface and is extremely easy to lift off. So far I have put three layers on the background. I had to use a very light touch when adding layers so as not to disturb what was already there. I think it is good that I am not looking for a perfectly smooth background. It will be interesting to see how it is working on the more detailed areas of the rose.

The background right now is almost a coral color, but I will be adding more layers to make it a bright orange-red. After I've put in more work on this piece, I'll come back and give a more detailed opinion of the watercolor canvas.

How to Draw Roses

The most common search term that leads people to my blog is “How to Draw Roses”. Whenever I get traffic from that search I feel bad, because I’ve never written instructions for drawing roses. I can imagine their disappointment when they get here. So this post is for them.

Of course my knee-jerk answer to, “How do you draw roses?” is, “The same way I draw anything else.” I know that’s not what these people are looking for, but it’s true. The approach to drawing any subject is basically same.

I think the most important skill required for good drawing is learning how to see. And the second most important skill is drawing what you actually see, and not a picture that is a symbol for what you see. Everyone has seen a child’s drawing of a tree. It looks something like this…

And we all know it is meant to be a tree. It has all the important tree parts - a trunk, branches, the leaf canopy. It’s a tree! Except I’ve never seen a tree that looks exactly like this. In fact I’ve noticed that every tree looks different, even trees of the same species. As a child I learned to draw roses like this...

I thought I was pretty clever. But this is what a rose actually looks like…

copyright 2007 Stacy L. Rowan

So how do you get from a drawing a symbol of a rose to drawing an actual rose? Start by looking closely at a rose. Really look at it. Look at the shapes of the individual petals, how the petals relate to each other, how the petals sometimes fold over, all the details that make a rose a rose. Don’t try to draw anything until you have spent time really looking at it. And when you draw a subject, for heavens sake, make it easy on yourself and have the subject in front of you. Or at least have a reference photo of a subject. (Make sure it is your own photo, or one you have permission to use, so you are not in danger of breaking any copyright laws!) Most artists don’t draw without references.

So how would I draw a rose? I’d start out by drawing a simple shape that the rose can fit inside. By simple shape I mean square, rectangle, oval – you know, those shapes you learned in kindergarten.

copyright 2007 Stacy L. Rowan

Then I start drawing the outside petals because they are easiest to relate to the shape. After the outside petals are drawn I start thinking about simplifying. I don’t try to draw every single petal. I just draw enough petals to get the essence of the rose. There are artists who draw every petal, I am sure. But I tend to lose my place in the complex center portions of the rose. So I fudge it. And I have yet to have anyone say, “Hey, you missed a few petals there.”

copyright 2007 Stacy L. Rowan

Of course, for anyone starting out with drawing, there are tools you can use until you are comfortable drawing freehand. Some people start out tracing their reference. Or you can use a grid to help you transfer the drawing to your paper. Sighting or using a pencil to measure lines might also help. Ultimately, drawing is like any other skill. It takes lots of practice. If you are interested in seeing more in depth information about learning how to draw, I recommend you check out Katherine Tyrrell's Squidoo lens "Drawing and Sketching - Resources for Artists".

So that is my lesson in “How to Draw Roses”. I hope people searching for that information find this post useful. At least now I can stop feeling like I am letting these searchers down.

Welcome

Welcome to my new blog!

As a way to introduce myself I thought I would start by explaining what creating art means to me. For me art is a way to stop and smell the roses and to encourage others to do the same. As people run through their busy lives they often miss moments of beauty...the way the sun highlights the white branches of a sycamore tree in winter, the hundreds of different green hues in a spring landscape, the quiet promise of an empty beach during a summer sunrise, a single leaf caught changing into its fall wardrobe. My goal as an artist is to capture these moments as I see them so I can remember them and share them with others. A simple wish perhaps, but one that brings me joy.

I hope you will come here often to see what moments I am capturing and sharing.

Stacy

Copyright Stacy L. Rowan