Roses in the Flemish Style

Roses in the Flemish Style

Posted by DecoArt on Mar 20th 2016

Create your own Flemish masterpiece with Traditions™ Artist Acrylics.

SUPPLIES

    • paper towels
    • transfer paper
    • sandpaper
    • ruler
    • #3 round brush
    • chalk
    • #6 filbert brush
    • #3/0 liner brush
    • 3/8" angle brush
    • mini mop brush
    • canvas
    • Sta-Wet Palette
    • #2 flat brush
    • 1" wash brush
    • #8 filbert brush
    • dark graphite paper
    • scotch tape
    • 1" mop brush
    • hairdryer

    INSTRUCTIONS

    NOTES:

    Mixes: The proportions given for mixes are approximate. Always add the darker color to the lighter one. Brush-mixing is a great way to find color. If your eye likes it, the color is correct.

    See step-by-step roses at the bottom of the Instructions (starting at Step 65) before you begin painting them.

    1. Surface preparation: For canvas, apply two or more coats of White Gesso to the surface. Sand between and after the last coat to conceal the canvas weave and provide a smoother surface to paint on.
    2. Instruction #1
    3. Apply two or more coats of Medium White. Lightly sand between coats; transfer the line drawing lightly with dark graphite paper.
    4. For Masonite, apply two coats of Medium White. (You want opaque coverage.) Sand between coats and, after the last coat, transfer the design.
    5. MIXES: Raw Umber is used as the toner.
    6. MIXES: Yellow: Hansa Yellow Medium and Diarylide Yellow (1:1); Soft Yellow: equal amounts of Warm White, Yellow Oxide, and Hansa Yellow Medium; Green: Quinacridone Gold plus a little Phthalo Blue. (Vary values with Raw Umber, Carbon Black, Raw Sienna, yellows, or whites, to create values that are pleasing to your eye.)
    7. MIXES: Reds: Tone reds if needed with Raw Umber; Blues: Medium White plus a little Cerulean Blue; (for a lighter value: Warm White plus a little Cerulean Blue. Add a touch of Raw Umber to the medium blue to make it darker blue.)
    8. Apply Medium White to the canvas or Masonite surface. Let dry.
    9. Apply a thin coat of Extender & Blending Medium to the entire surface.
    10. Place Raw Umber and Extender & Blending Medium on the paper palette and, with a large wash brush, mix the two together, thinning the Raw Umber considerably.
    11. Wipe the brush; pick up Raw Sienna; and casually apply to the left area in back of the branch and leaves. Wipe the brush; pick up Raw Umber and apply to the upper right area. Bring some Raw Umber down (on the left), darkening the area in back of the leaves and softly onto the ledge area. Dry.
    12. Using the same brush, apply Raw Umber to the entire surface. (Remember it is fairly thin.)
    13. Using a paper towel, wipe or blot the surface, removing most of the Raw Umber.
    14. Use a large mop brush to soften and even out the Raw Umber that is still on the surface.
    15. (You should end up with about a value of about eight or nine.) Dry thoroughly. (It is a good idea at this time to apply a coat of Glazing Medium and water; dry.)
    16. Carefully transfer the outside shape of the rose and leaves, branch, smaller flowers, and table line. Use a ruler to be sure the table line is straight.
    17. (Think of this step as a value painting, using Raw Umber and Raw Sienna.) Use a casual slip-slap or criss-cross method of blending to apply a thin layer of Extender & Blending Medium to the entire area first.
    18. Background: Use a large wash brush and Raw Umber and begin the background in the upper left area. (This application of color should be thin enough for you to still see the tracing lines of the leaves and roses.)
    19. Instruction #17
    20. Apply a thin layer of Extender on the top surface; dress the brush with Extender; and side-load into a brush mix of Raw Sienna and the soft yellow mix. (See STEP 5.) Stroke along the front of the top surface, soften with a dry brush. Remove tape; dry.
    21. Wooden Ledge: Mark the top and bottom of the cut edge with chalk or a pencil. (The background and ledge fade into one another so there is not a definite line in the back.)
    22. Use Scotch tape to mask off 1/4" at the bottom of the ledge. Apply a light coat of Extender and paint the top of the ledge with Raw Sienna, fading into Raw Umber at the back.
    23. Paint Raw Sienna around the front leaves and under the roses and primroses, then fade into the background. (Soften with a mop brush, if needed.)
    24. Dry well; remove tape. Using a ruler and pencil, lightly mark the top front of the ledge and apply Scotch tape on the cut edge. (It is advisable to have the background finished before you finalize the roses and leaves. You will need to repaint the background more than once.)
    25. Medium Beige or Medium White is the base or mid-value for most objects, except the wooden ledge.
    26. Work over a light coat of Extender. Lights (whites) and darks (Raw Umber) are worked wet-on-wet or layered, your choice. Mix between colors for additional values.
    27. Instruction #24
    28. Apply a thin layer of Extender before each step.
    29. Base in the larger leaves with Medium Beige, and the shadow leaves with transparent Raw Umber. Primroses are Medium White for the centers and Medium Beige for the petals. Dry.
    30. The roses are stroked in. Use a 3/8" angle brush and a little water and loosely base in the rose ball with Medium Beige.
    31. Side-load (long side of the brush) with Raw Umber; brush-blend on the palette; and indicate the center of the rose and shaded area. Dry.
    32. Apply a thin coat of Extender; re-base and shade the rose ball as before. Work wet-on-wet for the over-strokes; wipe the dark from the brush.
    33. Double-load the angle brush; load the short side with Medium Beige and the long side into Medium White. Palette-blend and stroke the petals at the back of the rose cup.
    34. Re-load as before and stroke the front of the rose cup, gradually picking up Warm White as you come forward. Continue with the lower petals. Dry.
    35. Leaves and Primroses : In the leaves in back of the roses, you can see some value changes begun, but more is needed.
    36. The primrose centers are Raw Sienna. (A little Yellow Oxide can be added.) The petals are Medium White on the back and underneath the flowers. Pick up a little Warm White as you come to the forward petals.
    37. When dry, side-load the brush with a little Raw Umber and shade the petals around the Raw Sienna center. Dry all.
    38. Work all leaves and primroses, adding more light and dark to create form and dimension. (Remember, the more attention you pay to this step, the greater your reward will be when applying the glazing colors.)
    39. First layer of color glazing/right rose: Apply a thin glaze of Brown Madder and Red Violet. (This is just the first layer of color on the roses.)
    40. Instruction #36
    41. Left rose: Apply a little Indian Yellow to the center. The red is a brush-mix of Brown Madder and Naphthol Red Light.
    42. The leaves are green. Vary by brush mixing with the suggested colors. Green color mix : Quinacridone Gold plus a little Phthalo Blue. You can add Warm or Medium White to this mix to vary the green color.
    43. Shadow leaves: Quinacridone Gold. Dry all.
    44. Second layer of color glazing/rose: Over light Extender, block in the same colors as above. Also block in a little yellow: Yellow mix and/or Yellow Oxide and a touch of Medium White. You should still be able to see the previous strokes.
    45. Instruction #40
    46. Dress the angle brush with the same red mixes as before: side-load (the long side) into the Soft Yellow mix, Medium White, or Warm White (your choice) and over-stroke. (Follow the rose step-by-step.)
    47. Leaves: More color is added, but values and intensities still need more attention. (At any time, you can come back with Raw Umber to darken or a lighter value from the dead layer palette to lighten. Then re-glaze with greens.)
    48. Primroses: Repaint the centers with a mix of Raw Sienna and Yellow Oxide; Raw Umber is in the center. The petals are Naphthol Red Light and Brown Madder.
    49. Instruction #43
    50. Values and intensities still need correcting on the primroses and leaves; on the wooden ledge, cast and resting shadows are not yet completed.
    51. Roses: At any time, the rose can be re-stroked, even changing the color. Notice the difference between the photos.
    52. More yellows were added in STEP 43. (If Indian Yellow is used, use it very sparsely as it can become quite intense.)
    53. Instruction #46
    54. Wooden ledge: Tape off the top surface this time. Apply a thin layer of Extender & Blending Medium to the cut edge.
    55. Side-load into Raw Umber and darken the edge right below the top surface. (Refer to photo.)
    56. Darken the left and right sides with Raw Umber, pulling in slightly toward the center.
    57. Streak Quinacridone Gold primarily in the center area followed by a little Brown Madder. Dry well and remove the tape. Renew the top surface, if needed.
    58. Tape off the bottom of the cut edge and paint the narrow strip below with Raw Umber.
    59. Primroses: In back of the three primroses, loosely indicate three or four more flowers with Brown Madder and Red Violet; the centers are Raw Sienna. When dry, glaze over with Raw Umber to push them into the background. (These are shadow flowers; only suggestions of petals should be seen.)
    60. Finish the primroses by highlighting the petals with Warm White. Renew the shading around the center especially on the right side.
    61. Instruction #53
    62. Highlight the center with Hansa Yellow Medium and a touch of Warm White. Detail the center of the top flower with Warm White.
    63. Shadows: The shadows are all Raw Umber. (The shadows are darker closer to the object casting the shadow. They contain at least three values, the faintest if further from the object. Shadows are most effective when painted at least twice.)
    64. Forget-me-nots: Transfer the forget-me-nots. These are painted without using a dead layer. Centers are Yellow Oxide, with a touch of Raw Umber in the middle. Petals are blue, highlight some flowers with Warm White. Shade around the Yellow Oxide centers with the darker blue mix. (Blue Mixes: lighter value: Warm White plus a little Cerulean Blue. Add a touch of Raw Umber to the this mix to make it darker blue.)
    65. Instruction #56
    66. The shadows cast from the forget- me-nots are Raw Umber.
    67. Notice how much sharper and darker the shadows are on the left in comparison to those on the right. This is because the light is coming from the left and shadows are always stronger closest to the light source.
    68. Instruction #58
    69. Subtly highlight the shadow leaves using Medium White or Raw Sienna. (In our project, Medium White was used, dried, and then a little Quinacridone Gold was glazed over it.)
    70. Branch: Medium White and Raw Umber. Highlighted with Medium White, shaded with Raw Umber. Add touches of Quinacridone Gold.
    71. Instruction #60
    72. The main leaves are toned down and shaded with darker glazes using Raw Umber or Raw Umber and Carbon Black.
    73. Highlight areas are built up with glazes of Hansa Yellow Medium and Warm White, Raw Sienna, or Yellow Oxide.
    74. Tints of the red mixes or Quinacridone Gold are added. Notice that the smaller leaves on the left have much fewer light areas. Medium White was mostly used.
    75. Dry all thoroughly and finish with two or three coats of Satin Varnish.
    76. Roses Step-by-Steps: Step 1: Base in the rose ball and divide into quarters.
    77. Instruction #65
    78. Step 2: Double-load the angle brush (heel with the darker value; toe with the lighter value) and stroke the three petals on the back of the rose cup.
    79. Instruction #66
    80. Step 3: Renew the toe end of the brush with the same value as before and stroke the second row. Begin this row past the vertical half line that you made in Step 1.
    81. Step 4: Pick up lighter values on the toe of the brush and stroke the third row and inner petals.
    82. Step 5: Renew the brush if needed, darker value on the heel and lighter value on the toe. Stroke the inner petal of the front of the rose cup.
    83. Step 6: Repeat the same stroke beneath the first. Renew the color if needed on the toe of the brush.
    84. Step 7: Repeat the same stroke motion as in Step 5 & 6. But this time, pick up more light value of the toe of the brush. Keep these strokes close together, no more than 1/8" between the petals.
    85. Instruction #71
    86. Step 8: Re-load the angle brush, but load the toe into a darker value (it will still read as light) that was used on the front of the rose cup. Stroke the two petals representing the saucer of the cup.
    87. Step 9: With what is left on the brush, stroke the three lower petals.
    88. Step 10: Now it is time to stroke the inner petals next to the rose cup. Dry well. Repaint the rose starting from Step 1.
    89. Instruction #74
    90. Step 11: This picture shows the rose, repainted following the same steps as before. This second painting is similar to a second coat of paint on a wall. Notice the difference between step 10 and 11.
    91. Step 12: After this second repainting is completed and dried, light and dark values are applied. The stamen is indicated with a dark/medium green stippled, then a lighter green or Yellow Oxide is stippled but in a small area. The final highlight is a lighter yellow and white.

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