Vintage Roses

"Vintage Roses"

Work in progress

My joy in painting has always been in accepting the fact that there isn't always only one way to do things. In fact this is a life lesson because I always take time to consider if I have options available when approaching a task no matter what it is. I consider if there is a better way to achieve a better result.  And so it is with my paintings of roses in watercolour.

I have been experimenting on scraps of paper recently. I like how I currently paint roses in watercolour which is a style that has evolved over the years. But I often think of my Shangainese mentor who taught me to "see" what I want to paint long before I put brush to paper or the antique silk I used to work on at that time.

When painting roses, in my mind I can see the form of the flower and I can even visualise touching each soft petal. And from playing with experiments when painting flowers I have now discovered a gorgeous new way to create petals from puddles of water and pigment dropped into each one. The above image shows the upper rose created in this way whilst the lower rose shape is waiting to have the petals added. I hope this technique works because it would make painting roses so simple for everyone who wants to follow working on them in a loose style. So I hope to share more about this idea on my blog soon.

For now I will keep experimenting and having fun. Keeping the inner child in me very much alive when creating.  I want to know more, learn more and have more to share!

Constantly.

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White magic : Roses

 "White Magic"

Painting Roses in a Large Composition

 As I have been away for over a month and my rose demonstrations have been enjoyed so much I thought I would share a very special blog post today. To make up for my absence! Also I am opening so many emails from artists who would like to attend my workshops in UK and USA but as they are all fully booked this year I feel terrible for not having any places to offer. I am currently working on my USA 2016 tour with more locations hopefully being added. But for now if I share a few tips perhaps that will make up for my being so busy!

I had a great time painting this afternoon. As I worked I realised there are so many simple tips that make creating such a pleasure and often they are missed. So I will go through a step by step of this painting and hope it helps someone who reads my post.

Firstly. If you want to work in a loose style work on a large piece of paper.  I think artists new to painting feel safer painting small pieces. But unfortunately with smaller work you get to fiddling with detail in a way that painting larger compositions seems to avoid. And you can move your arms more on a large piece! I literally danced while painting these roses and I was singing at the top of my voice. So it is just as well I am not on "You Tube" right now! That could be hysterical. But back to the painting.

Negative Shapes

 Step 1. Negative Shapes. I simply  worked around three circles which would be my roses. These were to be left white for detail to be added later, for the flowers. But stage one was mainly creating a fabulous interesting background. I used lots of Daniel Smith colours here and let them merge at will with little help from me. The Daniel Smith pigments seem to love making patterns which if we interfere too much with, as artists, can ruin. My brushwork leaps everywhere in the background. It moves in all directions, by design to create a happy, energetic feel to my composition

 Step1. If you look at the lower rose in the above image you will notice it has very little colour inside the white circle. All the energy is behind this white space. Making the background come to life quietly at first. Then I add stronger colour around the white space where I feel it is needed. Compare the upper and lower halves of this painting.

Rose Centres

Stage 2 The rose centres. If you have been  reading my " How to Paint Roses in a Loose Style" blog post you should be a dab hand at painting centres by now!  If not practise your rose centres before attempting them on a big painting. I started with the top rose and worked downwards. 

Artist Tip. Always leave your favourite central rose until last in a painting, so if you mess up on the outer two you have had more practise and know what you like by the time you paint the centre flower!

 Step 2. Adding the centres to my roses takes time and practise. But I work very slowly gradually bringing each rose to life.

Connection

Stage 3. Making Connections  Okay now this is where many artists on my workshops go wrong. Or have painting hiccups! You should now have a gorgeous painting where the three main roses are coming to life but something isn't quite right? Look at the above painting and look at the one below. What is different?

The image above has the roses almost floating. There is absolutely nothing connecting them to each other or the background. It is that simple. So if you now look again at the image below you will see simple stems placed with simple brushwork to connect the two upper flowers. It makes all the difference. I have also started making leaves appear around the top rose too but don't fiddle. Just a few dramatic ones is better than a zillion fussy ones that detract from your gorgeous roses!

Artist Tip : Don't Fiddle!

 Stage 3. Connection is needed in some form between the subjects. Stems, leaves, colour flow. Find a way to make the subjects, in this case roses, look as though they belong to each other.

Now a closer look at those yummy rose centres!

I want each rose to be a character in their own right. Not exactly the same.

Look at the images below to see what I mean.

 This is the top rose. It is almost there as a flower but could have a little more darks added so that the effect is stronger. Notice the stems underneath? And look at how the background colour has been allowed to flow into the flower itself becoming part of the subject in places. This creates harmony and avoids that perfect white " floating" look!

 This is the middle rose. My main flower and focal point so I wanted this one to be particularly beautiful. I have taken time to create a lovely classical rose centre on this one.

 Actually this is my favourite. This is the last rose and I chose a slightly different centre. It looks real! Sometimes a few neat lines is all it takes to make a flower appear. Try to have contrasts between soft and hard lines as these will be fascinating when your painting is completed.

And here is another tip. If you paint three roses in a very large composition if one is perfect and the other two are not? You can crop your paper. Look, I have one painting already in the very fist rose so if I messed up the other two I can choose this one as it is! You have nothing to risk by working larger. But you could definitely have far more fun!

A painting found within a painting, by cropping a large piece if you want to.

I have to confess. I am so inspired with my new range of Daniel Smith shades that I am going nuts in my studio. Please try Daniel Smith Green Gold or Daniel Smith Serpentine Genuine. They are gorgeous! Oh and if you allow Cadmium Yellow to run into your blue background you get a fabulous turquoise effect and a very alive green mix too. I used Daniel Smith Cadmium Yellow Medium Hue with a touch of Daniel Smith Opera Pink for my rose centres, heavily diluted in places.

I hope you liked this blog post as much as I loved sharing it. Easy tips. Work big, practise, don't fiddle and use yummy colours!

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Now a special Hello.  Hi there Judy. I am thinking about you today whilst I work in my studio. I hope the chemo is going well and I hope my rose demo painting that I gave you looks fabulous when framed. It was wonderful to meet you in Seattle and I hope we meet again next year. And I bet this personal message is another surprise, hopefully raising a smile again ! Huge hugs and happy painting. Jean.

Summer Glow : Roses in Watercolour

"Summer Glow"

Oh how I love Daniel Smith Cadmium Yellow! Even if the sun has disappeared in my garden I can instantly bring it back with a glowing yellow addition to my latest painting of summer roses.

Yes I am leaping ahead a season but it feels so good to do so!

Sometimes we just have to listen to our hearts and let colour guide us by cheerful mood and happiness. I am excited about my upcoming trip to USA and I think its' showing in my art this week!

Bouncing, vibrant and happy! Not bad qualities to possess or feel!

Happy painting!

Jean

Roses For Doni

"Love is a Rose"

Painting from my new book "Jean Haines World of Watercolour"

( Copyright Jean Haines )

I just read an email from a wonderful artist who had been inspired on my workshop whilst I was on tour in Australia last year. Doni, I promised to post on my blog to you so here is one post! Others will follow when I have time.

I often hear from artists who have attended my workshops or demonstrations, Mainly letting me know how I have inspired or motivated them which is wonderful. Sometimes I hear of lifes' hiccups that get in the way of peaceful painting, following the excitement of a course and that can be so frustrating I know, because life has a way of throwing hurdles at us when everything is going just fine. In fact I often sit and wonder where my " life hurdles" are because its' been far too long since any were thrown my way. Well apart from breaking my ankle in Australia a while back but even that had positive outcome, in that I met many new friends when I returned to repeat the course for the artists who missed it the first time around.

Life on the whole is wonderful but when things get us down it is amazing how by simply moving our brushes or choosing cheerful colours we can lift our spirits to lead us into another more " happy zone"!

So whatever the weather, or whatever life is throwing at you please do find some "down time" just for you, to paint and enjoy just watching colour on paper!

"Love is a Rose" is from my new book " Jean Haines World of Watercolour" which will be available in June of this year.  And is already available to pre order on Amazon .com

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Jean-Haines-World-Watercolour/dp/1782210393

Heaven Is a Rose

 "Heaven is a Rose"

On my Easel this morning

A surprise email this morning let me know that I will be filming for my new project this week on Thursday. This news created great excitement for me. I had a meeting with my publisher at my cottage last week to go over a few ideas and I mentioned I could be ready "to go" this week. So it is now all systems go as I compile a collection of paintings which will be going in a thrilling special edition. Further information will follow later this year but for now I am thrilled.

The sun shone so brightly this morning that regardless of my work load I just had to paint roses. I am a firm believer in following your heart when painting and mine is set on capturing soft pink roses in sunlight. There is a story behind these rose paintings, isn't  there always!

In our first home, when we were newly weds, I knew very little about gardening but outside the kitchen window there were highly scented pink roses which I adored. I constantly picked endless bouquets to decorate our home and to give away as gifts to friends. The more I picked the more seemed to grow in the removed flowers' places. I have found that similar in life. The more you give away the more comes back to you. I give my tips and techniques away where ever I go and I find artists from all over the world are eager to share their favourite colours or subjects with me too. And, it seems the nicer you are to people the nicer they are back to you too. Its' an endless happy circle.

Where ever we have lived, from Dubai to Hong Kong I have always tried to have roses in my garden but I had made my mind up that the day we settled down I would have pink rose growing outside my kitchen window. And we have finally settled down. And I have done just that. Each year I set up my easel and happily paint the fabulous delicate roses , for hours on end.

Today I am leaping ahead to Summer and painting my favourite subjects yet again. These are one of the most favourite and most asked for of my watercolour demonstrations. Usually I have more than one artist asking if they can buy what I have just painted because the way the roses appear as if by magic always carries such a special memory to myself and those on my workshops.

There is a breath of freshness about this piece above, as it develops. A softness that seems heaven sent. 

Maybe its title should be " Heaven Scent" because to me heaven is a rose in bloom.

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Don't Give Up : Roses in Watercolour

"Sweet Love"

Possibly the last rose, painted from my garden this summer

I have been thinking about one of the questions asked following my talk at the Wey Gallery during the opening of my one woman show " Colour Fusion" last weekend. It is one I have been asked many times.

"How many of your paintings don't work out ?"

It is a great question isn't it.  And in truth I suppose I could answer that not many end up in the bin these days. But how long did it take for me to get to this stage in my art journey.  And I shouldn't forget all those experimental washes that I start each day with, not meaning for them to turn into paintings but they often do.

I think the easiest way to help answer this question is for me to take the above painting as a visual example of where I am heading with this blog post. This rose, one of the last from my garden this Summer started out as a first wash of soft pinks and greens. There was no definition initially and I was working from looking at the real flower. This had been cut as a single stem and placed in a vase with lovely green foligae behind it. Then placed near my desk easel to study. 

Artist Tip: Study your subject well, observe its' colour and shape before you even think about picking up a brush.

I chose Opera Rose and Perylene Green as my main colours. Working on dry paper I applied a block section of pink colour at first, in the suggestive shape observed  from the real flower. This was almost completely circular.  I allowed watermarks to run at will in places throughout the wash ,whilst deliberately encouraging other water marks to form  hints of the many petals in this particular rose variety.  I then placed one strong leaf at the top of the flower to strengthen my outline edge of the rose.

First wash with watermarks and missing detail.

A loose "mess"! 

Creating a good starting point  from a first wash, as a basis for a successful loose painting is fascinating. I think it is at this stage that many new artists " give up". Because they can't see how the next brush strokes can bring the subject to life. It is having the imagination and courage to work further that makes or breaks a painting. But this is also the stage where as an artist I have nothing to lose. If it goes wrong the painting is an experiment I can learn from. But if it goes right, I have that magical sensation of achieving a  good result.

At this stage I have to consider two points. Adding too much detail next could ruin my loose painting as it could move into the slightly botanical realm and well away from the atmospheric result I was aiming for. But by not adding enough definition, the piece could end up looking a mess that isn't worthy of even being called an abstract. I try to marry a loose background with enough detail to tell the story of what my subject is. But without my finished result being overly fussy or over worked.

Working loose in watercolour this way is exciting as pigment reaction with water is always unique in how it dries. I enjoy my first washes of any given subject, often waiting patiently allowing each stage to dry before working further, adding the detail.  Only when my first wash is completly dry can I consider what the painting truly needs.

And so a few darks, a few fine lines, a few additions of petal detail turns a "blurry" loose mess into a stunningly beautiful rose in watercolour.

 

"Sweet Rose"

Petals unfurling and wrapping around an inner centre that carries such sweet perfume. 

Artists Tip: Never give up on a painting unless you aren't enjoying the creative process. Take time to study your subject and your initial washes, think about how each new brushstroke can add or detract from what you are trying to achieve and practise until you gain results that are pleasing you. And remember, at the end of the day, painting should be enjoyable, not a chore!

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Its' wonderful seeing how popular my blog post on " How to paint roses in a loose style" still is. So I am hoping this blog post with more detail will help followers with their own paintings of roses. They are such wonderful flowers to paint!

Red is for Love: Roses in Watercolour

Vibrant Red Roses in an almost finished watercolour

Such joy in this piece.

I started the day with a blog post on roses and thought it might be nice to share one last post to end my painting day too, with roses again. 

I am absolutely having a fantastic time painting roses in my garden. But I have already spent so much time working on pink blooms and a particular red rose has been calling to me all week. This afternoon I couldn't resist any longer. So here is my  latest rose painting.It is nearly complete and as it came to life the joy in each brushstroke was incredible. I am on a heavenly high, the kind that comes when the colours you have used have made you feel great.

I also feel very close to Blanche Odin, my heroine  in the art world of painting flowers. I so hope she would have liked these. Her inspiration wieghs on my shoulders each time I start a new rose painting as I wish one day to paint them at least half as well as she did.

 I am really excited  because I have also recieved so many wonderful emails with invitations to fabulous art events and workshop destinations. On top of this, I have  had really good news but unfortunately cannot share the details because for now its' a huge secret, sorry,  but please watch this space.

I honestly believe if you do good in this world or make others happy then wonderful things come back to you. I must have made someone very happy today judging by the glow I am feeling from reading a particualy exciting email today!

Roll on tomorrow and happy painting!

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All About Roses

Rose Study

Painting in the Garden

Following last weeks workshops I am now desperately trying to catch up in my studio. I still have to finalise the 2014 watercolour workshop programme and I have a meeting with my publisher in August. I am really looking forward to sharing my new paintings, step by steps and ideas for my new book.

Yesterday I visited a gorgeous garden centre and found myself studying an amazing variety of roses. I was lost in a sea of colour and perfume. Even though my painting time is limited today I couldn't resist starting a small rose study from my garden. Just a few minutes to play with colour and water, looking for the shape of the rose against the dark foliage it was nestling in. This is my idea of heaven, painting what I want when I want to!

I am very aware that the flowers in my garden have a limited life.  If I want to paint them outside I need to do it now in the summer months while I can. Making the most of each ray of sunshine and daylight painting time.

This could be a week full of rose paintings!

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Taking Time to Smell the Roses

Rose  painted from my garden this morning.

Work in progress

Life is busy, as always. The more I do the more I seem to have to do. I open emails constantly and read wonderful invitations where my brain screams at me to say "no" but my heart yells say "Yes"! And I always without fail follow my heart. It hasn't led me in any wrong directions so far so I will keep listening to it!

However the problem, with being so busy, is that the artist who used to wander around her garden and sit to paint flowers as they appeared seems to have been forgotten. Which is why this morning I remembered her and her passion for painting roses. I sat quietly by a favourite rose in our garden and painted it. I listened to bird song, I absorbed its heady perfume in the sunlight and I allowed pigment to bring it to life on my paper using very gentle brush strokes.

If you can't enjoy painting roses when they are in bloom when can you?

Please take time, just for you, to paint what you like when you feel like it. Let the roller coaster of life wait for you for a change and put  the "u" back in "you"!

I did today and I feel fantastic!

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Rose Fever 2013

Roses painted on a scrap of paper

As much as I loved painting the roses in my previous blog post to me they felt too tight. They bordered in places on being slightly botanical . I always aim for a mixture of loose sections and fine detail to complete my watercolours as a mystical combination of styles. I haven't painted roses very much this year so decided to grab a few scraps of paper this morning and work on a few first washes, looking for roses in each. The next stages bring the rose to life with final brushwork.

The above study has a fabulous feel to it as a painting and now I wish I had worked on new paper not scraps! I have several gorgeous rose paintings decorating my studio today now, that would have looked wonderful framed.

For followers of my blog who have asked about my brush sets and want to paint roses in a loose style following my style. I use my number ten sable for the petals and wash. I use my soft sable rigger to "lift" petal edges, very gently to encourage the petal edges appear.  Please note, it has to be a soft sable as the technique at this stage needs to be carried out very gently.  Other brush mixes tend to damage the paper which  can leave obvious marks when dry.  My colours flow and interact, guided by my sable brushes which hardly touch the paper surface due to their design,quality and of course my gentle use of them. I also use my rigger to pick up tiny amounts of pigment which I drop into areas in a wet in wet technique, to add strength in colour where needed. Such as shadows at the base of petals.

My brush sets can be found on my web site. They are ideal for painting roses as they are made of the finest Kolinsky sable. They move easily allowing pigment to flow across paper. If you hold my size 10 sable away from the brush end and allow the point to form curves you can get a great result. Use my size ten brush for the outer soft petal edges and the rigger for detail and pigment dropping.

 Available from 

http://www.jeanhaines.com/kolinskysablebrushes

Roses,Roses,Roses!

Roses in a vase

Yesterday a wonderful neighbour and friend came to visit me to discuss camera options as they are thinking of buying one like mine. They came bearing gifts in the form of sweet scented roses from their garden.  I couldn't resist painting them this morning.  I had arranged them in a tall thin vase and the composition was so pleasing to my eye that I loved looking at them to observe their form. Just like portraits, all flowers have differences. Colourings,proportions and petal shapes are fascinating to study.

As my own roses are flowering in my garden I have a feeling many more rose paintings will be following!

Thank you to everyone who is enjoying my "How To Paint Roses in a Loose Style" blog post. It is still a very firm favourite out of all my posts. Now its time to get painting roses again and capture not just their beauty but their sweet perfume too.

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Leaving Summer Behind. Roses 2012

Enjoying a single rose from my cottage garden. Detail to be added after this first soft wash.

I am going to be very busy over the next few weeks so thought I would share an update on my blog.

Firstly I have a Private Preview on Friday 14th, September 2012 at the Albany Gallery in Cardiff as part of a group exhibition for the SWA,Society for Women Artists.

I will be away  taking a watercolour course at Dedham Hall next week and when I return I will be demonstrating for the Chandlers Ford Art Society.

All of my news will be posted on my web site and my 2013 programme of UK Workshops should be ready  by the end of this month.

I have incredible projects that I am working on and next year looks as though it is going to be really exciting. But then again,my life always is!

Last Days Of Summer 2012

Roses from my cottage garden this afternoon

I have a full week,in fact I have a full month or even year as I am finding the need to juggle my time wisely at the moment. But this afternoon the sun shone and everyone who is waiting for an email from me will be surprised to see I took time out to escape to my cottage garden and paint what may be the last of my summer roses. These gorgeouss pink blooms grow outside my kitchen window so I see them daily and they beg me to paint them. Today I listened to their pleas, picked up my brushes and painted purely for the fun of creating one of my favourite flowers in a soft loose composition.

If you adore painting flowers catch every seasonal bloom before its too late.

Today I did just that!

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For artists who attended my demonstration at Virginia Water Art Society recently this is a similar technique to the one demonstrated on the evening. I hope you like it!