Ruby Kennedy
Roses
Watercolour paint and watercolour pencil on watercolour paper
42 x 30 cm
2021
Roses is a watercolour painting on paper of a bunch of pink roses. I was influenced to make this artwork by my love for nature, especially flowers and I wanted to improve my watercolour skills. I had not worked much with watercolour beforehand, and I wanted to extend my artistic abilities. I was inspired by Wardell Milan who paints flowers and the way he used bright colours and simple lines.I have incorporated the simple line technique that Milan has done for the stem of the flowers, so it does not take away the focus from the roses. The process in making this artwork involved researching watercolour painting techniques and a lot of practicing. There was a lot of trial and error, but the errors were where most of the learning came from. A technique that worked well was using the watercolour pencils to outline the roses as they blend in afterwards. A problem I encountered was not being able to get enough detail and also leaving the white paper as highlights. I overcame these problems by finding that by painting the roses bigger, I could achieve more detail and I did a lot of practical development to practice painting the highlights. I think one positive aspect of my work is the tonal range. For the highlights of the petals, the colour is very light and in contrast, the shadows under the petals are dark and help bring out the shape of each petal.
Roses
Watercolour paint and watercolour pencil on watercolour paper
42 x 30 cm
2021
Roses is a watercolour painting on paper of a bunch of pink roses. I was influenced to make this artwork by my love for nature, especially flowers and I wanted to improve my watercolour skills. I had not worked much with watercolour beforehand, and I wanted to extend my artistic abilities. I was inspired by Wardell Milan who paints flowers and the way he used bright colours and simple lines.I have incorporated the simple line technique that Milan has done for the stem of the flowers, so it does not take away the focus from the roses. The process in making this artwork involved researching watercolour painting techniques and a lot of practicing. There was a lot of trial and error, but the errors were where most of the learning came from. A technique that worked well was using the watercolour pencils to outline the roses as they blend in afterwards. A problem I encountered was not being able to get enough detail and also leaving the white paper as highlights. I overcame these problems by finding that by painting the roses bigger, I could achieve more detail and I did a lot of practical development to practice painting the highlights. I think one positive aspect of my work is the tonal range. For the highlights of the petals, the colour is very light and in contrast, the shadows under the petals are dark and help bring out the shape of each petal.