Playing with Reds and Roses in Watercolor

Today was play day in a less structured way (no drawing or pre-planning). Using watercolor, different red paints were labeled at the top of the watercolor paper and a square of each color painted. I found though that I pretty much stuck with certain colors: Deep Scarlet, Anthraquinoid Red, Quin. Red, Permanent Red and Scarlet Lake with maybe swish or two of the other reds. The greens: Undersea Green, Pthalo Green, Sap Green. The blues: Cobalt blue or Cerulean. The yellow used was New Gamboge.

The studies were painted below the paint squares and were done to study the gradation of values, the tones of red and simply to get the look of a rose. I love their soft, velvety texture, their scent, their shapes and the soft transitions from dark to lighter reds. Capturing those attributes with paint is still eluding me, at least so far but what a pleasure to try.


Getting values in reds takes some doing. For lighter areas, used less paint, more water or left the white; for darker areas, I used the complement of red, green. You can see what I mean about the values in the grayscale of the studies I did today.