Vibrant Botanical Painting by Godwin Jarnie;

Author:Godwin, Jarnie;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: The Crowood Press

IN PRACTICE: PAINTING ROSE BUDS – ROSA ‘GERTRUDE JEKYLL’

Painting a single bud at larger-than-life scale is one of my favourite ways to present these most beautiful of subjects. Highlighting their shape and form with a focus on the detail makes for a stunning composition, and revisiting a favourite subject each time it develops is like meeting an old friend.

The rose buds of the painting Rosa ‘Gertrude Jekyll’ were formed as a pair, towering above the decaying bloom. For this painting, I particularly liked the juxtaposition of extremes in the life cycle of both a rose at the end of her life, and the new life of the buds to come. The contrast in colours and textures, along with a dynamic sense of the moment made this an exciting prospect. And with a pleasing narrative for the composition, an early title was A Time of Waiting.

The Process

• With larger paintings I generally start with elements to the left of the composition, and work right. This is to stop my painting arm from rubbing over completed parts of the painting, but also introduces a methodical timescale to the process.

• The buds, being fresher and more vibrant than the decay of the bloom, needed more intense pinks and magenta in the colour palette to capture their brighter hues. This would echo some of the range used in the brighter parts of the decaying bloom, and tie the composition together.

• Lots of techniques, from wet into damp to wet on dry and dry brush were used to capture the full range of tones and textures. While mark making is more pronounced and defined on the parts of the painting that show decay, there is still a range of scratchy transitions, ‘halos of colour’ into the shadows, along with lots of lines, wrinkles, shadows and blotches.

• Layers are applied carefully and slowly. It doesn’t matter how many layers of paint are needed, it’s important how these are applied. Every brush mark needs to be considered, as every one will build the form, colour, texture, pattern and shape of the subject. How much this takes will be determined by ‘the sitter’. The subject is always there to inform the artist what needs to be done.

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