Rose petals

A quick comparison image today, of this simple rose I drew.

Sometimes when you are coloring flowers with deep petals, like a rose, it comes out too flat. To make the tips of the petals need to look like they are standing out, the key is contrast and a wider range of colors. Today I'll be coloring this quick rose drawing I made for the tutorial. The lighting is kinda generic, being from the front & above, so neither side will have stronger shadows.

Here is the first example. I colored the leaves with YG11, then added YG17 to darken the shading, then went back with the YG11 to blend. The white petals I shaded with B41, as I wanted a very cool-feeling white rose (many white roses have a hint of pale yellow or pink). To make the blue shadows feel even more blue, I put the compliment of blue in the background- orange. Not a strong orange, but YR21, blended with Y11.

This isn't bad, but it is very limited in depth. Sure, I went petal by petal, and added shadows that are appropriate, but it still lacks punch.

So, I started over and spent more time being careful. First, I worked on the leaves. Instead of two colors in the same natural blending group, I threw in extra colors.

 I used a base of YG11 again, but I added some Y11 over the tips to warm it up even more. Then, in the shadows, I added YG17 in streaks following the veins on the leaves. I tried to not go back and blend, as I wanted to keep the veins visible.

Next, I added G28 and G99 in the shadows, as both of those greens are grayer and cooler than the YG families. For good measure, I also really cooled the shadows down by adding hints of B37. You can't see it, but it's there. Now the leaves look a lot more dynamic.

For the petals, again, I started with the B41 that I used above, only, this time, I bended it out a little with the colorless blender. I also added extra deep shadows with BV02 and B45. I was careful to leave plenty of white. Note how my shadows are dense at the base of each petal, be it the topside or the underside of each petal. The tips are left as white as I could.

To make the tips look warmer, yet curled, I pulled in hints of Y00 on either side of where I wanted the highlights to be brightest.  Remember, warm colors feel closer, and cooler colors are good for shadows. Last, I threw in a simple background of YR21 and Y00. On my paper it almost looks neon, but scanned in it loses a lot of vibrancy.

What I want you to take away from this tutorial is that you shouldn't color an image just once. Try it multiple times, and push yourself to add more contrast or add unusual colors into the highlights or shadows. Try coloring the rose with yellow tones and having the sky in blues. Or, if it was a red rose, make the background the compliment (pale green).

Have a great week coloring!!