Step one: After choosing an appealing subject (in this case, a rose from the rose bushes in front of my house - I took a picture and worked from that), sketch it in lightly on the canvas with pencil (I use a Dixon No. 2), then use Burnt Sienna to create a fairly detailed underpainting.
Step two: I subscribe to the eat-the-frog-first philosophy of getting things done (If the most challenging thing you have to do all day is eat a frog, do that first and your day can only get easier from there). For this painting, my frog is the rose, so I use thin layers of red (a tiny bit of Lamp Black for shading and Titanium White or Naples Yellow Hue for lighter tints - I strongly suggest goofing around with the color you want on your palette before committing it to canvas).
Step three: Being a Stuckist, I stick to colors that are readily identifiable as what one would expect to be seen in nature. I suppose I should write something here about using various sizes and shapes of brushes to create form, texture, etc., but seriously, use whatever brushes you're comfortable with to accomplish the effect you want. I use flat brushes that are 1/4 to 1/2 inch wide to paint the leaves and stem. Oh yeah, my preferred colors for this step are Cadmium Yellow Pale Hue, Lemon Yellow Hue, Prussian Blue and Cobalt Blue Hue - mix 'em on your palette until you get green shades you like.
Step Four: The home stretch. Using Cerulean Blue Hue and Titanium White, I paint in the background color. Once I see where the painting would benefit with more contrast or brighter color, I add them. In this case I used Cadmium Red Hue, Vermilion Hue, and Alzarian Crimson mixed with Titanium White to give the rose more pop, then added a bit of the Cerulean Blue Hue to a light green I had mixed earlier to give the leaves a little more life. This painting is now done, so I sign it (well, signed it - I did this in November of last year).
There you go. Eat it, Bob Ross.
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