xiqinlim.com

After struggling with flower painting in previous lessons, this week’s session gives us another opportunity to improve, focusing on painting roses. 🌹🌹🌹

During the lesson, our instructor emphasized an important concept: when painting a live sketch, we should think of the composition like a movie scene. Consider the flow of objects from the closest to the farthest from our view. This is akin to curating a scene, where the main character(s) stand out, while the supporting elements and background play a secondary role. The key to creating a successful painting is balancing the prominence of each object—without highlighting both the main and minor elements, the composition may not be as effective.

For this session, I chose watercolors, especially since I recently purchased a new roll of watercolor paper. While painting, my instructor noticed that the purple tones I used for the roses were too dark, especially since the reference roses were pink. One key lesson I’ve learned in live sketching is to paint only what you observe. This means choosing the colors that accurately reflect the real-life object in front of you. As a beginner, I’m still refining my technique, but my instructor’s approach was encouraging. She reassured me that with practice, I’ll eventually get the right colors mixed.

Rather than giving up, I decided to continue painting the leaves and the vase at home. A key reminder for myself: next time, I’ll focus on mixing the correct colors for roses. 🤞

“Practice makes perfect.” If I don’t get the color mix right this time, I’ll keep trying—whether it’s the next round or even the next 10 rounds—until I get it just right! 💪