White Rose

This white rose was a part of the bouquet that I painted last week.

The original painting is for sale.

That painting featured the pink rose, so I figured this weeks painting could be of the white one.

At first, I couldn't figure out if it was a white rose or a yellow rose. But after looking at photos of white roses online, I realized that they can actually have some color to them.


This is something that you can’t help but become aware of as you mix colors. There’s a little yellow in the petals, and some parts even have a green tint to them.

There are very few darks in this painting, it’s made up of mostly midtones and highlights. This is one of the most challenging types of images to paint because the colors are so subtle.

If you're wondering why a light image is difficult to paint it’s because you’re restricted to working within a very limited range of tones.

Most paintings have a wide range of colors and values. If you're off by a little bit it’s not very noticeable. But light images have very few tones so there’s a lot less leeway for matching colors.

At one point, I realized that I had misjudged how dark the colors should be. It dawned on me that the painting was much too light.

White Rose
8”x10”
Chris Breier © 2020
Acrylic on canvas board

I had most of the colors filled in and it wasn't creating the depth that I was looking for.

If you watch the video you'll notice about half way through I start painting the background in much darker colors.

Once I painted in the darker background it made the rose petals stand out more. I knew I was on the right track.