Velvet Red Rose

by Sarai Ekblad
(Marion, IL)

I painted this in oil. It is on a 12 x 12 cotton canvas. I started with the purple background. Then I focused on the rose. It took me about 2 weeks, painting only one day a week. I painted about two to three hours at a time. I'm not a great artist, so I don't know what all the techniques are called. But I was pleased, as were my friends at the local arts association.
I’m a fairly new painter, especially in oils. My friend recently started showing me how easy oils can be. I painted 2 paintings side-by-side with her. Then I painted another work on my own before starting this rose. I have a painting up for auction at a charity event on June 6. I’m excited as it’ll be my first ever painting to sell.
This rose painting, though inspired partly by a painting on your website, was primarily inspired by my father. He recently sent me a birthday card in which he called me his “rosebud.” I’ve never had any nicknames, let alone one so special from my dad. So the nickname, Rosebud, means a lot to me, and I decided to paint a rose. My fellow artists at the local arts association kept telling me that roses are difficult. But I was determined. So I printed off a copy of your rose painting, and with my own colors and my own little twist, I did my best to paint a rose. This is how it turned out. My friends at the arts association kept telling me how much they loved it and that it looked like velvet. They said it made them want to just stick their nose in and smell it. I am very pleased, even though I don’t think it looks as real as yours that I used as inspiration for painting this rose.

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