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06/02/2026

Paint It Simply - Exercise 3
Today's lesson was in stroke roses. We used a larger canvas and a filbert brush.
I must say, I do enjoy using a filbert brush. There's something about the curves and the lift off that just lends itself so well to a petal and a leaf. For my canvas, I used a 12" x 16" wrapped canvas that I applied at least three layers of canvas prep to before sitting down to paint. This helped avoid too much tooth of the canvas coming through in my strokes.
The stroke rose seems like it might be an easier method than the casual rose, but it is not. It truly is an exercise of the same degree as the casual roses are. David does a wonderful job of keeping the student challenged. I'm up for exercise 4 next!

05/30/2026

Orange Watercolor Rose
This was the last rose I painted during my recent travels. You may not suspect it but the colors were difficult to layer. By the time I started this rose I was running so low on the color white in my pallet that I told myself I had to use colors that could be highlighted without adding white. When it was time for me to start adding highlights, I chose to use yellow. I think it's a subtle highlight because white tends to brighten a color in big steps because it is a solid pigment while the yellow is more transparent pigment. This rose was a challenge, however I was able to concentrate and work quickly. I ended up using the blow dryer to be sure everything was dry enough to bring the painting to the office that morning. By the end of the day, I had gifted all three watercolor roses to my colleagues. ❤️💪🏽🌹❤️

05/28/2026

Yellow Watercolor Roses
This was the second morning rose painting that I was able to squeeze in during work related travel. To be honest, I was only able to start this painting in the morning and then I came back to it that same evening.
I recall seeing what I managed to paint in the morning and wondering if it was good as-is. Really, all there was were the two roses. I should have taken a photo at that stage of the painting so I could share it with you.
But I chose to continue working on it that evening. I added leaves, stems, a little more depth in the highlights and the shadows. Then there it was, a finished painting laying in front of me. 💕🌹💕

05/27/2026

White Watercolor Rose
While traveling for work last week, I found time in the mornings to paint. Thank goodness I have been practicing David's casual roses methods because I really didn't have a lot of time. In fact, the roses I painted each morning were done in record time. Funny how at home in my studio I can set timers to stop myself from overworking the rose, but I usually just disregard the alarm and continue working until I either exhaust myself or come close to wrecking the whole thing (sometimes even going on ahead and wrecking it 😜). But when I was in the hotel room, and knew that my coworkers were going to meet me in the lobby at a specific time, I was sure to work quickly, and stop in time to run downstairs to meet them.
When I would come back to my room, many hours later, there was a little canvas surprise waiting for me. As the great David Jansen says time and time again, you have to work quickly if you want to paint a beautiful rose. 👍🏽💪🏽 I will certainly be looking forward to continuing to travel for work and painting under pressure. It works for me!!

05/17/2026

Paint It Simply - Exercise 2
I really enjoyed today's exercise. David took almost an hour himself to paint and teach and discuss everything. It was a lesson on textures, colors, half-tones, and just plain having fun trying something new. As I stand back looking at this painting I can't help but say to myself "Damn, that's a fine looking painting, Ashley!" 💪🏽🤩

05/14/2026

Paint It Simply - Exercise 1
Today's canvas is 11"x14" which much larger than what I normally paint on. It was a challenge to fill the space, but then again it was to work through this exercise.
My buds exploded in size. I find that either the queen rose expands or the buds expand. In this exercise, my bud informal to the queen (the one right below it) expanded beyond that of the queen. Once I reached the stage of negative painting (adding the leaves and dark background) I noticed the size was off and started to fix it.
I think I did OK fixing the bud. I mean, this is an exercise after all. I do enjoy the smaller bud up top. It does look as if it will be opening up soon. That's pretty 😍
Exercise 2 will be interesting as the orientation of the canvas will change from vertical to horizontal. 😲🤔🌹🌹🌹

05/07/2026

30 Days of Roses - Day 30
Wow, day 30 already! I am so pleased with these lessons. I will be doing as David advised and going back into the challenge to paint the roses again using a different color palette.
Just looking at Day 1 against Day 30 shows me how far I have come. I am looking forward to picking up where I left off in David's master floral class. If following his Paint It Easy courses have brought me and my brush this far, just imagine where I can go in his master class.
Loving the results of today's painting. What do you think about it?
David W. Jansen

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Fish Lake Road
Holly, MI
48442

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