This was painted following a video tutorial from Michael J. Smith, so it's hardly original as many would have painted this rose - but I like the result a lot so thought of showing here how I reached this final result:
Again, MJS does not use toned canvas but just primed panels - this is indeed a primed panel 40x50cm. The initial block in stage with the rough drawing is here:
I then proceeded with the block in of the rose:
That background was such a problem - the paint was sinking in the panel and there was no way I could do any blended effect. I'll never buy a pre-primed panel again, and will never again paint on just a gesso primed surface alone, but will continue with my method of using an oil based primer. In this case I had to smear it all with aboundant lineseed oil - then wait a ton of time before I could paint over it.
The lineseed oil streaked on me, so it ruined the surface - this painting sits with me rather than being given to my family (original idea was a present for my parents). With that surface I just cannot bring it anywhere.
In the final detailed layer I worked exclusively on the rose, adding glazes and highlights:
