Layered Love - Be my Valentine!

I really don't care much for Valentine's day or any other such day. But this was a good reason for a "red rose challenge" at Daily Paintworks. This also happens to be my first ever attempt at a rose, making it very special indeed.

The whole of last spring, I painted every flower that exists in every possible color, but I never painted the rose. It has somehow always intimidated me, I get bogged down thinking about the details in a rose. The circles of petals make me go dizzy and I somehow never believed I could paint one decently well. Am glad that I persisted today though. Actually persist isn't right, as there wasn't much to. I am glad that I set aside all my apprehensions and just started painting it.

Layered Love
Acrylics on Canvas, 5 by 7 inches
© Nithya Swaminathan
$35 + shipping, Click here to Buy

The whole idea of these challenges is to push yourself and to try new stuff. So while I was not too confident pulling it off with the knife, that's what I eventually did. Decided not to touch the brush at all, so much that even the sides of the canvas are painted with the knife. :) I am totally in LOVE with this one. Extremely pleased with the outcome. Let me know what you think!

Also, I usually keep saying "sides painted", "can be hung without a frame" and so on. For people wondering what the hell that actually means, I also took some snapshots of this painting from different viewpoints today, that will show the painted sides. Hope you enjoy these views too! :)