I love roses so much! When my mom brought over the last roses of the season from her garden I was inspired to make some art. I always try to prolong my enjoyment of their fleeting beauty by painting and taking pictures of them. This time I wanted to make a paper rose that I could keep forever.
Isn't that just gorgeous? Complete with a teeny tiny adorable bug.
Pinks and yellows and greens, oh my!!!
I started by taking apart the entire rose. It was so cool to see it all disassembled (even if it pained me to do it!) I kept the petals in the order that they were picked.
I carefully drew each petal and numbered them as I went. I flattened each petal with my finger and blocked out a basic shape with my pencil. I then inked over the pencil and added some detail. Once the drawing was finished, I painted each petal, trying to mimic the originals as best I could.
I carefully numbered the petals based on the order they were picked. I imagined I would be starting at the innermost petals and working my way out so I just reversed the order of the numbers (since I picked the outermost petals first and that is how they were numbered.)
I then scanned it into the my computer and printed copies to work from.
I used sharp scissors to carefully cut out the petals. Do one at a time so you know what number you are on.
You will need to shape the petals a little. I folded them down the center, then unfolded. Next I folded the top tips back. Lastly I folded the bottom third up and then unfolded it. It will make your rose look much more realistic. See the above examples.
Next, I got a thin chopstick and made a hole in the star shaped petal and slid it on over the top of the chopstick. I used simple elmer's glue and an old paintbrush to brush the bottom of the innermost petal and affix it to the stick. I had to hold it for a few minutes until it was firmly attached. If your have a clip of some kind that might be helpful but I just took my time and pressed until the petals stuck properly. (A hot glue gun would also be great to try.)
Once I had my center firmly affixed, I could then start to slowly glue on each row of petals. This requires some playing around with the shape of the petals and figuring out where they would look best, then holding and pressing each one until the glue becomes slightly firm.
Here you can see it starting to take shape. You can see that I cut the petals and the outline of the ink is showing. I think next time I might cut the outline out. It can be trimmed at the end but probably a lot easier to do at the beginning.
Keep going.....
And done!!!
The real rose and it's paper copy, side by side. Not perfect but a fun, artful rendering and one that you can keep forever! You can play with the edges and trim them to be a little more wavy like the rose but I love it just as it is; perfect in its imperfection. You could make a pretty bouquet, use them as a really special present topper, or even on a card.
Would you like to try?
