Painting Through a Slump: A Mixed Media Yellow Rose Experiment
I Was in a Slump, So I Did Something About It
Hi, I'm Valerie Englehart, and lately I've been in a bit of a funk. I had just finished painting a hummingbird with fuchsia, and it didn't feel good. It's been a while since I've struggled like that with painting, but here I was, stuck, with quotas to make and videos to record.
So I decided to use it as a teaching moment for you too. When you're in a slump, one thing worth trying is letting it all go. Pick something, anything, and be willing to be bad at it. For me, that meant pulling out a photo I'd taken of a yellow rose while wandering around downtown Edmonds, WA. There are gorgeous gardens down there, and I'm always snapping photos of the blooms I find.
I chose flowers because painting them isn't exactly something I'm bad at. But this video wasn't really about the subject. It was about technique. I wanted to dig into some mixed media supplies that have been sitting in my closet collecting dust.
Starting With a Simple Watercolor Wash
I began the way I normally would, with watercolor I keep on my desk, nothing fancy. I used a size 8 synthetic DaVinci Cosmotop Spin round brush on a 4x6 block of 140 pound cold press paper. It's mini season for me right now, which means I'm painting small pieces for gallery miniature shows, and I have three more paintings to submit.
I laid down a loose wash and let it dry, wanting the texture to show through even though I planned to cover most of it with gouache later. Looking back, I probably should have gone darker in that first wash. But that's part of the process. I actually loved how glowing that yellow rose looked at this stage, which is very much how I normally paint. The whole point here was to do something different.
Those 4x6 blocks are great for this kind of experimenting. They come in packs of 15 sheets for around $8, so there's very little risk in trying something that might not work. And if it does work, even better. My miniature paintings actually sell better than my larger ones because they're more affordable and easier to gift, especially for people just starting to collect original art.
Bringing In the Gouache
Once the wash dried, I pulled out a Holbein Irodori Spring gouache set, a birthday gift from a friend a couple years back. It's a lovely pastel palette, and since I don't usually reach for pastel colors, it felt like exactly the kind of push I needed.
I started with the sky, using negative painting and a small flat brush. The blue I wanted wasn't quite the right value, so I mixed in white to lighten it, making the sky whiter toward the top and bluer near the flower. Gouache doesn't like excess moisture, so I stick to synthetic brushes when I'm working with it.
In the background I painted in a block of apartment buildings using negative painting, keeping the value close to the sky so it wouldn't compete with the rose. It's not the subject, so it didn't need to stand out, just enough of a shift to read as a separate shape.
Letting Go of the Sketch
I love painting without a sketch, and this piece was no exception. I filled in the grassy area next. In my reference photo it looked brown and yellow, but since my rose is yellow, I leaned toward a peachy orange instead to keep the palette working together.
Gouache is opaque, but I still needed to mix titanium white with my other colors to fully cover the watercolor underneath. I squeeze gouache straight from the tube onto palette paper, which I reuse until it's full. I don't use that paper for watercolor, but for gouache and acrylic it holds up well.
My plan was to use red and green together, then negative paint around the shapes to form leaves. But I'm a value painter at heart, and the values just weren't working. Even when you're throwing the kitchen sink at a painting to shake things up, it still helps to put some thought into it. So I made the call to use gouache for the leaves as well, and added a small white picket fence in the distance for a bit more story.
Adding Detail Without Losing the Point
I wanted my painting to be inspired by the reference photo, not a copy of it. I liked the dark values in the windows and roofline of that distant building, but I softened the edges since the reference itself was blurry there. I smudged it slightly so it added interest without pulling focus from the rose.
Something I do that might sound a little odd: I record my painting sessions and record my voiceover afterward, watching myself paint back. It's a great way to catch moments where I could have made a better decision, or notice habits I want to work on.
From there I brought in the greens for the leaves. Bits of that original watercolor wash still poked through, which I liked, though I felt like I lost more of it than I wanted. Another lesson learned for next time.
Deepening the Shadows
To bring out the petals, I deepened the shadows using yellow ochre, letting it bleed the way I would with watercolor. Gouache carries a much heavier visual weight than watercolor because of its opacity and chalkiness, so this gave the rose more body and helped it feel connected to the rest of the piece.
I used a filbert brush for these shadows. I like its rounded but flat shape, especially with acrylics and gouache, it gives me that carving feeling I enjoy.
For the center of the rose, I added a touch of vermilion since the centers were popping out and reading a little too yellow on yellow on yellow. Just a small pop of orangey red, softened slightly with my round brush, helped loosen the look further.
Chasing the Red
At that point I felt like the green was blending into everything, so I added a splash of red thorns, echoing what I'd seen in the reference photo. I liked the red against the green so much that I kept going, maybe a little too far. Looking back, there was a point where I probably should have stopped, the red almost read as shadow at first and made the green pop beautifully. Instead I kept adding red to the leaves. It does give the piece more visual punch, even if it wasn't exactly the plan.
Bringing in Oil Pastels
Still not quite satisfied, I dug out some oil pastel sticks from my closet. I grabbed a light blue to outline the leaves, not accounting for the tooth of the cold press paper. My test swatch on a smooth surface didn't prepare me for how textured the line would look on the painting itself. Once it was down, there was no lifting it since oil pastel doesn't budge. So I leaned into it.
I added a bright yellow oil pastel around some of the petals for cohesion, and a color close to the background as well. These shifts are subtle, yellow on yellow, peach on peach, and don't show up much digitally, but in person they add real texture and make the finished piece feel more intentional.
What I Took Away From This
Doing something outside your usual style is a great way to learn what you like and don't like. For me, this whole experiment reminded me why I paint the way I normally do, and why that process resonates with me so deeply. It reminds me a bit of The Nightmare Before Christmas, one of my favorite movies since I was three. Jack Skellington tries to take over Christmas, it becomes a disaster, and he comes out of it inspired for next Halloween. That's what painting like this felt like.
Do something outside your wheelhouse. Mess it up. Then feel invigorated to go back to whatever it is you actually love doing. I really do love watercolor. Gouache was fun to play with, but watercolor makes my heart sing.
Near the end, I added one more gouache leaf to break up some of the blocky symmetry, blow drying between layers just like the rest of the piece.
Final Thoughts:
Stepping outside your usual medium, even briefly, can remind you why you love your normal process
Small paper blocks are a low-risk, low-cost way to experiment without pressure
Gouache's opacity and weight can add body to a watercolor painting when used with intention
Not every creative detour needs to end in a masterpiece, sometimes the value is in what you learn
Recording and reviewing your own painting sessions can reveal habits and missed opportunities