Testing Fuumuui's Macaron Set: Painting Roses at The Muse
I'm Valerie Englehart, and today I'm painting on location at a coffee shop down on the Everett waterfront called The Muse Whiskey & Coffee House.
I'm using this session to test out a pastel Fuumuui watercolor set called Macaron. These paints are opaque, meaning they all have some white mixed in, which is a real departure from what I usually reach for.
Why Roses Instead of My Usual Test Subject
Whenever I get a new set of paints, I usually test it out on an iris. This time, I decided on roses instead — a yellow rose on top, a pink rose on the bottom, with leaves in a few different shades of green worked in between.
I painted in a Paul Rubens sketchbook, which I like partly because it has perforated edges. My tool for the whole piece was a travel brush, a size six Escoda with a lovely soft, fine point. Having that fine a point meant I could use just one brush for the entire painting — enough pressure control to cover wide areas or add thin detail without switching brushes.
Since this was a loose floral with a more modern feel, I kept the composition illustrative and made it up as I went, without a reference image.
Getting a Feel for Pastel Pigments
Most of the colors in this set are, unsurprisingly, pastel — the darkest shade I had access to was closer to a mid-tone purple than a true dark. I usually paint with a much wider range of values, so working within that narrower band took some adjusting.
These paints also mix differently than what I'm used to. Since the set comes with a good number of pre-mixed colors, I wasn't doing much color mixing myself, but I still love that classic watercolor effect of dropping a color in and letting it fuse organically with what's already there. I did that in a few spots, especially in the leaves.
One thing I noticed: I preferred painting with a darker color first and dropping in a lighter one, rather than the reverse. This showed up clearly in the leaves — anywhere I started with a cooler viridian tone and dropped in a warmer yellow-green or even a touch of pink, I liked the result far more than going the other direction.
Building the Roses
Once the base washes on the roses had dried, I went in with the tip of my brush to add petal detail. Yellow on yellow doesn't give you much definition, so for the upper, mostly-yellow rose, I used pink to shape the petal folds instead. For the lower rose — mostly pink with touches of yellow — I leaned into a purple tone for those same petal folds.
I don't often work from a reference image when I paint roses anymore. I've painted enough of them at this point that I know their shapes intuitively, which is really the benefit of painting the same subject over and over — eventually you can just sit down at a cafe and paint one from memory. It can be a little nerve-wracking doing that with people watching, though. Someone did wander over, a bit surprised, since we were sitting right on the waterfront and I wasn't painting a boat — just whatever roses were in my head. Maybe next time I'll paint the boat.
Each rose really just started as a blobby shape, and I built the rest by improvising from there.
What Surprised Me About This Paint Set
I expected these pastel paints, loaded with white pigment, to lift very easily. They didn't. There's some lifting once the paint has dried, if I push for it, but for the most part, the color stays put. It doesn't bleed the way my other watercolors do, so my usual technique of laying color down and softening the edge took some relearning with this set.
I also tried negative-painting some veins into a leaf using blue, and technically it didn't work the way I intended — but I liked the texture and effect it created regardless, so I let it bleed away on just one side of the leaf and kept it.
Stepping Outside My Usual Palette
Looking back at the finished piece, I really do like how the roses turned out. I think the greenery could have used a bit more development, but as a first attempt with this set, it's a solid start — and pastels are genuinely not where I usually go. I tend to admire artists who work in these whimsical, creamy, dreamy palettes without necessarily reaching for them myself.
But appreciating a style from a distance doesn't mean you have to emulate it — sometimes it's worth just trying it and seeing how it feels. If there's a palette or medium you keep admiring in other people's work, I'd encourage you to test it out yourself. Just make sure it's something that excites you, or you won't want to stick with it.
Composition Notes
Since I built this composition in my head rather than from reference, I worked it out at an angle but kept the overall flow in an S curve — a shape that's reliably visually appealing. Because all my edges came out clean and hard here, I'm considering scanning this piece in and possibly turning it into a repeatable pattern. Not every painting needs a defined final use. Sometimes it's enough to just see where it goes.
Final Thoughts
Testing a new paint set on a familiar subject (for me, roses) makes it easier to isolate what the paint itself is doing.
Pastel, opaque paints don't necessarily behave like your other watercolors — pay attention to how they lift, bleed, and layer before assuming they'll act the same.
Painting a subject repeatedly builds enough familiarity that you can eventually work without reference, even in public and under pressure.
Trying a style or palette you admire but don't usually use is a great way to grow, as long as it still feels exciting to you.