The rose that is the subject of this painting is in a pot on the patio not in the ground, but I wanted it to appear in a more natural surrounding. I originally wanted a sunlit background with silhouetted leaves but I felt that the yellow bias background would compete with the rich colour of the rose, so I have added some Alizarin crimson to darken it and tone it with the rich yellow/red of the rose. The rose is the hero and the background secondary. There is a little of the crimson tone on the actual leaf of the plant.