Step 2

OK, now where were we?  Well, the next thing I decided to do was fill in the background.  Normally I do this at the end with the larger flowers, because it also helps clean up the edge.  But this is such a huge flower, and there is so little background, that I approached it a little differently.  Placing the background also helps me get a sense of the rhythm of the petals.  Sounds silly, but there you are.

Next I put in my "lightest lights.  Don't give me any grief on this one.  I tried three times to turn it upright.  Got it turned, got it saved, looked at it and it was still sideways.  What can I say, I'm an artist, not a computer genius.  So, anywho, My lightest lights are a rich yellow, which I think, looking at it in retrospect, I will try to deepen at the base.  I try to use my largest brush here, that's why I left it in the picture to remind me to say that.  Using a large brush keeps the painting loose.  There's plenty of time later on to use a smaller brush for fine details. 

And Vegas was fun.  Didn't do much gambling, but saw one good show, and one great show.  Cher was OK.  Lots of costume changes, little snippets of her songs.  Jersey Boys was great!  I highly recommend it.  Great staging, good pace, costuming, humor, and lots of fun, upbeat music.  I really liked it. 

Here's a picture of us at a place called Serendipity.  They are famous for their "frozen hot chocolate".  It was chocolate and cold, and therefore good.  That's my sister-in-law, my niece, and my baby sister and me.