Peonies Oil Sketch

I really hated this as I was painting it. There's nothing like a floral/still-life to make me really question if I know what I'm doing.

Upon reflection, I'm reasonably certain I just haven't taken it far enough to see if it's any good. This is probably often my problem with flora & still-life subjects. And practice makes progress, as they say. So my working plan, as it stands right now, is to do a few more of these sketches, trying to get better at the start of this sort of painting, and then hopefully continue from there. I think often times, when I get stuck on a painting like this, I either give up on it too soon, or force myself to power through the painting to unhappy results.

I'm hoping doing a few starts back-to-back will help me identify the patterns that help start a subject like this off right. And to be fair, the peony on the right side of the painting is not too bad...

-ZR