The Rose Bowls

I spent a fair amount of time in my "studio" today trying to work out some difficulties with a still life arrangement I called the Rose Bowl. My first attempt was a rather quick sketch on blue paper. I kind of liked the colors, even though the drawing was a little weak. Actually, I didn't draw it ahead of time at all...I just started adding colors and shapes to see what would come of it.

Next I used some of the new white "pearlized" paper and got the drawing down right before applying color. Yech. I didn't like the colors at all. I'm discovering that using white takes a great deal of skill. A toned paper has the ability to unify colors in a painting, whereas with a white ground each color stands on it's own. It takes a great artist with a keen color sense to work well with white.

Lastly, I switched over to an orange paper and brought the composition in a little tighter. I am pleased with some of the elements here, but it's still not quite what I'm looking for, and it got a bit over-worked.

Funny, when I look at all three together, the one I like the best is the hasty sketch that I did to begin with. I like the fresher marks of the pastel and the assortment of colors. What do you think?