I have tried this colour out - the blue shade by daniel smith.  I like it, but made the mistake of mixing it with a "green gold".  It just went muddy as I hadn't checked the original mix of colours in each tube.  Its one of the worst pieces of painting I have tried.  It looked great when first mixed, but when it dried - ugh!

So this is the first time I can truly say - I really need to work on my paint swatches before hand.  All the lovely drawing - only to be compromised by the paint colours.  I have this desire to just try some darks to bring it back to life - but after three applications, I know that transparency has disappeared.

So I went and tried some other flowers on a new 9 x 12 fabriano block.  I used my 4 winsor and newton sable and loved how the soft colours came out, but need to be careful to not overwork it.  I did a mixed warm grey backgroun and find it may be not quite what I should have done.  I have some white at the base that I wanted to keep and now think, it may have been better to keep it all white.  I'll let you know what happens.  It may be another failed attempt, but that's what testing and studying is all about.  Creativity comes from mistakes as well as wins - it can't all be smooth sailing!