Am I Out-Horsed with This Painting???

I started off with some glazes of a cool orange and aureolin on the petals.

Then I decided I needed to mask to get an even background. BOY!!! Did I ever need the masking!
This is after two washes - aureolin and burnt orange, then thin burnt orange and  quin. violet.

Ultimately, I had to do about five washes of black. As the brush was leaving faint streaks, regardless of how gentle I was, the last wash I applied on sprayed- wet paper, and did it much like a pouring. That technique gave me a smooth black background. Now I am going over some of the petals with a thin violet glaze for shadows. It's about ready for some intense yellows and oranges now.
The size is 13 x 19 inches.

Reference photo
I was coming home from the library one summer evening, and these glorious dahlias caught my eye. I had to stop, ask the home-owner's permission,  and take some photos.

Thank you so much for dropping by! Your comments are most welcome.

Out-Horsed

   This a term in "rider-ese" that indicates that the rider is asking for trouble. The horse is too powerful, has too much movement, not adequately trained ... the list goes on. When you are out-horsed, you feel like you are sitting on a powder keg of explosives, and someone has just lit the fuse. I've been there. My second horse was young, relatively untrained, had a lot of movement, and an attitude. I have the broken bones and scars to prove it!
   I am feeling the same way about my new camera. I had been using my sister's [she of the Boxer fame] camera, and was happily plugging along. Then she needed it back to take photos of her new Boxer. I had to get a new camera. I couldn't really afford it, and it has functions that I will never use, but there it is - out-horsed again!
  Complaints aside, it is a dream to use, but somehow I inadvertently pushed the wrong button, and I have been studying the manual, trying to figure out what I did, so I can re-set it.

Thank you for "listening". My grump is done.