Winter red

Thank you, all! :-) 

Very happy for you Darya.  Congratulations on winning.  Smiles :)

Congrats Darya!!!! You were lucky!!!

Beaultiful!!

Nice try!  Painting flowers are very hard to do.  Smiles for you :)

I'll plant another amaryllis and in about 6 weeks will try again. Meanwhile struggling with chrysantenums -- soft and fluffy, yet very defined... I'll the thinking of the contours this time! Thank you again, Michael, for a great comment.

I think it is more about  the contour line of the flower ....That particular contour line (along the left edge) is very, very important to that particular shape.  I just got through reading (and learning) about  contour lines in my VAA class!!! ... so that caught my eye immediately.  BTW, I love how you gradated your background ..gives the illusion of space and air!  Good work! :)

Thank you, Michael. You are so right! Great to have a pair of fresh eyes looking on it! It's too late to fix this one, though -- it's gone already. I'll just do another one, keeping in mind the 'breathing space' comment. Thanks a million!

Nice contrast between the flower and the background!!  Darya, I would suggest that you get rid of that claw like shape on the left of the main Poinsettia.  Give that flower some space to breath and make its contour an important part of the shape ... the contour of the flower shape is very important to your composition ...the claw shape that peeks out, destroys that important contour.  .