starting a new painting : stargazers

The steps of the beginning of a painting:

Gathering reference photos, planning the composition,

working out the color palette,

d  r  a  w  i  n  g (takes a while),

masking the flowers, stems and leaves

and then finally starting to paint.

The background, though it looks black, isn't.

It's a mix of alizarin crimson, ultramarine blue and viridian.

Up close, the alizarin crimson is more prominent in some areas

and glows through.

My petal colors will be permanent rose & quinacrodone rose.