Mark's a "Draggin'!" Haha!

My friend Mark had a birthday recently and on his birthday, his "Dragon" flower blossomed.  He took a photo of it, and posted it on Facebook.  I immediately knew I should paint it.  He's got a good eye for photography and the picture was really taken well.  Lighting was so good on it!

Here is the actual photo!

He took some other photos, but the one above really caught my eye.  So I decided to surprise him with a painting.    Meanwhile he HINTED he'd like me to paint it.  Isn't it fun when things like this happen?

First of all, I'd like to share with you the other photos he took.  

So as you can see, all three are actually worthy of painting, so I chose the first one.

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Here it is, drawn in.

I started the background using acrylic paint.  Only using the colors phthalocyanine green and alizarin crimson (a favorite combination of mine for creating a deep greenish black), I placed in the background which immediately made the composition pop.  

At this point, I don't know whether I'll continue working in acrylics or switch to oils. 

Here's a better look at it.

I start to apply color.  

Here is a look at it as I'm working on it.  

I'm not liking what it looks like in acrylic, but while I have the paint out, I block in some color to distinguish it a bit.  

I did like how the leaves came out on the left side, so I decide to continue a little more with acrylics.

Frustrated with working in acrylics...I'm just not getting the fluidity I want with the paint, I switch to oils...no turning back now.  But that's okay, I'm proficient in oils, I know I can nail this painting for my friend Mark.  

 I can't get every little flourish the same as it is in the photo, so I give into some artistic license.  The paintings not done yet, but it's getting there.  Will update another day.