Spring 2024, studying the intense light-and-shadow play on white flowers under a studio spotlight.

I was less interested in the color and more interested in the way the center of a dense dahlia could appear utterly black in contrast to the heavily reflected white petals.

The technique involves a circular, layered application of thick impasto using a rounded palette knife to create the overlapping, heavy petals, culminating in the precise, thick, non-reflective application of black paint at the core—a deliberate choice to exaggerate the contrast and focus the viewer's eye on the profound depth of the bloom's center.