still lifes

I'm moving in a new direction. I'm starting to put in backgrounds and shading to give my pictures some depth and also to make them look a bit more like still lifes.

Here are my first two offerings. On the image with the purple cloth background, the initial result was so bright it was overpowering the orchids in the foreground.

I put on a couple of dull washes and the effect looks quite like the faded patterns of a sarong. This looks quite good with the asian ceramics I think.