Well guys, I'm posting this only because I said I would. The painting does look a little better than the photo. The background and foreground are fairly accurate. The cherries are considerable brighter when looking at the actual painting.

This painting is waaaaaay different than the first ones I did. I've seen the really dark backgrounds used and liked the contrast...obviously I need more practice at this. It looks a little muddy here, but when looking at the original...I think that is actually one thing I managed to avoid.

Obviously...unlike many of you thought, I have not found my 'style' yet:(

One lesson (of many) learned here...Friskit does not last 10 years! I had planned to use friskit on the stems so I could do smoother washes on the background. Got my brush all soaped up and when I opened the friskit jar...it was a mucky mess. Absolutely unusable.

Trying to paint this dark around those skinny stems did not give the look I wanted.

I also REALLY had a difficult time staying out of this one...it is definitely overworked in a few places. I learned that I had to have more paint on my brush than I expected or the painting lightened up on me. And, if I used the paint too thick (not enough water) it tried shiny!

I wish the cherries popped in the photo like they do on the original...they're actually the coolest part of the painting. I'm going to also have to learn how to do a little better on my photo editing.

Anyway...I'm open for critique and advise. I look forward to your opinions.