This was my first attempt at building a flower from scratch. I'd be interested to know ways in which you think it could be improved (other than the recycle bin ;) I've posted it in the beginners gallery but can't seem to garner much interest (maybe that should tell me something). Anyway, thanks in advance for any tips/comments you give... they are appreciated!

It looks good! The only thing is the all-pink factor of the image. It makes it hard to concentrate on the actual flower which is, I think, what you want to be critiqued. I like the way it appears to be raised up from the bottom texture but there isn't enough contrast between the top two layers of the flower. I'm assuming that the flower consists of 3 layers. The bottom two are easy to distinguish but the top two only have different color. That's pretty much all I have to say, it looks really good!

offhand i'd say make the background bright green and give a warning for all epileptics

I saw it in the Beginner's gallery Gryph, but wasn't quite sure what comment to leave. I looked at it because the thumbnail caught my eye, so that's a good point. At full size, it's difficult to respond to as a picture because it lacks a context. Within a pattern, or an impressionist image, it would have surroundings to play against, and I suspect it would come alive. Viewing it technically, the layered effect works well; it gives a good sense of the richness and ruffles of a chrysanthemum (sp?). The different shades are beautifully blended too, although the lower/outer layers remind me more of a damask rose - they would be perfect for that. You haven't said whether you were aiming for 'photographic' realism or a more illustrative style, so it's hard to say anything meaningful on that aspect. I get a sense of impressionistic flow from it though, if that's any help. The main improvement I would say, though, is lose the bright pink frame. Going from that to the background to the flower is hard on the eye. It's also more prominent than your flower so it drags the viewer's attention away. Without it, I think the flower would look quite iconic. Let me know if you develop this further, I'd love to see it used in a scene. I can imagine it used to good effect in sensual scenes of decadent luxury - it has that sort of feel to it. Hope this helps, cam

Thanks y'all for the comments. I really appreciate the feedback. (Andini,) I know the top layers are not as distinct in their separation; I was having difficulty transitioning from the petals to the center so I blurred it. The colors were probably more of an effort to add some distinction so they wouldn't get lost in the lower layers...case in point, the image actually has 7 layers of petals (one each) to form a ring, and 8 layers of petal rings. You can't see them all but they did help add depth to the image. I can see what you guys mean about the frame, so I'll lose it. I wasn't going for photorealism Cam, but I did want it to look somewhat realistic. Basically I made it to see if I could make a flower that looks well, like a flower (the working copy is named petal practice)...thanks for the ideas on a setting though, I'm certain I can put them to use :) Steph