1 Draw the main shapes using vine charcoal on a dark-toned, sanded pastel board. Establish the darkest values using ivory black and carmine brown 2. Because this is a sanded support, work the colors into the support with a brush dampened in denatured alcohol.

2 Use blue-gray 7 and lemon yellow 7 to establish the lightest light. Then apply madder lake deep 5—the most intense color—for the center of interest. Next paint in the background flowers with Indian red 5 and blue-gray 3, and block in the tabletop with mouse gray 5. Use blue-violet 3 for the vase and blend the strokes with a paper stump.

3 Fill in the background with gray-green 3 and indicate some of the leaves with olive green 3. Create the flowers on the table with madder lake deep 5, and paint the bud on the right with Indian red 5. Then add Indian red 3 to the vase and add blue-gray 5 to the middle white flower.

4 Paint around the center flower with cobalt violet 2. Then use blue-violet 5, carmine 5 and 7, and permanent rose 7 for the lighter areas. For the deep recesses between petals, use burgundy 3. Paint a few strokes of gray 7 to show where the light is hitting the two white flowers, and then draw the stems of the peonies on the table with blue-green 3, adding yellow 5 for the lighter petals. Paint the darker parts of the vase with cobalt violet 2. Use a little black to help define the area below the top rim. Indicate the main highlight by first creating a lighter area with blue-violet 5; then add a sharp (unblended) stroke of phthalo green 8. Sharpen the edge of the vase on the lower-left side with gray 5 and blend the rest of the vase into the background.

5 Add blue-gray 5 and 7 to the white flower on the lower right. Paint the dark recesses between petals with blue-violet 3, olive green 5, and yellow ochre 3. Use Indian red 5, red-violet 7, and lemon yellow 5 for the pink flowers lying on the table; use burgundy 3 for the dark shadows. Paint the leaves with olive green 5, and highlight the lower peonies’ leaves with turquoise 7. Blend the strokes to keep the edges soft.

6 For the lights on the distant pink flower and buds, add blue-violet 5. Then refine the light peony at the top left with simple strokes of blue-gray 5 and 7; indicate the recesses with yellow ochre 3.

7 Darken the center of interest with permanent rose 5 and blue-violet 5. Refine the outline of the petals to make them less regular. Then darken the vase with cobalt violet 2 and simplify the folds in the tablecloth with blue-gray 7 and 9. Use phthalo blue 10 to make the light at the edge of the table appear to come forward, and define the outer petals of the three top white peonies with simple strokes of blue-gray 7. Finally, add a couple of small, sharp strokes of cobalt blue 9 to indicate the highlights at the neck of the vase.