The floral background is mostly complete. I expect that painting the cup will present an even greater challenge.

Flowers almost complete and the 'light' quality is more closely at the level that I wanted to achieve.
The whole painting should be completed over the next few days though, at this stage, I am not quite decided on the flower pattern for the cup and saucer.

Progress is being made, albeit a little slower than I would like. This photo was taken using my mini ipad instead of the phone and I think that it gives a more accurate rendition of the work. the group of flowers at the bottom right will have a few rendered as in full sunlight which I am hoping will improve the 'sun-lit' feel that I like. All in all, I am feeling a little more content with it.

For most of this painting, I used Cobalt blue to make the different shades of violet, but have changed now to using more of the ultramarine blue, which does not make it as 'grainy'.
My usual compositional technique of having a stable triangle embedded in the painting is not as obvious with this work. At the moment, it has a strong diagonal emphasis with the band of flowers from the bottom right to the top left. I expect that this will be counterbalanced once the cup and saucer are painted in, as it will 'draw the eye' of the viewer.

What I am finding about some of the colours that I am using in this painting, is that they become 'grainy' when dry on the textured paper. I like the texture of the paper, but the 'graininess' makes it less 'crisp', which I think is why I am not as happy with the light effect in the work.  I have darkened a few shadows, which increases the contrast, and I think that this helps. I shall continue tomorrow.

I have continued with the flower areas today but I'm a little frustrated with the contrast in colour. Paint can never replace light, but it is possible to create the effect that light has on colour. This is my struggle with this section of the composition. I cannot seem to create the light effect that I want. Using blue with the warm shades of magenta, seems to 'dull' the effect.
I shall not give up, but suspect that, when I need less blue, I will find creating a sun-lit sensation will be a little easier. The flowers in the right of the composition  are more pure magenta than the ones in deep shadow. The palette that I am using for the flowers is Rose Madder Genuine, Quinacridone Magenta, Ultramarine Violet, Cobalt blue and French Ultramarine, all from the W&N Artists' Water Colour range. I might experiment with other colours if I can find suitable ones in my supplies!

I have started to add the colour to the flowers. This specimen has flowers in deep shadow where they are almost blue to ones in full sun where the colour is 'bleached' to almost pink. The 'lit' flower her is almost ready for dropping off and so has already lost some of its colour.
This is the darkest section of the composition, which is why I chose to place the cup and saucer there.
I am always a little disappointed in the colour outcome, as paint can never have the real quality of light and, of course, I never use white paint. The problem with watercolour, especially this palette, is that it cannot be taken off once applied. This means that if it is too dark or intense, it has to, more or less, stay that way!

Almost at the end of the background the flowers of the composition are now very obvious and, once they are added the painting will take on a dimensional quality.

Just a little more added. This week, this painting has been neglected. School holidays and family duties had to come first. I hope to catch up over the next week.
Whilst I am working on this, I am also mind planning my next couple of projects. One is a watercolour of the rainforest as a client has expressed an interest in a smaller version of the large rainforest painting that I have on my wall and the other is a still life in oils using different techniques to my previous oil paintings. The problems for artists is having too many ideas and not enough time to express them. At least life can never be monotonous!