Fritillaria meleagris in tulip vase Painting

A few weeks ago, I was talking to our friends Barbara and Ben about a painting that I wanted to make showing a traditional Dutch 'Delfts blue' tulip vase. I knew what kind of vase I wanted to paint, but I hadn't seen a flower that inspired me. Barbara told me about Fritillaria meleagris, commonly called "snake's head" in English. The flower really looks like a snake head! With its curvy leaves, everything about that flower looks so mysterious. I did some more research and learned that a different flower of the same family in Chinese medicine is used to cure a cough or itchy throat. Another surprise: I learned that Vincent van Gogh not only painted sunflowers, he also painted this flower when he stayed in France. Van Gogh's painting is very bright and lively, but I wanted to do something dark, mysterious and elegant.