I’m trying to do some paintings of pottery. I know what I want to do in my minds eye, but getting it down on canvas is a different matter.

Do I copy directly from reference photos, imagine a peice of pottery or do a bit of both? In this case I have used a photo of a teapot shape, but have started to create a pattern based on a local pottery pattern, but not an exact copy. I am not sure what to do next but I’m considering adding butterflies or flowers…. I suppose I could add any additional object…. I just don’t want it looking too flat .