My first step was to paint the canvas black using inexpensive acrylic paint.

I then cut out some big white petals out of plain tissue paper. I decided where the center of the flower would be and used matte medium to glue the petals down. I wanted the tissue paper to crinkle and warp to add texture to the petals. (The streaks in the picture above are undried portions of the matte medium.)

While the petals were drying, I used the gold modeling paste to make an irregular center to my flower …

and then painted the petals with white and gray acrylic paints.