Starting with La Gerbe

I love La Gerbe (and this one, too: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2014/sep/15/henri-matisse-cut-outs-tates-most-popular-exhibition-modern), so that's what I'm going to use as my inspiration. I'm not sure yet how closely I'll copy Matisse's work, though.
Here's my first sketch:
Sketch #2 - I like how these turned out:
Oh, and rebel that I am, I'll probably paint a pencil holder made from papier maché... or maybe I'll go for a wooden pencil box, I haven't decided yet.
Here are a few work-in-progress shots:
I painted the tubes with white acrylic paint – the one on the left here has only one coat, the smaller one on the right has two (this is the one I worked with).
As I've got four of them, I tried metallic and black Sharpie on it. I'm not quite sure about the result, to be honest – I think I like it but I see a few things I could have done better.
And here's the finished pen holder:
The bronze outline, for instance. I don't think I like it, after all.
Pen holder in action :)
I'm sure I'll update my project with the other ones as I paint them over the next few days.