4 important tips for painting a still life scene

I’d always recommend setting some time aside for a still life painting session. You’ll learn realistic rendering techniques, meaning you can paint credible details and create a more intricate illustration. It’s also useful to keep your eye trained to capture colours, shades, proportions and to learn how to paint inanimate object like fruit, cloth, and glass and metal objects.

For this article I put together a composition using the glassware, a jug, a wine glass and an ornamental glass. I place them on a white table cloth, close to a source of natural light (in this case a window), so that the way the light interacts with the glass is obvious. Before starting the painting I take a photo: sunlight changes its position and colour during different times of the day, so it’s better to keep a reference image because the work can take a long time.

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Sara Forlenza creates art for book covers, cards and RPGs. After many years using traditional media, she was introduced to the world of digital art.