All my still life paintings are worked from life, mostly in natural light and usually with oil paints.

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Often I spend a long time thinking about which objects I might use and then arranging them on a shelf close to the window in my studio.

In recent years I make use of my camera phone almost as a 'sketching' tool to try out different arrangements and once I am happy with the compostition I put that away and pick up a paintbrush!

I begin by 'drawing' the objects with a paintbrush using Raw or Burnt Umber having first applied a background wash of turpsy colour over the whole canvas or board. This is called 'under painting' and sometimes I use Sienna or Ochre if I want a warmer colour underneath. This drawing process requires intense concentration and is when I iron out problems with shapes, patterns and perspective.

Once I am happy with the image I then break out the colours and one of the things I love most about painting china, gilding and metals is applying those delicious shiny highlights at the end which brings the whole painting to life!

If you move the slider on the top image you can see how my painting 'Just Desserts' developed.

And below that is a time lapse video of the development of my painting 'Peacock Blue'