Setting up for a still-life watercolor painting

Setting up subjects for a still-life watercolor painting is an important stage of the creative process. It requires time, experimentation and thought. I can easily take one to two hours to set up my props.

A few things that I need to work out in this process: the lighting direction, the shadows, the viewing angle, the subject relationships (should they be grouped together or apart?), the positive spaces and the negative spaces, the dark areas and how they contrast with the light areas, the use of background colors, and the color compatibility between subjects. Generally when I finish with the setting, I would have a mental watercolor painting already painted in my mind, and I would be ready to start my drawing and finally the painting.

In this short movie, you will see how I played with my concept. How I experimented with options, and searched for the right mood and excitement level.

View my step-by-step demonstration on how to paint this still-life in watercolor.