How to Set Up a Flower Still Life for Painting

Don't be intimidated by the thought of setting up your own still life. You have ultimate control over what goes into how, how it is arranged, what the lighting is, and how much of it you paint.

Take each of elements that goes into setting up a still life separately, consider your options, see how it looks, and decide what you want. If you're new to still life painting, take your time doing this, don't rush it. With experience, you'll learn what your preferences are and become more confident with your choices.

Remember, even if when you've started painting you decide you don't like your setup, you haven't wasted your time. Every painting builds on the experience gained from the one before it. Be patient with yourself, adjust the still life setup, and either start again or paint over what you've already done.

If you've been looking at the photos of the flower still life and wondering about the tubes of paint ... they're not intended to be part of the painting, they're just holding up the flower. Viewers of the final painting will never know about it.