Still life flowers in oils

1. Paint oil over acrylic

- Shade the back of the printable outline, tape it to your paper, and trace the outlines to transfer

- Or draw your bouquet freehand! Sketch until you’re happy with the composition

- Lay in the darkest shadows with Hookers Green acrylic paint

- Painting oil over acrylic is a handy way to speed up the drying time. Acrylics dry quickly which will stop this dark tone from mixing with the oil paints

2. Flower stem painting

- Begin painting green leaves and stems

- Mix Sap Green and Lemon Yellow and use a filbert brush to paint on leaves

- You can darken the green mix with Crimson for darker leaves and painting the flower stems

- A rigger brush will give you nice thin lines for stems and branches

-Lay down base colour for flowers

3. Foliage painting

- Mix a cool blue green with Sap Green, Cerulean and a touch of Titanium White for the gum leaves

- Colour variety is key when painting foliage! You can darken and lighten your green mixes to create interest, highlights and shadows

- Step back to look at your composition and feel free to add more branches, leaves and details to make the bouquet look lush

4. Glass vase painting

- For the tablecloth, add a touch of Burnt Umber to Titanium white to create the beige shadows

- Use pure Titanium White and a round or a rigger brush to paint the outlines of the glass vase

- Keep the linework thin and delicate – same with the waterline

- Add a couple of white spots with a flat brush to create the highlights

5. Painting a background

- Before painting the background we still need to paint on the banksia flower fibres. Mix a beige from Titanium White and Burnt Umber and create the pattern with a small flat brush

- Painting a background can be tedious but the effect will be worth it! Create a light mix of Titanium White and Phthalo Blue and lay it around the table and the vase

- Keep loading your brush with Titanium White as you move up the canvas to create a nice gradient

- Use a coarse hog bristle brush to create texture. Keep the brush strokes loose and imperfect for a painterly, Impressionist look