I painted my first still life oil painting when I was ten or eleven. It was of an apple. I remember asking for a set of oil paints for Christmas one year and I’m sure my parents thought this would be just another “flash in the pan” hobby idea like the guitar present the year before. I still have that painting somewhere (and the guitar!). Still life subjects like the apple lesson or this rose lesson are good choices for the novice artist because limited technical skills are needed. The biggest challenge is in careful observation and colour matching. Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t an easy one! It’s going to test your patience, but I believe by following the instruction closely, you’ll achieve something you will be really proud of.

Best of luck!

Difficulty: Advanced
Panel Size: 12 x 16 inches
Brushes used in this lesson: Michael James Smith Professional Brush Set
In August 2019 Michael switched brush manufacturers and as a result the series numbers/names are different in some of the lessons. In order to be able to complete the lessons regardless of which set you’re using we have put together a chart which lists the equivalent brushes from both sets.

Acrylic Paints:
Titanium White
Cadmium Orange
Cobalt Blue
Sap Green
Ivory Black
Lemon Yellow
Alizarin Crimson
Cerulean Blue
Burnt Umber

Oil Paints:
Titanium White
Burnt Umber
Ivory Black
Winsor Yellow
Cadmium Orange
Alazarin Crimson
Cerulean Blue
Dioxazine Purple
Sap Green
Cobalt Blue

Mediums / Thinners:
White Spirit