1. Roughly sketch the main shapes with a pencil or some diluted paint. There is no need to worry about achieving perfectly neat circles. What matters here is to map out where the objects are and check that the negative spaces (areas between the baubles) are correct.

2. I usually like to tint my board with a background colour, but decided to leave it white here to enable the red colours to be as saturated as possible. Indeed, painting over a tinted board sometimes feels a little bit like mixing the background colour and the surface colour together, which can result in less vibrant or saturated colours than if painted on white.

1. Squint and find the darkest areas in your composition; these are the shadows made by the baubles. Mix diluted paint to block in those areas quickly. It is always good to keep your darks thin so they don’t feel too heavy to the eye and retain some transparency. Don’t paint all the shadows with the same colour. Instead, look hard and try to find subtle differences of hues between the different areas. This will make your painting much more interesting to look at.

2. The colours used here are a mix of raw sienna, burnt umber, ultramarine blue, raw sienna and permanent rose. Vary the quantity to achieve a warmer feel (shadows on the left) or cooler effect (shadows on the right). Use thicker paint to mark darker accents, such as the edges of the baubles.

1. Working your way from dark to light, move up the ladder slightly and tackle the dark areas inside the red baubles. It’s tempting to jump straight in with your most vibrant red, but remember to look and paint what you see (dark purple and brown reds), rather than what you think you see, which might be bright red.

2. I used the same dark mix from the shadows in the previous step but added more cadmium red and permanent rose. The right-hand bauble has more ultramarine blue and burnt umber in the mix.

Apply the same method as Step 3 to the golden baubles. Again, stop thinking of the idea that you are painting ‘gold’. For the moment it’s only about capturing the dark, muddy brown, green and blue in the baubles.

To achieve this greyish brown, I used some of the original shadow mix from Step 2 and added various quantities of yellow ochre, raw sienna and cobalt blue.

1. Still going up the tones ladder, now is the time to depict those vibrant reds! The basic rule is as follows: if you want to achieve the most vibrant colour possible, find your most saturated colour and use it straight out of the tube. As soon as you start mixing it with another colour, you’ll gradually lose some saturation (if you mix all your colours on your palette, you’ll end up with a brown/grey puddle). So, to achieve the most saturated red possible, I simply picked my most vibrant colour (cadmium red) and applied it straight onto the white board. In some parts, I added cadmium yellow to the mix to capture the orange reflection on the side.

2. The light part of the ‘golden’ baubles is actually not that light or saturated so you don’t need to use a colour straight out of the tube. Use your previous brown-beige mix that you used in Step 4 and add yellow ochre and a touch of cadmium yellow for the warmer areas. Add Naples yellow and a touch of cadmium red to achieve the lighter beige areas, which is a reflection of the tablecloth.

Before tackling the highlights of the baubles, fill the background first.

It is basically the same mix of colours used in the light beige part of the baubles (mainly Naples yellow with a touch of cadmium red, raw sienna, yellow ochre and a hint of cobalt blue).

Vary the quantities in the mix and the direction of the brushwork to make the background as interesting and varied as it can be. Notice for example how the bottom part of the table is lighter and shows more yellow than the top part which is darker and has more red.

1. Now have fun applying thick juicy brushstrokes to depict the highlights in the baubles. I find doing red highlights quite tricky: if you use too much white, you lose saturation and end up with pink, but if you don’t use enough then the tone is not light enough. For that reason, I usually mix the cadmium red with a touch of titanium white and cadmium yellow so it goes lighter while retaining some warmth. I still don’t go as light as I could, because I prefer choosing saturation – going vibrant with more red – over tone – going light with more white.

2. The highlights on the golden baubles are yellow ochre and a touch of cadmium yellow light. The lightest parts are Naples yellow, cadmium yellow light and titanium white. Keep the brushstrokes thick, loose and full of energy to make sure those areas really attract the eye of the viewer.

Finished painting

Christmas Baubles, W&N Artisan water-mixable oil on board, 8x8in. (20x20cm)

The final step is about adding definition, details and accents to the painting. It’s helpful to remember what your focal point is so you can avoid adding details in less important areas. Note, for instance, how the top golden bauble has softer edges and is less detailed than the two at the front.

Notice all the interesting reflections in the baubles and mark them with confident thick brushstrokes. I depicted the ‘spotty’ texture on the golden baubles with cadmium yellow light and titanium white, and red reflections with cadmium red, cadmium yellow light and titanium white.

I also added the string on the bottom bauble as it filled an otherwise big negative space.