Those of us who have watched watercolor painter Charles Reid set up a still life know how nonchalant he goes about putting an arrangement together. (And NEVER in a box!) Often the objects he chooses are randomly selected. But in the end, we see that he has placed a number of actors on a stage.
Charles then approaches the painting from a viewpoint of discovering and responding: rather than trying to copy the setup, he begins with a contour drawing to discover what he is looking at. Sometimes he will change the setup midstream--take something out, move something to a different place or add another piece.
Once his drawing is done, Reid approaches the painting like a kid in a candy store. He simply responds and keeps moving forward with confidence. He doesn't labor the piece. When asked whether he has a game plan, he always answers "No." He says he likes to approach the painting as if he's never done it before.
Somewhere I've read similar comments coming from Leonardo and Picasso. Perhaps real life in a painting comes from that attitude.
Happy painting,
Dianne