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Using Your Skill to review “Drawing Still Life.” Using the bulleted…
Using Your Skill to review “Drawing Still Life.” Using the bulleted information in this section of the reading, set up your own still life arrangement using things you find in your own household. Make sure to consider your light source and some interesting angles. When complete, please take a picture of your arrangement for scoring.
Still life drawings are drawings that focus on inanimate objects. Most still life drawings use household objects such as fruits and vegetables, bowls and baskets, pitchers and vases, pots and pans, bouquets and houseplants. Still life drawings use objects that don’t move, unlike drawings of live models or figures, which makes still life drawings achievable for a lot of peopleall you need to do is find some stuff in your home, put it on a surface where it won’t move and start drawing!
Drawing still life gives you a chance to practice your composition skills by arranging the objects in a way that draws the eye across the scene in an interesting and engaging way. You can also try out different compositions with still lifesince you’re the boss of how it looks and what’s in it.
Consider the following ideas for your own still life scene:
Flower arrangements: Pick some flowers and leaves, place them in vases, jars or cups and arrange them in an interesting way. Or buy a bouquet and find some complementary objects that will provide nice unity or variety alongside the bouquet and its vase.
Table spreads and food: Jars, bottles, bowls, plates and other items from the kitchen can offer some interesting textures and colors to draw. Spice it up with some food, such as dried pasta, fruits, vegetables, fresh spices, to really challenge your artist’s eye.
Everyday objects: Putting the items you see every day on a clean table in a striking light can be a good way to practice seeing like an artist. Look for the geometric shapes that make up your desk lamp, the books you forgot to put away, your calendar, your water bottle or your stack of sticky notes.
Still life drawings are a great way to test out different styles without having to leave the house. You can leave your still life arrangement where it is for a few days and try some different techniques.
To draw a still life scene, the first thing to do is find or make a still life scene to draw. You can find photos of still life scenes incorporating different objects in magazines, books or online. But drawing from real life provides the artist with more accurate details and information. There are a few things to keep in mind while setting up your still life scene:
Use everyday things from your household. If you are a beginner, choose objects with simple shapes and avoid objects that are too complicated or detailed. Once you have mastered simple objects, then you can select more challenging items.
Have a single light source rather than multiple lamps or overhead lighting and set up the still life to create top-angled lightingavoid front lighting or backlighting. The goal is to achieve a strong contrast between highlights and shadows. You can use sunlight through a window but remember that it changes with time. If you use a lamp, make sure that sunlight from the windows does not interfere.
If you’re working with multiple objects, set them up so they overlapavoid arranging most objects so that their edges barely touch. Overlapping adds visual interest and helps add depth to the scene, clarifying what is in front and what is in back. It’s all right if a few items are isolated or if a couple barely touch, because variety is also important.
Move around your still life to find interesting angles. Even if your still life only has one object in it, there are always some points of view that are more striking than others. Try removing items, adding others in and moving and tweaking the scene. Play with the arrangement until you are satisfied with it.
Before you begin drawing, take time to look at your scene like an artist. Identify the basic geometric shapes that you see in each objectcircles, squares, triangles, rectanglesand then start blocking in the basic shapes of each object on the paper. Focus on the essential lines only, saving descriptive lines and details for later passes. Start with a light pencil so you can erase these early sketches and diagrams.
The blocking-in process at this step will help you make sure you maintain the proportions of the objects in your scene: heights, widths, angles should all be sketched out and checked at this stage. You might also pull out your homemade cropping tool to help you visualize what this scene will look like on paper.
As you continue developing your drawing, keep checking that proportions are being maintained. Hold your pencil or your thumb in front of you and use it to measure distances and angles in the still life scene and in your drawing. Begin adding more shapes, descriptive lines and some of the more prominent details to begin planning where shading will go to create form.
Once you’re happy with the overall shape of your drawing, then you can switch to a darker pencil. Then you can begin refining the basic shapes into the objects in your still life by cleaning up sketch lines and erasing any grids or guidelines that you marked during the blocking-in process.
When the objects are outlined and prepped the way you want, then you can begin filling in descriptive lines, details and shading. Look
