Drawing: Still Life | art exploration

Drawing a Still Life

Edouard Manet once called still life “the touchstone of painting.” Characterized by an interest in the insentient, this genre of art has been popular across movements, cultures, and periods, with major figures like Paul Cézanne and Pablo Picasso sharing the Impressionist artist‘s view.

Here, we explore the age-old genre, tracing its history and looking at well-known works to answer the questions: what is still life painting, and how has it evolved over time?

Still Life Definition

A still life (also known by its French title, nature morte) painting is a piece that features an arrangement of inanimate objects as its subject. Usually, these items are set on a table and often include organic objects like fruit and flowers and household items like glassware and textiles.

The term “still life” is derived from the Dutch word stilleven, which gained prominence during the 16th century. While it was during this time that the still life gained recognition as a genre, its roots date back to ancient times.

The written information all comes from the article: How Artists Have Kept Still Life Painting Alive Over Thousands of Years. May 31, 2018. Kelly Richman-Abdou.

Lesson Objective

Recreate the still life that has been pasted below:

Sequence of events:

Day 1:

Use the same proportions that are shown in the original picture. This means that the objects will be large on your paper.
Think about shapes that you see in the objects (circles, rectangles, teardrops, more). Use these shapes to help you draw each object.
Do the best you can, I know you can do this! :)

Day 2 and 3:

Shade the objects so they look realistic.
Some tips: The tissue box is made up of rectangles and an oval.
- The tissue is made up of mostly triangles.
- The fabric has several rectangles.
- Even though the fabric is white, a lot of it is really gray. Especially where the folds are.
- The flowers are half circles.
- DON'T SHADE THE BLACK CUP ONLY ONE VALUE! The black cup has grey zones. These zones let the viewer know that the cup is three-dimensional.
- The tissue box is almost the same value as the cup. They will not look the same as your drawing.
- Even though the fabric is white, a lot of it is really gray due to the shadows.
- The plastic bottle is significantly darker than the highlights on the bottle. The highlights show that the surface is three-dimensional and also very reflective.