Chapter 1 | THE NIGHT KITCHEN

The American writer and illustrator of children’s books Maurice Sendak (1928-2012) invented a kitchen that is frequented by mini chefs at night, perhaps to make breakfast for you or to wash the dishes from the previous day. I made my own version of it. The table and objects appear to be outside, under a clear night sky with a full moon and stars. Kitchen items such as a mixer, a pepper mill, a carton of Brinta and a carton of milk almost look like buildings. This is due to our low point of view: we see the objects from below, as if we were small chef ourselves..

Exercise 1: Choose about three small objects from your daily environment. Place them in a compact group in front of you. In the example a mug, a stapler and a bottle of chocolate milk have been chosen. Draw your still life with as few details as possible. Start a bit above the bottom edge of your paper so that you have space left at the bottom. Give the still life a new, imaginary environment.