Chapter 1 | EVERYDAY OBJECTS
Still lifes in art are motionless objects drawn, painted or photographed, usually in a group. Drawing still lifes from observation is often considered a basis for developing drawing skills.
The Italian painter Giorgio Morandi painted still lifes of everyday objects throughout his life. He paid a lot of attention to the compositions, in other words: how to place the objects in such a way that they form a nice compact group. In the example, the objects from right to left are half in front of the object behind them. On the left, that pattern is broken up by the small round object in front. The diagonal edges of the table reinforce this composition. His still life looks calm due to its simplicity, soft colours and shadows. Morandi liked to choose objects without all kinds of frills, decorations or imprints such as letters. They are mainly round shapes with oval openings seen from this point of view. The painting style is quite loose: you can still see how the paint has been applied and the outline of the objects is not very tight anywhere. This gives the hard earthenware objects a soft touch. The shadows on the objects and the table are created by side light from the left and make the objects beautifully plastic (suggestion of curves, convex and concave parts / almost malleable).
Some still lifes drawn by pupils from about 9-10 years:
Exercise 2: compose a small still life and draw only straight (assisting) lines that connect the objects as well as indicate directions and widths. It is as if you are pulling threads everywhere like a spider. In this way you train yourself to focus on the positions and proportions of the objects in relation to each other, without worrying about similarity and details. The result is an (abstract) drawing that consists only of loose lines. Maybe you like to decorate/color such an abstract drawing (abstract = no recognizable representation).
Exercise 3: Compose a small still life and draw only the shadows instead of contours (= outlines). One tool is to first take a photo of your still life (preferably at eye level) and convert the photo to grayscale. Make sure there is light from the side when you take the photo, so that you get nice shadows. On the light side, leave the shapes open as much as possible. Leave out complicated details (that’s what I did). Remember that you are not taking a photo but a drawing. Give yourself the peace and space to deviate from the photo. If necessary, see the lesson Shadow, chapter 1, level 1.
Exercise 4: With just one full roll of toilet paper you can come up with variations by placing the ‘loose’ paper in different positions. It then becomes a still life of one object. Start lightly with the basic shape of the roll. If necessary, use assisting lines for directions and heights. For working with assisting lines, see Useful drawing tips part 2, chapter 2, level 3.
