Chapter Thirteen - Day Sixteen: Setting up to Draw a Still Life

In this chapter, we are going to cover what subjects to choose when setting up a still life and how to light your composition.  Now most people think of fruit, flowers or ornamental objects when thinking still life, this refers to traditional subjects, but that’s not the case.  There is so much out there, the opportunities are endless, anything that you draw that is modern is considered to be contemporary.

Anything can provide a great subject matter for a still life, the book mentions your lunch for example. Take an apple and sketch it, then take a bite and sketch it again and carry on till you get all the way down to the core! Obviously not something you want to do if your hungry.

Below are some of Brenda’s drawings showing you how glass and crystal can make great drawing subjects. The difference/contrast in the values you need to draw, in order to make it look realistic, create a great challenge.

Old antique objects or any weathered and worn objects make for great subjects. Remember that you can unify a still life drawing by grouping objects by theme, say for instance garden tools, kitchen utensils etc. Don’t forget that nothing is stopping you from using you imagination and altering objects to create something a little different. See Brenda’s drawings below on what can be done.

A tip the book provides, is to always look for symmetry in the subjects you choose for a still life. In order to help you get both sides of your object the same the book offers another tip. Say you drawing a vase. Do your rough sketch, then take your ruler and make a vertical line down the middle. Choose a side of the vase you prefer, and lighten your sketch lines and tidy the lines up. Erase the rough sketch on the other side of the drawing. Use your ruler to draw a horizontal line anywhere across your vase, this will just help with placement a few steps on. Take tracing paper and trace, using dark lines, all the lines of your drawing - including the horizontal and vertical lines. Flip you tracing paper over, match your lines up and draw over your vase to transfer the drawing to your sketch pad.  Now you have a perfectly symmetrical vase.

Another factor to take in to account when setting up your still life, is the lighting. Most times people light it from either the left or right side of the objects, bringing it either a little to the front or back or even slightly raised or lowered, offers brilliant subtle differences that are worth experimenting with. Other options are; back lighting, this creates quite a dramatic effect, as well as lighting directly from the front. Both these lighting techniques will create stronger cast shadows and less detail on the actual object.

On to Project 13: Drawing a still life! Sure you guessed that one already.
Here the assignment is pretty simple. Take any object, arrange it however you like, set up your lighting and draw.

I decided to take on the challenge of a glass object, unfortunately I didn’t have any tracing paper with me so I had to wing it! Below is my attempt at a still life.

Next we move on to Chapter 14: Saving the Joy of flowers and Trees.

(Please note: that photo examples are taken from "Drawing for Dummies by Brenda Hoddinott'' and the  above views are not representative of her and are purely based on a 3rd party view being Me! All snippets taken directly from the book are stated as been so)