how to draw a still life

This post brought to you by an educational afternoon with Blake as art teacher, Garrett as his eager, if initially slightly compelled, student, and Blake's dusty collection of art supplies as together they discussed the finer points of drawing a still life.


1. Pick some objects you wish to draw. As Blake taught Garrett, still lifes often portray glasses and fruit. For his first still life, Garrett chose to depict two juice glasses, an overripe banana, an antique canning jar, a knit ball, and a container of disinfecting wipes.

2. Take a good look at what you're about to draw. It's best to frame the objects with your fingers.


3. Pick your colors. And pick colors similar to those of the objects you're going to draw, e.g. bananas are yellow, not pink. This was Garrett's first introduction to oil pastels. "Oooh! It's like crayons!" Yes, only cooler.


4. Start drawing. Do your best to accurately replicate the objects before you.


5. Proudly show off your completed drawing. (You'll note in Garrett's drawing that half of the objects are fairly true-to-life, both in color and shape, and the other half are black abstract line drawings, or "silly ones," as Garrett called them.)


6. Clear away objects and repeat. Blake picked the objects for their next still life; Garrett picked the items for the third. I think that by picking ham, cheese, and apples, he was going for a lunch theme.


Though it's far from a still life in the style of the Dutch, it's not bad for a first-timer -- especially one who has so far not proven himself to have a natural inclination or desire for drawing. He was pretty proud of his work, and deservedly so. I mean, those apples in his final picture are as true-to-life as I've ever seen Garrett portray something, not to mention those pink slices of deli ham and the tiny block of yellow cheese.

Next Blake will need to teach him portraiture. I would love to see how Garrett would draw the members of our family.