STILL LIFE

A still life is a work of art depicting inanimate subject matter, typically commonplace objects which may be either natural (food, flowers, dead animals, plants, rocks, or shells) or man- made (drinking glasses, books, vases, jewelry, coins, pipes, and so on). With origins in the Middle Ages, still-life painting emerged as a distinct genre in Western painting by the late 16th century, and has remained significant since then. Still life gives the artist more freedom in the arrangement of elements within a composition than do paintings of other types of subjects such as landscape or portraiture. WHAT IS A STILL LIFE?

GLASS BOWL OF FRUIT AND VASES. ROMAN WALL PAINTING IN POMPEII FROM AROUND 70 AD

STILL LIFES HAVE MANY STYLES

VAN GOGH

PICASSO

BARAQUE

YOU MAY FOCUS ON DIFFERENT DETAILS Negative Space

NEGATIVE SPACE

CONTOUR STUDY

TONAL STUDY

ALMOST EVERY ARTIST HAS DONE A STILL LIFE

VINCENT VAN GOGH

HENRE MATISSE

SALVADOR DALI

GEORGIA O’KEEFE

 Choose where you want to sit for your favorite composition. Each view is a little different.  Using a viewfinder, draw three compositional sketches in your sketchbook. Once you are done, talk to me about which composition you chose to draw. NOW IT’S YOUR TURN  After you figure out which composition you chose to do, find the size of paper you need, and crop the paper for your composition.  Draw the NEGATIVE SPACE of the still life. This means no contour line. After you are done drawing, ink in the negative space using Indian ink.

SIGHT MEASURING  Dominant Eye  Arm Position  Unit of Measurement