Drawing and Painting Still Life Figures

Lessons

Primary 4 · Creative Arts

Drawing and Painting Still Life Figures

5 lessons

Lesson 1 of 5

What Is a Still Life?

15 min

Let's begin

On Monday, Teacher Mutesi puts three things on her desk: a basket, an avocado and a blue cup. "Today," she says, "these are our models. They will not move, they will not get tired, and they will not laugh at your drawing!"

Everyone laughs. Keza picks up her pencil. Where should she start?

Still life means "things that stay still"

A still life is a drawing or painting of objects that do not move: fruit, cups, pots, baskets, boxes, books or flowers in a jar. The artist chooses the objects and puts them together on a table.

Artists love still life because they can look for as long as they like. It is the best way to practise observing, which means looking very carefully.

What you need

A pencil (HB or 2B) or a stick of charcoal. Charcoal from the cooking fire works well. Only take pieces that are completely cold, and ask an adult first.
Paper, or the clean inside of a cardboard box.
A small piece of cloth to wipe your fingers.
Three to five objects from home or class: a mug, a mango, an avocado, a small box, a basket.

How to set up a still life

Choose objects of different sizes: one tall, one round, one small.
Put some objects a little in front of others, so they overlap. The one in front hides part of the one behind.
Put the group near a window, so the light comes from one side. You will see shadows clearly.
Sit where you can see the whole group without moving your head.

See the simple shapes

Every object is made of simple shapes. When you start a drawing, draw these shapes lightly first. You can add the details later.

Look closely

Paul Cézanne was a French painter who painted many still lifes about 130 years ago. Look at his painting below.

Count the fruits. How many can you find?
Which fruits are in front, and which are partly hidden behind others?
Look at the white cloth. Can you see its folds? He painted them with light and darker strokes.

Tip

Look three times, draw once

Before every line, look at the object, then look again, then once more. Good artists spend more time looking than drawing!

✦

Try it yourself

Try each one first, then tap Show answer to check.

1

Which of these could be in a still life: a running goat, a clay pot, a flying bird?

Show answerHide answer

Answer: The clay pot. A still life shows objects that do not move.

2

What simple shape would you draw first for an orange?

Show answerHide answer

Answer: A circle (a ball shape).

3

Mugisha puts his mug in front of his basket. What do we call it when one object hides part of another?

Show answerHide answer

Answer: Overlapping.

4

Why should the light come from one side?

Show answerHide answer

Answer: So that one side of each object is lit and the other side is in shadow. The shadows help your drawing look solid.

5

Make it: Set up three objects from home. Draw them lightly as simple shapes first, then add the details.

Quick check

Keza wants to make a still life. Which group of things can she use?

What you learned today

A still life is a picture of objects that do not move.
Choose different sizes, let some overlap, and light them from one side.
Start with light, simple shapes, then add details.

Sources and credits

Still Life with Apples and a Pot of Primroses, by Paul Cézanne (painting, about 1890), The Metropolitan Museum of Art Open Access, via Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0 (public domain), used unchanged.

The rest of the lesson, the diagrams and the exercises (Try it yourself and the practice questions) are written by Ganzaa.

1Still life means "things that stay still"

2What you need

3How to set up a still life

4See the simple shapes

5Look closely

Try it yourself

Still life means "things that stay still"

What you need

How to set up a still life

See the simple shapes

Look closely