Your First Still Life

A still life is an arrangement of objects that don't move: fruit, bottles, cups, fabric. It's the perfect training ground. Your model never gets tired, the light can stay constant, and you can practice everything you've learned so far in one drawing.

Setting up

• Choose 3–5 simple objects with different forms: a cylinder (bottle or mug), a sphere (orange, apple), a box (a book or a small carton).
• Vary sizes and heights. One tall object, one medium, one small.
• Overlap them a little to create depth.
• Use one strong light from the side (a desk lamp works great) and turn off other lights. Clear shadows make the forms easy to read.
• Use a plain background: a wall or a sheet of paper behind the objects.

The process

1. The big shape

Lightly draw the overall shape that contains the whole group, like a big polygon. Check its proportions: is the group wider than it is tall? This places the drawing well on the page.

2. Block in

Inside the big shape, place each object as its basic form: cylinder, sphere, box. Measure with your pencil (see measuring) and check the negative spaces between objects. Draw the ellipses carefully, all following the same eye level.

3. Refine

Adjust the contours: make the curves accurate, add the lip of the cup, the stem of the apple. Use line weight: heavier lines on the shadow side and where objects overlap.

4. Shade

Squint and find the big areas of light and shadow. First, lay a light tone over everything that is in shadow (including cast shadows). Then build darker values in the core shadows and contact points. Leave the highlights as white paper. We'll explore this deeply in the light module.

Checking your drawing

• Step back and compare the drawing with the setup from a distance.
• Flip your drawing in a mirror.
• Are all the ellipses consistent with the same eye level?
• Do the objects sit on the table, or do they float? Contact shadows anchor them.