Setting up for…
Observation Drawing
Drawing Still Lives from direct observation→ everyone’s favorite lesson… NOT!
Teachers know that still life drawing is hard for young artists! It’s hard to learn the skills and techniques associated with drawing what is seen, It’s hard to draw realistically, and let’s be honest… everyday still life objects just aren’t that interesting or creative!
BUT… as teachers, and artists ourselves, we know the merit in this. Learning to draw what you see is so important in skill building growth and being able to show representation in 2D works of art.
So how do we keep kids engaged and still teach the skills, techniques and standards of drawing from direct observation?
The objects, and students abilities to choose said objects, play a big role in student ownership and engagement. If the still life objects are interesting or unique, students will most likely enjoy the process more. For example: students could be asked to create a still life drawing of objects that represent themselves– their hobbies, personalities, interests, heritage, etc. Or instead, a teacher could bring in a unique selection of objects to choose from, like legos, seashells, art supplies or even desserts, candy or popcorn (that students can later eat). One of the great benefits of Still Life drawings is that the objects for subject matter is limitless!
One thing we like to do When working with beginning art students (High School Art 1 and even Jr. High) is to offer students a choice in still life selection. Narrowing down the selection process for beginners helps with overall compositional choices and indecisiveness. We usually reserve creative freedom to choose still life subject matter for our advanced students (Art 2 and above). This group has more experience with composition and they have developed skills that allow them to make stronger choices in object selection.
For more information on our Photorealistic Still Life Unit → Click Here.
In the Past, our main Art project for Art 1 was a Charcoal drawing of traditional still life subject matter on 12”x18” grey paper. You can imagine how difficult this task, was for beginners. how daunting and tedious the expectation. So, we changed our expectations!
3 Projects, 1 Unit
Instead of assigning one large still life project, in order to teach direct observation skills, we decided to create a unit that results in 3 unique and smaller Still Life projects! And what a difference it has made!
By breaking the unit down into 3 mini projects, we found many benefits. For example:
1.) Students are more engaged because the projects don’t take as long to complete.
2.) Students get to work with different still life subject matter each time.
3.) If a student is struggling with a medium in one project, the next project will give them a chance to create a still life using a different medium!
Here are examples & expectations of our 3 still life projects within our Direct Observation Unit:
Please note, Before students get to the projects and project expectations, they are first taught, and practice, a variety of concepts, skills and techniques that will guide them through the process of direct observation drawing. These skills/ concepts include: Compositional best practices, negative space, sighting, value, basic shapes, light logic, perspective/ depth, drapery, charcoal and oil pastel techniques, and individual demos on each of the 3 projects: traditional still life drawing in charcoal, glass still life in white charcoal, and a fruit still life using monochromatic colors in oil pastels. All this build up to the observation drawing unit is done in their sketchbooks → click here to read more
If interested in the Full unit (all 3 projects including pre-instruction practice) → Click Here.
Still Life Set-up
The Traditional Still Life: 9”x12” grey paper with Black Charcoal:
For this Project, students draw from a still life display set up by the teacher, using direct observation skills. Students work from real life and are not allowed to work from a photo. This is the hardest of the 3 projects, and we do this one first!
Traditional still life display. Click here to see a video on how we set it up.
The Glass Still Life: 9”x6” Black paper with white Charcoal:
For this Project, students draw from a photo they took of glass objects. Students are given the choice of taking photos of glass objects at home, or using the glass options I provide here at school. This project teaches students how to capture highlights and reflections, drawing what they see, not what they already know. This project is the student favorite of the 3 projects.
Click here to see a video on how we set up a display for students to take their Glass still life photo
The Cut Fruit Still Life:
8”x8” white drawing paper with oil pastels in monochromatic colors
For this Project, students draw from a photo they took of cut fruit or vegetables. Students are given the choice of taking photos of fruit of their choice at home, or using the options I provide here at school. (my option is always oranges only, because I have an orange tree in my backyard). This project teaches students how to create a strong, zoomed in composition, look for value contrasts, and create texture detail using oil pastel techniques. This project is usually the most successful of the 3 projects.
Reflection
There are so many opportunities to encourage creativity, practice, skill growth, medium mastery, and more, when it comes to Direct Observation Drawing. No matter what your approach or project result, it’s always a good idea to allow students to reflect on their learning. Below is an example of how we encourage reflection with this unit and One student’s visual and written evidence on the work they did with the 3 projects. There’s always room for improvement and it’s beneficial to also recognize successes, which boosts confidence and rewards hard work.
If you have any questions or comments on this Still Life unit, we would love to hear from you! Make sure to also follow us on Instagram @artteacherfusion. Thanks for reading!