Drawing, Composition, Value, and Style
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The still life is a traditional art class project - and with good reason. A quick walk through art history (as you will do through Artist Spotlights) will prove this genre's varied past and enduring legacy. Further, this experience will reinforce your skills in:
FIRST: Practice creating and manipulating art's most basic elements using a variety of media on different paper types:
NEXT: Use a view finder and consider compositional guidelines to select a purposeful composition from within the presented still life options (or set up a still life of your own).
THEN: Sketch the objects as they appear in your selected composition, concentrating on creating the illusion of realistic, three-dimensional form on a two-dimensional surface (your goal is to work faster and with more facility than you would have in Art 1).
ALSO: Do some drawings that push beyond mimetic solutions - work like a Modernist!
FINALLY: Apply your choice of practiced media to finish at least ONE drawing that exhibits your ability to render the objects realistically (mimesis, naturalism, verisimilitude, the illusion of 3D form via value v. outlines) and at least ONE drawing that exhibits your ability to stretch beyond realism to a more abstract/stylistic mode of expression, as inspired by the modernists who broke free of tradition (look carefully @ AS #3, #4, #5).
NOTE: It's beneficial to work on more than one drawing at once...start a few, experiment with them all, take some risks, try new things and see what works.
- Observational drawing
- Practice in application of the Elements of Art and the Principles of Design
- Creating an interesting and purposeful composition
- Enhancing the illusion of form through the application of value with varied media
- Considering how texture can help to further illustrate the still life objects while adding interest
- Using expressive mark-making to illustrate your artistic voice
FIRST: Practice creating and manipulating art's most basic elements using a variety of media on different paper types:
- Pen and ink, ink wash, and other ink-based techniques
- Watercolor, watercolor pencils
- Mixed media - experiment!
NEXT: Use a view finder and consider compositional guidelines to select a purposeful composition from within the presented still life options (or set up a still life of your own).
THEN: Sketch the objects as they appear in your selected composition, concentrating on creating the illusion of realistic, three-dimensional form on a two-dimensional surface (your goal is to work faster and with more facility than you would have in Art 1).
ALSO: Do some drawings that push beyond mimetic solutions - work like a Modernist!
FINALLY: Apply your choice of practiced media to finish at least ONE drawing that exhibits your ability to render the objects realistically (mimesis, naturalism, verisimilitude, the illusion of 3D form via value v. outlines) and at least ONE drawing that exhibits your ability to stretch beyond realism to a more abstract/stylistic mode of expression, as inspired by the modernists who broke free of tradition (look carefully @ AS #3, #4, #5).
NOTE: It's beneficial to work on more than one drawing at once...start a few, experiment with them all, take some risks, try new things and see what works.
CURIOUS? Find out more:
About still life:
About pen and ink:
About still life:
- Brief history of Still Life
- Audio tour - VMFA's The Art of the Flower (on exhibit April - June, 2015)
- The Baroque period, 1600 - 1750
- Memento Mori
- Top Still Life Paintings
- 10 Best Contemporary Still Lifes (the Guardian)
- Student Art Guide - Still Life
About pen and ink:
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