Fourth Grade : How to Setup and Teach Still Life Drawings Part One

Step One:

I found some relatively small cardboard boxes at a local 

furniture store to support the various items in the still life setup.

These boxes will help create different heights of the objects 

to prevent everything looking as if they are in a straight line.

Step Two:

Vary the height of the boxes in a random order on the table.

Step Three:

Cover the boxes with a dark fabric.

Step Four: 

Choose objects of various height, width, length and dimension.

In this still life I used items such as:

Wooden Figure Manequins

Film cameras

Empty wine bottles

Hats

Drift wood

Paint brushes

Step Five: Demonstrating and Instructing A Still Life Drawing

1. Explain the history of a still life and why it is important

Help students understand that 100s of years ago, artists used still lifes because 

thy did not have the ability to use cameras to build imagery and subjects for paintings and drawings,

so it was important to find and use objects that would sit "still" for as long as it took the artists to 

produce the work of art.

2. Let the students understand that it is a lesson in drawing what you see, not what you imagine.

It is of the utmost importance to constantly look up and down at the object and down at 

the drawing surface to achieve proper proportion.

3. The initial drawing will consist of only contour line drawings... No need to add value 

and fine details... Value and details are for the next class.

4. Students will want to hold the pencil towards the tip and press very hard and deep.

This causes strong lines that are difficult to erase and do not allow for 

a neat rendering. Instruct the class to hold the pencil towards the middle or as close to the eraser as 

is comfortable. Also ask the students to challenge themselves to use multiple

pencil strokes to create a line, rather than one stroke for one line.

5. Some students will want to finish the drawing faster than their peers... help them understand

that it is not a race!

Also, some students will want to take a chill after they've drawn the still life once.

Advise them and demonstrate that once you have completed the drawing, it is merely a sloppy copy or 

rough draft that now needs a second look over or scan to fix anything that is off or out of place. 

Challenge students to challenge themselves and to ask within themselves, 

"have I done enough" or " Is this object in proportion" or "Can I make this better". 

6. Add Value ...

You'll have to stay tuned for next Monday's lesson to see the value added!