An Introduction to Still Life
A group of objects
Choose three simple everyday man-made objects, as in the figure below, and place them in front of you,
so you can observe and carefully draw them as a group. Do not copy from the diagram because the aim is
that you group three real objects, and make a careful drawing of the group. What matters is that you
sharpen your sense of observation, your ability to ‘see’ rather than merely to ‘look’. Do not use a ruler.
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When drawing a group of objects, besides the
correct use of guidelines as an aid, the group of
objects have to be treated as an assembly of
SHAPES, as shown in the example.
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It is advisable to first make a series of faint
vertical guidelines to indicate the position and
width of each object, starting from the left.
In the example, the first object we see to our
left is the plastic cup.
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Then continue by adding faint horizontal
guidelines : at the base of each object to
indicate its position….. At the point at which
changes are taking place in each object…..and
finally at the top to show their height.
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As you notice, in the figure are shapes with
numbers in them. The shapes of objects are
known as ‘positive shapes’, while the shapes of
the spaces between the object are known as ‘
negative shapes’. Each shape seen separately
makes no sense, but when assembled together
they form a recognisable group of objects.
The positive and negative shapes
A drawing of a group of objects
ABSTRACT SHAPES