The Sensational Still Life!

Last January, I posted "How to create a rockin' still life!" HERE on the blog.  And a couple of weeks ago, at my NYSATA annual convention, I put the info in that post to good use in a workshop I taught, called The Sensational Still Life.  Unfortunately, attendance was light.  There was a prediction of incoming snow/bad weather across the state, and the convention schedule had been adjusted so that people could leave early.  So a keynote speaker was moved a 1/2 day earlier, for example, along with changes in other workshop times.  As a result, there were schedule conflicts that hadn't previously existed.  But that's OK, because the schedule change meant that everyone got home safely, before the snow. And the small group that showed up for the workshop were willing to participate and hopefully had a worthwhile experience. 

We talked about how to set up a still life that would interest your students and offer opportunities for a variety of dynamic compositions.  The various guidelines are all in the previously posted post, and also in a google doc handout that you can find via the Document Weblinks tab on the top of the blog, if you view the blog in your browser. Also in the Document Weblinks is a link to my PowerPoint presentation that I used as a companion to my handout and presentation at the workshop.  Feel free to use, but please give me credit for the PowerPoint and the associated images. 

The little still life setups in this post are ones that were set up by workshop participants during the hands-on portion of the workshop, and they drawings in the post were also done by workshop attendees. 

We used viewfinders and learned to "squint like a pirate" to find interesting compositions.  Some attendees did thumbnail sketches, and others dove right in to create a drawing from the still life they had set up.  They were allowed to interpret as they saw fit, simplifying when desired, or leaving things out that didn't suit their composition, or altering colors or patterns in the fabrics to best suit the artwork..

Here, you can see a participant making use of a viewfinder, while looking at her still life arrangement. 

And, on the right below, and the top of the post, you can see the dynamic composition she ultimately created using some chalk pastels.

Again, you can check out the post HERE for more information and companion images, and/or you can access the handout and companion PowerPoint presentation via my Document Weblinks tab, or you can access the handout RIGHT HERE!