Emiley Hoffman

Art 390

DBAE Realistic Drawing Unit Structure

9/4/20

Realistic Drawing Unit

Still Life Assignment

History (What is a Still Life and why is it Important?)

1) The point still life drawing is to depict objects that we don’t pay attention to on a day-to-

day basis, it lets the viewer see the objects differently, see different point of views, see

different aspects, and even different meanings in them.

2) It takes time and care to choose and compose their subjects before creating their drawing.

3) It helps your ability to compose any scene, whether it’s on paper or digital.

Famous Artists who use Still Life’s in their art.

1) Paul Cezanne
1st Still Life with Spirit Lamp, 2nd Still Life with Gingerpot and Fruit, 3rd Still Life with a chest of

drawers, 4th Still Life with basket

 Paul Cézanne was born in the south of France, in 1839.

 Was alive during the Impressionism era

 He was not interested in capturing fleeting impressions of his subjects he focused more

on symbolism and substance over style. 

 As a result of this artistic approach, Cézanne developed a one-of-a-kind aesthetic.

 Cézanne often rejected realistic portrayals of space in favor of more creative

compositions

 He achieved this by emphasizing each object rather than the scene. This principle of

distortion would later play a major role in Cubism.

1st The Collector’s Eye, 2nd Natura Morta Still Life

 Giorgio Morandi was born in the Italian city of Bologna in 1890.

 Works of art are easily recognized for their muted color palette, subdued subject matter,

and simplicity.

 Morandi's subject matter was usually everyday objects that could be found in any kitchen
 o such as jars, ceramic bowls and vases, bottles, pitchers, jugs and boxes. They are

purposely stripped of any identifying marks such as labels which gives them a

sense of universality (could easily come from anyone's kitchen).

 Morandi eliminates any hint of the transition between different planes, to such an extent

that the connection between the objects, table and what appears to be the wall behind can

be unclear in his works.

 His works would influence numerous artists after him, including the Minimalists, who

admired his aesthetic and his emphasis on order, geometry and spacing.

3) Diego Rivera
1st Detroit Industry Mural Drawing , 2nd Still Life with lemons, 3rd Nude with braided hair, 1925

4th Still Life

 Diego Rivera was born in Guanajuato, Mexico in 1886, and was known for his murals

and social commentary within them.

 He was influenced by cubism and similar modern art movements of the day.

 Rivera’s work was vibrant and influenced more and more by his home country. He

tackled social subjects within Mexico, like the 1910 Revolution, left-wing political

beliefs, and anti-religion stance.

 Rivera is credited with the reintroduction of fresco painting into modern art and

architecture

 Rivera provided the first inspiration for Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s WPA program. Of

the hundreds of American artists who would find work through the WPA, many

continued on to address political concerns that had first been publicly presented by

Rivera. Both his original painting style and the force of his ideas remain major influences

on American painting.
Criticism

 Self-Critique

o With finished artwork you must also include an Artist Statement that answers

these questions, What objects did you choose and why?, What were some of the

challenges that you faced while creating this piece?, How did you think you did

on your artwork overall?, and If you had more time what would you try to

improve?

o Along with artist statement student will be given a grading rubric to self-assess

their work and give themselves a grade and a brief explanation as to why they

gave themselves the grade.

 Full Critique

o Will have two critiques throughout the project

 1st critique will be a in progress critique where the student’s artworks are

not finished yet so students can come together and present their artwork

with letting their peers know what they are doing and any questions or

concerns they would like to be answered by the class. And also give out

helpful advice to their peers

 2nd critique will be on the finished artwork, all artwork will be hung up and

we will go through every students artwork and the students will have to

respectfully talk about their peer’s work. (what they like about it, what

could they have done better, etc.)

Create Your Own Still Life Assignment

 Find at least 3 or more objects in your home that you would like to use for your own still

life.

o Must haves:

 Make it Personal! If you like sports use a baseball, if you like reading use

a book, etc.

 Style find an art style that you like and try to incorporate it into your

artwork (Contemporary, Pop Art, Cubism, Post-Impressionism,

Impressionism)

 Shading whether it be from blending or cross-hatching.

 Shadows that the objects are producing

 Materials: pencil, pen, paper, charcoal.

Skills you learn:

 How to make a composition

 Shading and Value

 Style (markings, strokes, etcs.)

-Rationale: Will help the students understand special awareness, proportioning, how light and

shadows are reflected on objects, and shading & value. They can express themselves by choosing

to draw their favorite objects and how they want draw them stylistically (soft lines or hard lines).

Aesthetics

Question to answer during final critique.

 How do I make a good composition?

o Think about placement, how should the objects be arranged? Should they all be in

a straight line or should one object be behind the others?

 How does this Still Life reflect you? (why did you choose the objects that you did?)

o Why are those objects important to you, and how are you showing that?

o You can put the most details on your favorite object.

 How do I make these objects my own (style, composition, etc.)

creating the piece (impressionism, cubism, etc.)

o Composition can let you showcase the most important object that you are using.

 if you like drawing the most and chose a pencil as one of your objects you

can put that in front