How to Draw a Still Life
There are many different genres in the visual arts, and one of the most popular is still life. And as you can see in this article, the team of Drawingforall.net will show you how to draw a still life.
Still lifes can actually be composed of a wide variety of objects. You can lay out simple geometric shapes such as cubes and pyramids on the table, or create a still life with a skull, book, and candles. But in this article, the team of Drawingforall.net decided to create the most classic version of still life, that is, a fruit basket.
Step 1
As we already said in the article about composition, first of all, it is necessary to mark the boundaries of the future still life on a sheet of paper. Use very light lines for this. Do not forget to also depict the surface on which the fruit basket will be located.
Step 2
With very light and general lines, create the outlines of the basket and the fruit inside it. Already in this stage, try to make objects in the background lighter than in the foreground.
Step 3
In the last stage, we created the largest details, in this stage, it is time to depict the smaller ones. When depicting all these objects, keep in mind that they are voluminous, and try to convey this volume on a piece of paper.
Step 4
Let’s start working with the details. Using darker and cleaner lines, draw the details in the foreground. If possible, correct the contours of the lines depicted earlier.
Step 5
Continue drawing in the details, but this time the ones in the background. As mentioned earlier, you should use crisp, clean lines. Keep in mind that objects in the background should have less dark and contrasting outlines.
Step 6
Add the necessary details such as the lines of the leaves and the outlines of the fruit. In the same stage, depict the texture of the basket. As you add clean final lines, erase the old construction lines.
Step 7
To add volume to the still life drawing, shadows should be added. By tradition, let’s start with the most visible and darkest shadows. First of all, use light lines to create the outlines of these shadows, then smoothly and evenly hatch the resulting areas.
Step 8
Add shadows to the fruit on the front surface. By the way, in the guide about how to draw a ball, the team of Drawingforall.net tells in detail how to add shadows to spherical surfaces.
Step 9
Make the shadows in the foreground darker and more contrasting. Start adding shadows to the background. Remember that the shadows must match the shape of objects in order for them to appear more voluminous and convincing.
Step 10
Now go to the very back of the basket and add some shading. Here, the hatching should be more general and less consistent with the shape, so that objects in the foreground appear more voluminous.
Step 11
Add finishing touches. Make the foreground more contrast, add shadows where necessary, and get rid of the remaining construction lines.
If you followed our instructions and your artwork is similar to ours, then the instruction on how to draw a still life is complete. If you find any mistakes, then go back to the stage where you made the mistake and try to fix it.
If you have mastered drawing this still life, then try to collect objects for a still life on the table and depict everything using the knowledge gained in this article. Try drawing different still lifes from different angles and under different lighting. These constant trainings will teach you how to draw different objects correctly and create beautiful compositions.
