Arranging and drawing object

Still lifes are different from landscapes or portraits, in that the artist can completely plan the subject matter which they will depict. 

• Set up the still life arrangement in the centre of the classroom. (If you have a big classroom, you may need two or even three arrangements.) Ensure that the still life looks interesting from all sides. 
• Before you start to draw, look very carefully at the arrangement in front of you, from your position. (Everybody in the room will have a different viewpoint, and will therefore see a different image.) 
• Look for interesting relationships between shapes, and interesting positive and negative spaces. An excellent way of seeing how close objects are to each other is to look at the shape of the negative space between these objects. 
• You do not need to include the whole still life on your page. You can use a view-finder (a rectangular window cut in a piece of paper) to “frame” your selected piece of the still life. But everything in that section of the still life must be included!
• Then start drawing, working from one part to the next. Do not leave anything out within your “frame.”
• Look closely, focussing on the colours, textures, light 
• and shadows. 
• Mix and layer your oil pastels, to interpret these textures, colours, lights and shadows.