While a very classic subject of many artworks, still lifes can come in a great variety of forms. It's no wonder still lifes are so widely done when the different factors of media, objects, lighting, and composition give opportunities for endless combinations. And not only can the end result be unique and wonderful, but the process of creating a still life can teach and help improve so many art skills, like observing proportions and sizes, values, and composition.
Even once you have your still life set up, it can be hard to know where to start. Which object should you start with? How big should you make it so that everything fits like you want it to? There are several methods of measuring and planning out the sizes, and sometimes which one works best depends on how your still life is set up.
For example, most people have heard of the trick where you hold a pencil out at arm's length, close an eye, and measure the length of the subject in relation to the pencil. This can be a very handy method, and it can even be used to measure angles by lining up the pencil with the angle of the object and transferring that to the paper. For subjects that are relatively far away, this method works really well.
When it comes to still lifes that are set up close though, where reaching your arm out to get an accurate measurement would mean sticking your hand through the middle of your still life, it might not work quite as well. For set-ups like this, the method of comparing objects within the still life may be more effective. For example, you may note that the height of a certain flower vase is about twice the size of a certain mug, and the width of that mug is about two-thirds of the width of the vase. Then you can keep these observations in mind as you begin to draw. You may even want to draw out some lines for the width and height of the objects to give a rough idea of how big to draw the objects before starting.
In this example from a year ago, I used this method of comparing the objects to each other, such as noticing that the little vase was about the height of one of the halves of the hourglass.
Another tip for planning out the sizes of the objects is to very, very loosely and lightly sketch the general shapes of the objects. Don't worry about any details, just see what size the objects will need to be in order to fit. Then use these as guidelines when you actually start drawing.
Now that we've discussed measuring and observing sizes and proportions, let's backtrack a little to composition. Before you can start drawing or even measuring, you need to know how your still life will be set up. You need to know what you're drawing! Collect some objects that you think could be interesting together. They can be anything—a mug, a vase with flowers, toys, food, accessories, books—that's part of the greatness of still lifes. You can take just about any set of objects that you find, even just around your house, and turn it into an interesting composition. Now, you'll want some variety in your objects. For example, you don't want a bunch of flat plates, since that will look, well, flat. Try finding objects with different heights, widths, and shapes. Some rounder objects, some sharper objects. Simple ones and complex ones, etc. Once you've gathered everything you want to draw, start setting it up. Play with different compositions, think about how it will look on your paper, and if you want, even make quick sketches of the layout on paper.
In this still life from last year, I used a baby doll, a pottery bowl, a glass of tea, and a diary with a pressed flower. I drew out several ideas I had for the composition, moving things around, overlapping the objects in various ways, and viewing the set-up from slightly different angles. Note also that I sketched in the shadows—these should also be factored into the composition as they can change the balance of the drawing. Also think about lighting, both which direction it's coming from and how strong it is. For this example, I used a lamp placed on the desk next to the set-up so that the shadows were very strong and clear. I wanted the light to be at an angle that the interesting shadows of the tea glass could be seen.
Notice how much the shadows of this still life affect the general shape and balance of the composition.
And now that you've planned out the composition and know how to sketch it out, you can start to shade it. Now, this will depend a lot on the media you choose to use and the style you want to achieve.
In this still life I did with acrylic paints, for example, I added some of the shadows, but the rest of the shading within the objects themselves is very minimal. This is still effective, especially since it is in color and the shapes are easily distinguishable. If this were all in shades of gray though, it could look a bit flat with this little shading.
Originally I thought I was done with this drawing, but I later noticed how pale and flat some of the shading was, so I went back in and darkened several areas. Notice how much more life-like and vibrant the finished version on the right is.
Comparing this drawing to a black and white photograph of my set-up, you can see that I definitely could have made some of my values darker, especially on the blanket. It can be hard at first to draw accurate values in black in white when the set-up you're looking at is in real life and, obviously, in color. That's another reason still lifes are such good practice, because you can practice drawing them to see values more accurately, and it's pretty simple to "check your work" just by taking a black and white photograph of your set-up.
In this still life, the proportions, the composition of a variety of interesting objects overlapping and interacting in an interesting way, and the shading all come together to create a well-balanced and eye-catching still life.
I hope after seeing some examples and suggestions, you're inspired to go create your own still life. See what unique artwork you can come up with!