Still Life Artists

While coming up with ideas for lesson plans, I found myself employing the still life as a subject matter for a class collaborative.  I know, I know, still life drawing and painting is super outdated and boring.  BUT, there are ways to make it fun and current and accessible to younger students.  So here I am researching some artists for examples, looking for a wide variety of styles and periods.

My intention for this still life activity is to create a sort of perceptual collaborative.  The students will be seated in a row, which is staggered so that each student can only see the next person's paper to their left.  The first one will be the only student who actually sees the still life.  Now, as this student begins to draw, the next one will, and so on until each student has created a drawing based on the perception of the person sitting next to them.  Pretty neat huh?  This will show a method of abstraction, as well as individuality and the effect of looking at their own style compared to others'.  So here are a few still life to give some inspiration, and you can't forget to play a Surrealist game or too first to get the creative juices flowing!


Picasso


 
Frida Kahlo

Roy Lichtenstein

Vincent Van Gogh

Paul Cezanne