Drawing: still life with vegetables

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

Still life of vegetables and fruits is a familiar topic for beginners and professionals. Anyone who wants to learn how to draw on paper will have to face it sooner or later.

Why draw still lifes

At the initial stages of training, one cannot avoid getting acquainted with this category of paintings. Drawing a still life helps to gain practical knowledge on the composition and staging of the composition, the image of three-dimensional objects and work with color. In addition, it allows you to learn how to properly use lighting to place accents that refresh the overall look of the work.

How to make a still life with vegetables

Here you should follow the standard rules: follow the shape and texture of objects, colors, background, arrangement of elements and composition.

For people who are not familiar with the above recommendations, you need to describe each item in more detail:

• The shape of the elements should be varied,so that the composition does not merge. Items need to stand out from each other, so it is advisable to take items of different sizes.
• To make a still life with vegetables catch your eye, you should not be afraid to play with the texture. Simultaneously use products with a glossy and matte surface, smooth and ribbed. The main thing is not to overdo it.
• The color scheme must be selected carefully, the objects in the picture must be combined, otherwise even inexperienced viewers the picture may cause inexplicable rejection. To do this, it is better to use the spectral circle. You need to draw an equilateral triangle on it - its angles will show the best combination.
• The background for a still life needs to be neutral, it should not take the viewer's attention to itself.
• It is better not to place objects on one line, but to fill the whole space with them. But you shouldn’t overload the composition either, it’s better to replace quantity with texture. For example, use drapery as a background.
• Lighting can be set to your taste, but do not rush to extremes. Accents should not draw too much attention to themselves or be leading in the composition.

Drawing: still life

Vegetables can be combined with any other products and items, it is not necessary to be limited only to their use. The more materials involved in the composition, the more opportunities for honing skills.

However, novice artists should choose something simpler, especially those who prefer pencil drawing. The only thing that simplifies the compilation of such a still life is that you don’t have to think about the color scheme, the main thing is to correctly place the light accent in order to then transfer it on paper.

Pencil drawing

Still life with vegetables in this technique is a rather difficult task, so you should consider it in more detail.

• Objects on the sheet are placed immediately. To facilitate the process, objects need to be represented in the form of simple shapes (cylinders, cubes, etc.) and sketched.
• Now the drawn elements need to be adjusted to the shape of the vegetables. The lines of the figures distort and erase the excess.
• Small details are drawn last, when the contours of the objects are ready.
• Add texture if present.
• Next, hatching is applied. You should start from light to dark, that is, shadows are indicated last. Also, the strokes must convey relief, so the lines can't just be straight.

In general, depicting a still life with vegetables is not as difficult as it seems at first glance - just add a little effort and follow the rules for composing the composition.

Seasonal Ideas

Still lifes are different. If desired, their creation can be timed to the time of year. For example, spring compositions are usually made up of flowers: lilies of the valley, tulips, snowdrops. However, plants can be anything that is not associated with a particular season. In this case, bouquets of daffodils, irises and even roses are depicted.

In summer still lifesflowers are also present, but they are diluted with various small berries and fruits: cherries, plums, apples or pears. And shades for such works are used warmer, conveying the atmosphere of the season.

The next period is also rich in flowering, but the artists prefer to make an autumn still life of vegetables and fruits, playing on associations about harvesting. Traditionally, the images include pumpkins, apples, grapes, currants, corn and, of course, dry maple leaves. In a word, the work can accommodate many crops, so it turns out to be very bright and positive.

Winter still lifes reflect the New Year's mood, so compositions for them are most often made up of tangerines, spruce branches and cones, lit candles. And the background of such works is a snow-covered window frame or ice patterns on the glass.

Thus, we can say that the most recognizable subjects are autumn and winter, since it is almost impossible to confuse the seasons depicted by them.