The thought of a traditional still life bores me..and my students to tears. Sure there are some good ones. But after visiting a workshop with artist Kent Christensen I got the idea to do a still life with candy!
His artwork kind of pokes fun at our society's obsession with food so we discussed that as a class. There are some great conversations you can have about food!
I love a lot of things...art, sports/working out, and food. I workout so I can eat! My students are pretty much the same. I told them all to bring their favorite food, but it had to be non-perishable so that it would last through our project. I didn't want moldy sandwiches in our cubbies!
I bought lots and lots of candy/cookies after Halloween when it was on sale so that the people who forgot to bring food would have something. (You've gotta prepare for that with junior high kids!)
We used the still life of candy to learn about composition.
We talked about a closed versus open composition, the rule of thirds, asymmetrical vs. symmetrical, and creating rhythm through drawing multiple objects.
I gave them a colored ground, gray construction paper. They used colored pencils to draw their food. We ate on the last day of the project. Who doesn't love eating in class? It's a real treat for them. This was so much fun!
Here are some of their drawings:
