If you like to sketch from life, you probably draw street scenes, landscapes, people, and architecture—but do you ever stumble across a still life in real life?

It could be a vase and salt and pepper shakers on the table in a café, a produce stand at a farmer’s market, or an arrangement of pumpkins on your neighbor’s porch.

In this class, we’ll explore the kinds of still life subjects you encounter in real life, and learn how to make the most of:

· Interesting linework

· Vivid colors

· Dynamic compositions

· Strong contrast between shapes, colors, and values

In three sections, we’ll try three different approaches:

· First, we’ll draw a simple arrangement on a table in a restaurant, done with a single drawing pen and watercolor. We’ll take an unusual approach to this one—we’re going to draw the entire scene with just one line, never lifting our pen from the paper.

· Second, we’ll draw a produce stand using bold, black ink and a strong graphic style.

· Third, we’ll paint an arrangement of pumpkins on a neighbor’s porch in a lively mixed media style.

You’ll be able to explore a wide range of materials, including watercolor, gouache, ink, colored pencil, and marker. And if you don’t have all those supplies, don’t worry! I’m going to give you lots of options in each section so that you can work with whatever you have.

By the end of the class, I hope you’ll appreciate how rewarding it can be to add still life to your art practice to help tell the story of your everyday environment and the world around you.