Everyone knows that practice makes perfect, but sometimes it’s hard to find the time. Art Along | Still Life Subjects is the class for any young artist looking for polish their skills with a dedicated practice time that picks your subject for you. And you won’t be on your own! During class, I will act as a guide to help students through the process of observing and recording their still life, answer questions about material use and application, and give advice on elements to work on. Art Along | Still Life Subjects is designed to get learners practicing and eventually mastering their art skills through casual yet productive still life art sessions. 

This class is best suited for learners who already have basic art skills but is open to anyone who isn’t afraid of experimentation or imperfection! While I will be working alongside learners in this on-going class and guiding them, this class is NOT a tutorial. Students will be encouraged to experiment and have fun.  By practicing still lives, students learn observation, simplification, reconstruction, patience and diligence. In addition, they are also learning how line, value, color, composition, and proportion work together. This type of drawing indirectly improves all other art related skills, both through simple weekly practice and learning how to observe.

Every week, learners will be asked to curate three objects to use as their still life subject matter. The object categories will be intentionally broad so that students will have a great amount of creative decision as to what exactly will go into their still life. For example, one week I might request that learns bring a vessel, a utensil, and a fruit to use for their subject. Another week I may as them to find three yellow things. All objects should be items easily found in the home. Learners should come to class with their three objects arranged in whatever manner they like.

Class will begin with a ten-minute warm-up session that will vary depending on student needs. A selection of warm-ups are as follows. Quick Contours: completing a blind contour of the subject in one-, three-, and five-minute intervals. Thumbnail Frenzy: learners will rearrange and draw quick sketches of each new composition at two-minute intervals. Value Values: with a permanent media (such as pen or marker), learners will draw their subject only using values (light & dark) and disregarding lines. 

The rest of class will be spent working on their three-object subject matter. Students may feel free to use whatever media, from graphite pencils to oil paint, they like when completing their still lives. While students will mostly be focused on their artwork during class, they may feel free to speak with me or their peers during class. Art is communicative after all!

Art Along | Still Life Subjects is an on-going class, which means that it meets weekly and subscribers are charged accordingly every Sunday morning. Learners may cancel their subscription at any time.

Schedule:
Please note that the schedule is subject to change depending on student request. Some sections may differ from each other. Schedule will be updated frequently. 
Fall 2023 Semester Prompts / Schedule:
Week of September 11th | Change
Week of September 18th | Warm Colors
Week of September 25th | A great harvest
Week of October 2nd | Flowers 
Week of October 9th | Favorite color
Week of October 23rd | Items from the Kitchen 
Week of October 30th | Spooky 
Week of November 6th | Varied Textures