Observational Drawing Still Life Practice

Paper

Pencils — regular and soft drawing pencils if you have them

Eraser

2-3 household objects for the still life setup

Colored pencils for adding color (optional)

Set up a simple still life on a table. Choose two or three objects with interesting shapes — a piece of fruit, a mug, a vase, a shoe, a small toy. Keep it simple.

Place the objects against a plain background. A single lamp pointed at the objects creates clear shadows that make drawing easier.

Sit your child directly across from the arrangement with paper and pencil.

Before drawing, look together. "What shapes do you see? The apple is like a circle with a dip at the top. The cup is a cylinder."

Start drawing the largest, simplest shapes first. A circle for the apple, a rectangle for the cup. Get the basic sizes and positions right.

Gradually add details — the stem, the handle, where one object overlaps another, the shadow on the table.

The key instruction: look at the objects more than you look at the paper. Drawing from observation means really seeing what is in front of you.

The number one mistake in observational drawing is not looking at the subject enough. Encourage your child to look at the object, then draw a line, look again, draw again.

Start with a single object the first time. Two or three objects is a composition challenge that comes with practice.

This is one of the most fundamental skills in all of visual art. Every art school in the world starts students with observational drawing.

It is completely normal for the drawing to look nothing like the object at first. The skill develops over many sessions. Celebrate effort, not accuracy.

Draw alongside your child. Your own drawing process — including your mistakes and corrections — models that drawing is a practice, not a performance.