Still Life Art Projects

Create still life art projects from literally thousands of found objects around your home. By definition, a still life simply utilizes common, everyday objects in a unique, eye appealing arrangement. Still lifes create beauty from items you see or use everyday by forcing them into a nontraditional arrangement that appeals to the viewer.

Use virtually any media to create your still life art project. Traditionally still lifes were painted and in the realist or folk art style. Very true to life and classic in its lines, this type of still life even today enjoys a great popularity. Find other media with which to complete your still life. Visit museums and you find still lifes in every imaginable media. Try anything from pencil to pen and ink to collage to three-dimensional sculpture.

Surreal artists dabble in still life projects where you may find a person's head stuck behind a vase of flowers or a teacup covered in fur. Impressionists created still lifes full of color and brush stroke. Pop artists brought the most common of objects to still lifes as in the work of Andy Warhol and his soup cans.

Traditional still lifes contain food and floral items such as fruits, cheese, bread and apples. The earliest still life artists in Europe and America used this style and many artists practice this style even today. Flowers, fruits and other foods made then, and still make today, easily found and plentiful subjects to arrange and create artwork. Create your own traditional still life by arranging everyday food and floral items artfully on an interesting surface.

Look in any museum and find a still life containing nothing but a variety of containers interestingly arranged. Antique bottles, crystal glasses, clay pots, urns and Pop Art soup cans all exist in still lifes. Often empty, the containers sometimes hold interesting items such as marbles or coins. Scavenge through your home and thrift shops for interesting containers then create an eye appealing arrangement for your own container still life.

Surreal and modern artists occasionally create a macabre still life by placing an unexpected object within an otherwise traditional still life. You might find a skull resting on the plate with some fruits or a bloody knife placed within a floral arrangement. Create your own macabre still life by first identifying what macabre object you wish to use. Arrange a traditional still life then place the macabre object in an unexpected place within it.

A table full of arranged toys, a locker of carefully placed sporting goods or a chair arranged with clothing and accessories provides another form of still life. Any hobby or profession provides an interesting basis for collecting items and creating a still life. Decide on a theme and collect everyday items around that theme. Arrange them carefully in an interesting way to create your still life.

The frozen moment still life creates not just a piece of artwork but a story. Look carefully at this type of still life and perhaps an open bottle of wine sits beside an overturned glass; an envelope sits besides the crumpled pages of a letter; and a photograph sits torn in half. Something happened here this still life tells us. Create your own frozen moment using found objects and a little imagination. Remember to hint at the story behind the objects without revealing too much to create intrigue.