First Grade Still Life

After exploring the colors, shapes and objects found in a Paul Cezanne still life of fruit on a table, First grade students discussed their ideas for "Why do artists draw or paint a still life?". Their answers always inspire me. "To practice and become better artists.", "because it won't move", "maybe, these are things the artist likes", etc. First, children practiced observational drawing with toys. They discovered that in Kindergarten they had already learned how to draw everything needed to draw from life: lines and shapes! 

After gaining their interest with drawing toys, I brought in these beautiful flowers in hopes that the color might keep their interest ....

It worked: 

Stay tuned for the next lesson in this project... Color!