Still life with proper proportions

My Drawing 1 class focused on learning how to see and measure proportions with still life items they brought into class to sketch. The first thing to consider is creating an interesting and pleasing composition by arranging the various items together. I gave a quick demo to accompany my notes on how to build up the drawing from start to finish. By drawing the shapes as simple crystal like line drawings you can properly set them in the visual space.

It is good to be aware of what you can't see as much as what you can see when placing the objects and using comparative measuring techniques.  The intellectual part of this type of drawing helps you to train your eyes and hand while ignoring the brain that is second guessing and compensating incorrectly. turning that voice off can be liberating, like meditating, unfortunately that is no easy task. Below is some of the work they created in just one short class with me with the focus being on drafting proper proportions using comparative measurement.