Another nice still life!


One technique I think is useful at the early stage is to build the scene in one's mind starting from the table-top and going up past the top of the objects...

1. Imagine the points and surfaces where the objects touch the table... their contact "footprint" if you will, and their relation to each other. The orange touches essentially at a point, the cup has a circular footprint, and the jug also has its footprint (cant quite tell, but its circular or oval). Imagine what a sketch of this footprint on the table would look like looking directly down at it... and also from your perspective

2. Now imagine taking a virtual plane parallel to the table and sliding it up through the objects, taking slices as you go. These slices are very much like the footprints, but are above the table. Are the objects close... far apart... do they potentially overlap in space? This gives you a sense of how the objects relate to each other in the space above the table.

Imagining 1 and 2 helps with placement of the objects (so they do not occupy the same space above the table) and drawing their outlines, and keeping their spatial relationships to each other clear in one's mind. This also helps with things like shadows, highlights, reflections, etc. by keeping the spatial relationships clear.