Thirty-Five Minutes Left in the Still-Life Test
The observed still-life test lasts 90 minutes. On a plain table are a stainless-steel tumbler half full of water, a clear glass bottle with a cork, two apples (one bitten), and a folded cotton cloth with a checked pattern; a single window lights the group from the left. You must work in graphite from 2H to 6B on A2 cartridge paper. A candidate spends the first 20 minutes outlining every object with a 2H line, then shades all shadow areas evenly with 4B. The steel tumbler is left as a white silhouette because 'metal is shiny'; the glass bottle becomes a solid white cylinder; the cloth checks climb over the table edge; the apples have no contact shadows. After 55 minutes the drawing looks flat and the examiner's rubric-form, value structure, material difference, composition-is at risk. The clock shows 35 minutes left.
1. With 35 minutes left, decide what to correct first and what to leave. Justify the order using the rubric.
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Triage. Do not try to finish everything; the rubric rewards the big structure more than the checks. Spend the first five minutes restating the composition: correct the table ellipse, the base of the tumbler and bottle, and the contact shadows. Without contact shadows objects float. Next establish three values-paper white for highlights, a mid-tone, and the darkest darks at the occlusion and cast shadows. Squint to compare the apple's shadow with the cloth's shaded side. Then choose one material to carry the 'material difference' mark: the glass bottle is usually quickest-reserve a sharp highlight, darken the contour, and show the cloth's colour through the glass. The steel tumbler needs strong dark/light bands and reflected light, not white outline; if time is short, give it one broad reflected band and a dark core. Leave the cloth checks as a few broken lines that follow the folds; do not draw every square.
2. Explain how you would render the glass bottle, the steel tumbler and the apple differently, naming the visual cues and pencil/edge choices.
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Glass: a transparent object is read through what is behind it. Draw the background/cloth first, then place a thin dark contour, a broken bright highlight (2H or paper white), and a darker transmitted tone at the base; edges stay crisp but not uniformly black. Steel: opaque and reflective, so use strong value jumps-dark core shadow, broad reflected light from the table, a hard highlight, and reflected environment; edges are harder than the apple's. Apple: matte, so local tone stays close to mid-grey; the core shadow is soft, the cast shadow has a dark occlusion at contact, and the highlight is broad and diffused. Use 2H for light passages, 4B–6B for occlusion and dark accents, and keep the pencil direction following form. The common mistake is to make every shiny object white; instead differentiate by edge quality, contrast range and what is reflected.