Fourth and fifth grade have just started work on a still life project which I hope will demystify realistic (observational) drawing. We are creating a still live using the basic forms of cylinders, cubes, cones, and spheres turning them into vases, flowers, bowls, books and fruit. I encourge all my students to start doing observational drawing on their own at home. This is a skill which takes an enourmous amount to time to develop and is expected at the middle school and high school level.