Spirit of Huntington Gets Resourceful with Morandi-Inspired Still-Lifes

We finish our January series with a subtle, tonal, black-and-white still-life charcoal drawing project in Giorgio Morandi’s style.

Giorgio Morandi is an Italian artist known for his tonal balance in representing simple objects such as vases, bottles, bowls, flowers, and landscapes. He saw beauty in everyday items. Morandi stated  that “everything is a mystery, ourselves and all things both simple and humble.” He inspired our young artists at SoH, expressing that “we don’t need a fancy, expensive setup or the need to travel far to get inspiration to create a still life.”

Historians mentioned  that ” Morandi will spend more time setting up his still life than actually drawing it.” Here at SoH, we taught our students about Morandi’s minimalistic style and the importance of composition, light, darks, space, and gradations.

Did you know that Morandi was an art instructor? He started off teaching drawing at elementary schools in Bologna. Our staff taught our students through zoom by giving everyone the same printed example of Morandi’s work. Our team taught various drawing techniques that Morandi would have started before adding color. Our students got to experience new materials in which they successfully conquer. They also learned that behind every art piece, we always start with a line drawing. We always encourage and motivate our students that inspiration is all around us.

by John Cecere