When I set up a still life for my students, I like to make a mess. I don’t want them to face a neat arrangement that will get them thinking of how things are “supposed to be.” Certainly no symmetry and no sense of decorum or anything your Aunt Augusta might approve of. I don’t want their drawings to look well-behaved. I want exploration. So 
my still life tends to look more like an archeological dig than a nice tea set with good linen.
The approach seems to work. This summer I have some recent eighth grade graduates, who work at their explorations as if this were important. And it is. Shown here are drawings by Liam, Henry and Sean.
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artamaze by Katherine Hilden 