Kriti Class 8 Chapter 16, Still Life in Colour, traces how natural and everyday objects evolved from symbolic details in cave and temple art into the main subject of three-dimensional still-life compositions.
What Kriti Class 8 Chapter 16 Covers
Objects in Indian art: from cave paintings to temple sculptures, objects such as the Dharma Chakra, weapons and musical instruments were painted for their symbolic meaning but were rarely the main subject. Still life makes them the subject.
Arranging a still life: pick objects that interest your group, set them against a plain single-coloured backdrop that does not distract, and arrange them so the eye travels across each contour, form, colour and texture.
A few of my favourite things: groups formed around shared interests build their own arrangement and draw it on A4 or quarter-chart paper.
Colouring: in the medium of your choice, including colours you prepare yourself, working around the arrangement with the seating planned by the class.
Exercises in Chapter 16
- Circle Time discussion prompts and Assessment rubrics at the end of the chapter.
Read Kriti Class 8 Chapter 16 Online
More Chapters
- Previous: Chapter 15: Elements and Principles of Visual Art and Design
- Next: Chapter 17: People in Places — Introduction to Perspective
- All Art chapters and the other Class 8 books: Class 8 NCERT books 2026-27
- All Class 1 to 12 NCERT Textbooks: NCERT Books PDF (Class 1–12)
- Every book chapter by chapter: NCERT chapter wise PDF
FAQ
What is a still life?
An artwork in which arranged everyday objects are the main subject, studied for their shape, colour and texture.
Why use a plain backdrop for a still life?
So the background does not distract from the objects and instead complements them.