A still life is a drawing, painting, or photograph that features inanimate objects, typically bowls of fruit and bottles wine. It’s actually quite interesting to read about the history of still life.

It’s a style that became really popular in the Middle Ages with the oldest official one being painted by in 1504 by Italian artist, Jacopo de’Barbari. However, even older paintings have been depicted on ancient Egyptian tombs as early as 15th century B.C. You can read more about still life on Wikipedia here.

I actually got some new paints recently and have been wanting to paint a still life. Composing a scene for a good source photo is quite the challenge in itself but it’s a lot of fun styling and shooting them. I want something fun but nothing too difficult to paint.

Here are my contributions to Nancy Merrill’s Photography Challenge.

I’d love to see your challenge photos, so be sure to let me know what you photographed in the comments below!

And if you paint, how do you approach still life, do you have a preference for fruit, flowers, vases? Do you avoid or embrace reflective surfaces? Do you use certain techniques for creating texture such as wood grain, fruit skins, leaf veins?