A still life is an artwork composed of an inanimate object or objects. These can be human-made, natural, or a combination of both. In the past, artists have arranged their objects in a complex manner, much like a set designer, and they have also used solitary, simple objects, like a vase of flowers.

Still life imagery can be traced back to the tombs of ancient Egypt, usually made as paintings for the gods or as funerary imagery for the dead. Artists of the time would paint images of food, pottery, scarab beetles and other items related to the deceased person's life. These paintings showed what would be eaten and used in the afterlife.

During the Dutch Golden Age⏤roughly the duration of the 17th century⏤ the Netherlands was experiencing a high point in commerce, science, and the arts. This period brought great wealth to the Dutch people from ship building, and the import and export of goods that followed. During this time still life painting gained enormous popularity. Artists created highly realistic images of flowers, plants, insects, and a wide variety of objects used in daily life.

Pronkstilleven, a form of elaborate still life painting, was established in Antwerp and quickly became popular with artists throughout the Netherlands. These paintings sometimes contained skulls, books, manuscripts and flowers, and above all displayed an abundant gathering of ornate objects. Pronkstilleven paintings showcased the enormous skill of the artist, and were used to communicate a narrative with objects and how they were placed. The artists who worked in this medium painted in a highly realistic style that emphasized the lives of the middle and merchant classes, as well as the humbleness of Protestant life (most of the citizens of this period in the Netherlands were Protestant).

The next rise of still life happened in the late 19th century with the Impressionists. Like the Dutch artists of the Golden Age, the Impressionists working in France during the 1890s and early 1900s (the Belle Epoque period) created works that spoke to the rise of commerce, the middle class, and aspects of modern life. Much of their work celebrated the everyday.

Unlike the Dutch painters, several of the Impressionists created works in a semi abstract style, displaying only an impression of what they saw. They focused on qualities of light, using quick and thin brush strokes of contrasting colour. When these brush strokes were combined on canvas, they created an impression of their subject matter in the viewer's eye. The Impressionists loved to paint "en plein air" (French for outdoors) and in their studios.

The French Academy of the 19th century, to which many of the Impressionists belonged, valued history, religious, and portrait painting most of all. Landscapes and still lifes were considered the lowest form of art. But, by the end of their prolific period in the early 1900s, the Impressionists had made landscape and still life painting the most sought after by the viewing and collecting public.

The artists Cezanne, Gaugin, Van Gogh, Picasso, and Matisse working in the period before and up to WWII were often considered Post-Impressionists. They embraced this new form of painting and made it their own. Unlike the Impressionists, they primarily worked in the studio rather than outdoors. Their style focused on line, shape and bold colours. They created new movements of art such as Fauvism and Cubism, changing the ways still life was represented while still working with traditional subject matter.

Pop Art was an artistic movement that celebrated and subverted the popular culture of Post-War America and the UK. Artists such as Andy Warhol, Richard Hamilton and Roy Lichtenstein created artworks with bold colours, simple illustrated designs, mining everyday mass consumption, advertising, and glamour of Hollywood. These mass-produced images became popular with audiences who immediately recognized the subject matter. Warhol's images of Campbell's Soup cans, Hamilton's collage of a mid 20th century home, and Lichtenstein's images inspired by comics challenged existing notions of art. The influence of these artists had a profound effect on artists working all over the globe. In Canada artists such as Michael Snow, Joyce Wieland and Gathie Falk referenced ideas of Pop Art while reflecting on national, regional, and personal themes and ideas.

Overall, Pop artists continued the tradition of incorporating flowers, food and wine into their work but began referencing what was new in daily life. Items such as hot dogs, ice cream, hamburgers, soda, cosmetics, telephones, space travel, television, and celebrity began to emerge as subject matter for paintings, prints, photography and sculpture. This expanded the range of media and subject matter in still life.

First, decide whether you will create a still life using a single object or several. If you're using several, consider the sizes, shapes and colours of your objects, and a potential theme for the assemblage. Themes can be as simple or as complex as you like.

If you're having trouble settling on a theme, consider starting by simply gathering different types of the same object (different fruits, toys, shoes etc) or finding many objects of the same colour. Consider what the objects you gather have in common, and what holds them together conceptually: how about three examples of your favourite snack? Will the objects you choose be similar in look and content (like five cans of Lipton Chicken Noodle Soup) or slightly different (five different brands of Chicken noodle soup) or even more diverse (five things to do with chicken)?

Now search your living space for things that would make a good composition. Gather these objects and find a space to assemble them. A quiet space with even lighting works best, as you will be photographing your composition afterward. (Optional step: to create even, soft light, cover nearby windows with large sheets of thin white paper, or wax paper, using tape. This will help distribute light evenly throughout the room. The paper must be translucent for this to work.)

Spaces to make a composition on can be flat, like a table top, a floor or a bed, but you can also use spaces that add dimension and height: consider assembling objects on a chair or couch, and spilling them onto the floor to add visual interest. You may choose to lay down a solid colour cloth or blanket before you assemble your objects, which will act as a clean backdrop for your subject matter. A patterned cloth or blanket can be used too, but make sure it adds to the composition, and does not draw your eye away from the objects in the still life (see the image carousel above for examples).

Once you have assembled your still life, pull out your camera or cell phone and find a good angle to photograph it from. Photographing from above will help to create a more two-dimensional image, while photographing from the side and looking through the collection of objects will create a photograph with depth.

Photograph from many angles and with varying levels of light. As you look at your still life through the lens of the camera, you will find that some objects are placed well and others are not. Don't be afraid to move objects in your still life to create a more balanced composition.

Once you have assembled your still life and have taken photos from several different angles, it's time to make an artwork using one of the photos as a reference image. Gather your large white paper, pencil and select the media you would like to create your artwork with. When working from a reference photo, especially a digital image on a screen, it's best to use a large photo if possible so you can see detail. For digital photos, this means moving your image to a larger screen, like your tv, tablet or computer monitor.

Things to consider when making a still life:

• Generally when making a painting or drawing, it's helpful to do a quick sketch of what you're looking at beforehand. Doing this helps you to develop a stronger connection between your hand and your eye (making sure your hand draws what your eye sees), better understand the proportions of objects in front of you, foresee if there are any parts which would be better left out, and more. Start here by making one or two quick sketches of what you want your final artwork to look like.

• Working with one media, like acrylic paint or pencil, can be quite effective in creating a cohesive artwork, but remember that there are no rules to limit how many different media you can use! Charcoal, when applied using the long edge of the stick, can produce gritty textures that are perfect for depicting rough surfaces. Smooth areas of acrylic paint can help mimic flowing fabric. Consider which media will work best with your still life creation.

• Don't assume you already know the proportions, sizing and shapes of things in your photo when you begin making your still life artwork. Spend lots of time looking at the reference photo⏤don't guess at the angles and shapes. Using the sighting/measuring technique for drawing helps you to accurately draw what is in front of you (read more about this technique at the bottom of the page, under "links & inspiration"). It helps to look at the image, make marks, then re-look at the image in reference to what you just created to ensure that your drawing remains true to life. Comparing and contrasting your artwork to the photo in front of you is key to getting an accurate image, so spend just as much time looking at your reference as you do drawing it!

• When beginning, try to work from general to specific: first capture the general shapes of objects on your paper before moving onto details. Identify basic areas of light and shadows before you begin blending or working with many complex middle tones.

Post your still life creations on Twitter, hashtag them with #MacLarenWedge and mention us @MacLarenArt so we can retweet all your creative work! Search for still lifes that other W-Edge participants have made, and look for your creations on our Twitter feed on this page.