Naturally Occurring Still Lives

7/9/25

 A still life is typically an arrangement of objects that an artist designs in the studio for the purpose of drawing or painting. The objects are optimally lighted from just the right angle so that their form and cast shadows are part of the design.

(This post isn’t about the difference between a still life and an urban sketch, but as a diehard urban sketching evangelist, I can’t help but make this point: Since a still life is made from direct observation, some sketchers draw a vase of flowers on their kitchen table and call that an urban sketch. I would argue that anything you set up yourself for the deliberate purpose of drawing is not urban sketching because there’s no story or context there other than the exercise of drawing. End of sermon.)

7/27/25 

The only times I’ve ever worked from a studio still life were in classes or at home as class homework. The best example is from Terry Furchgott’s class years ago. Although I appreciated learning about rendering form from these exercises, I was relieved that the instructor had done the work for us. For each student, she arranged a unique still life inside a box that was open on only one side. The arrangement was lighted with a single light source to minimize confusing shadows. Although it was an ideal setup for understanding and practicing values and forms, I’m too lazy to do all that for myself.

Shown here are some sketches I’ve made on the patios at Aegis Living. Although these might be legitimate urban sketches, I think of them more as naturally occurring still lives. I don’t arrange anything or even move a chair (though the temptation is sometimes there); I simply look around for compositions. (This is my personal philosophical argument, not a “rule” of urban sketching, but I believe that as soon as I move a chair to improve the composition, I am making a still life, not an urban sketch.)

7/29/25 

An important part of these “designs” are the cast shadows, which I find especially interesting when the sources of the shadows are not part of the composition (as in the one at left).

These naturally occurring still lives are a fun challenge that also appeal to my naturally lazy nature.