When our painting lecturer gave us the task to create a still-life composition, the instruction was clear: we were to paint a stove, two cutlery, three peppers, and two onions. At first, it seemed like a simple assignment, but I soon realized it required careful observation, arrangement, and a step-by-step process to capture both the realism of the objects and the harmony of the overall composition.
I began by sketching lightly on the canvas to establish the placement of each object. Since the stove was the main subject, I placed it centrally but slightly towards the top to give it prominence. Its cubic structure meant I had to focus on perspective, ensuring the angles of the sides and the circular burner on top were proportionally accurate.
Next, I arranged the cutlery—choosing a spoon and a knife to satisfy the requirement. I placed them diagonally at the bottom right to create balance with the stove and to guide the viewer’s eye across the painting. The knife, with its bold handle and sharp blade, added a sense of weight and contrast, while the spoon provided a softer metallic reflection.
The peppers were added to bring life and color to the work. I painted three: two elongated chili peppers in red and green, and one green bell pepper. Their curved organic shapes contrasted nicely with the hard edges of the stove and cutlery. They also provided rhythm to the composition, preventing it from feeling too rigid.
The onions, with their earthy brown tones, were placed behind and beside the stove, giving a natural background texture and grounding the painting. Their rounded forms helped to balance the rectangular shape of the stove.
Once the arrangement was clear, I began blocking in colors. I used warm tones of red and orange for the background to create a lively atmosphere, while ensuring the green stove stood out as the focal point. Shadows were carefully added to anchor the objects onto the surface, giving them depth and dimension. The use of highlights on the knife, spoon, and peppers brought out their reflective qualities and made the still life more realistic.
The final stage was refining details. I added shading to the stove’s edges, depth inside its open spaces, and subtle texture on the onions and peppers. I paid attention to the light source, ensuring consistency in how each shadow fell to the right side. This not only unified the painting but also created a three-dimensional effect.
Through this process, I learned how to balance different shapes, textures, and colors within a single still-life arrangement. The lecturer’s choice of objects challenged me to combine metal, vegetable, and mechanical surfaces in one composition, testing both my technical skill and creativity.
In the end, the painting not only fulfilled the requirement of “a stove with two cutlery, three peppers, and two onions” but also became an exercise in observation, perspective, and harmony of forms.
