Pepper and chillis - composition analysis

Last week's post, Pepper and chillis - oil painting demonstration, showed you the different stages of this oil painting:

I would like to explore now its composition and show you different techniques you can use in your own paintings to achieve a pleasing composition and create the illusion of mouvement.

This painting has a strong horizontal composition. The canvas is elongated and called for a panoramic view. Note that the three sections are not equal but get wider as you go from the foreground to the background.

The perspective is apparent on the left side with the edge of the tea towel. This helps to break the horizontal lines.

Depth is suggested by a number of oblique lines in the design. Most of them are pointing in the same direction and bring some mouvement to the painting.

Linking the different objects in your still-life is the best way to achieve a unified composition and lead the eye of the viewer in a gentle way. The overlapping chillis also reinforce the illusion of a third dimension.

The green line shows the general dynamic of the painting. See how the different elements are organised around a simple curve that is reminiscent of the round pepper and chillis.

painting composition compoition analysis oil painting still life