Fruits in Cup (Black & White)

Title: Still Life – Fruits in Harmony

Medium: Graphite on Paper

Artist: Sheikh Salah Uddin (Noor)

Date: 01 August 2007

This debut pencil sketch beautifully captures the timeless elegance of a still-life arrangement, blending simplicity with a meticulous attention to detail. A pedestal fruit bowl, adorned with apples and a cluster of grapes, stands as the central subject, exuding balance and symmetry. The single apple placed outside the bowl introduces depth and visual contrast, as if inviting the viewer to step into the scene.

The artist’s deliberate use of light and shadow showcases early yet confident experimentation with tonal values. The reflective highlights on the fruit and the subtle gradation of shading create a tactile realism, while the engraved geometric pattern on the bowl adds structural sophistication to the composition.

This piece, drawn in 2007, holds historical significance in the artist’s journey — a quiet yet profound beginning that reflects patience, observation, and an innate ability to breathe life into ordinary objects.

“The first whisper of my pencil on paper —

A bowl of fruits, yet more than that,

It holds the seeds of my dreams, my silent beginning.”