EDM 146 - Draw your favorite food

My favorite food? Hmm, now that's an interesting question, considering that food is a bit of a passion of mine. What should it be? Well, there's lemon and rosemary roasted chicken with mashed potatos and gravy, but I think that would lose a lot in the translation to the drawn page. How about a glowing glass of Pinot Noir with a bit of brie and crackers? No, Pinot Noir's not really a food and without it brie and crackers are not my favorite food. And I already posted about the perfect tomato sandwich. How about Shrimp cocktail? Tuscan bean soup? Quiche Lorraine? So many foods, so little time! How about something seasonal? It's November, so in my part of the world, seasonal things are limited. Ah, but wait, what's that? Mandarin oranges! How simple, how delicious, how absolutely perfect! When I was a little girl, my parents had to hide the box of oranges and dole them out to me one at a time or I would eat them gluttonously. Surely that means they count as a favorite food. The color, the texture, the shape - yes, it would be interesting to paint those. And it was. Maybe I'll save the Pinot Noir and the shrimp cocktail for another day. This is Windsor and Newton watercolor paints in the Moleskin journal. I did not eat this orange when I was done, mostly because during the course of drawing and painting it the tabby cat knocked it onto the floor and batted it around the kitchen so much that it was in pretty bad shape. It was inedible, although the cat was quite pleased with how well she helped me.

EDM 145 - A fall tree

This is the steeple on the little strip mall that I walk by everyday on my way to and from work. There is a row of poplar trees behind the building and from a certain angle, one of the poplars perfectly frames the steeple. In the fall the contrast is lovely - the clear blue sky, the vibrant yellow leaves, and the dark green of the roof. There are no leaves on that row of poplars right now, but I used a bit of memory to paint it. Painting landscapes and even trees are not my strong point - I can't seem to find the right spot between too much detail and not enough. And I'm still not sure about this one. I've looked at it a hundred times and sometimes I like and sometimes I think it's pretty lame. (Those of you who have read this blog before know about my woes with two point perspective). I've been feeling disheartened and uninspired lately because of things at work mostly, and the lack of sunlight and warm weather. But the colors are cheerful and nothing breaks through a lack of inspiration more than simply doing it and trusting that the universe is unfolding as it should. And then I found this little haiku that made me smile

Kaleidoscopic leaves

swirl and camoflage winter's

relentless approach

Carol Nation

EDM 116 - Draw something green

These are jalapeno peppers that I grew this summer along with the herbs in the previous post. The peppers had a rough go of it. They were infested several times with aphids. Each time I eradicated them only to have te next generation take up residence. Despite that, the blossoms were prolific resulting in lots of tiny little green nubbins. But August did not deliver the heat required to make them grow into the usual shaped. They are somewhat stunted and stubby and some are very tiny. But they did ripen. I've always like the deep, dark, sensuous color of them when they are green and the almost black color as they begin to change from green to red. They are not terribly hot, but they have a lovely fresh bright tanginess.

EDM 243 - Draw some herbs or spices

These are some herbs that began their lives outside on the patio last spring. July was hot and dry and the herbs did really well. But a cool and cloudy August did them no favors. I brought them in and placed them on a little bench near the patio door. Even still, there is not enough heat nor light, for them to thrive. And in order to sleep in her favorite sunbeam, Holly the tabby cat has to crawl underneath the little bench. I think the time has come to harvest them and dry them. But I have so enjoyed leaning over from the couch and brushing their leaves to release the scent into the room, and picking the fresh leaves for cooking. This weekend, I cooked three large bags of roma tomatoes into sauce flavored with fresh basil. The rosemary scented the lamb roast we had for dinner today, and many a Greek salad was flavored with the oregano. And now they are "immortalized" by this sketch. These herbs have fulfilled their destiny.

I tried to be a little quicker and looser in this sketch. I'm not sure that I achieved that, but it did not take as long as it usually does. I have so many ideas for things to draw, but I never have time to do them all. So I'm trying to speed up a bit. This is watercolor in the 7"x9" Aquabee sketchbook.