Today I am sharing the first page of my new journal--"Fruits and Vegetables." A great thing about doing a journal on the produce is that I can eat my models after I am done with them. I couldn't do that with flowers, although I once tried to eat a rose when I was a child. It smelled so good, but tasted funny!
I took a picture of my simple supplies for the project--a watercolor box with gazillion colors, a brush, a Micron pen, a mechanical pencil, an eraser, plus a 9 x 4" piece of watercolor paper. Do I need all those colors? No. I once bought and tried many unusual colors, whose names I don't even remember, so I might as well use them. The brush comes with a reservoir that you can fill with water--quite handy when you are travelling. I sometimes draw first with a pencil when the subject is complicated. Pineapples qualifies as such, as anybody who had tried to draw them would testify. I have never drawn a pineapple before; it was a fascinating exercise.
After I inked over the pencil lines, they were erased. Then I finished with several layers of watercolor wash to achieve the three-dimensionality of the fruit. When I have a few more pages done as well as the cover designed, I will bring the whole thing (30 sheets altogether) to a local "Staples" for binding.
Now every time I go to a grocery store, I find myself lingering at the produce section. Wow! Look at the form of an artichoke! Radishes! Carrots with their delicate foliage! Have you seen the Brussels sprout stalk? There are so many wondrous things in Nature. To really see something, one has to draw it.
No comments:
Post a Comment