The Last of Avocado Season

Here are the last sketches from the numerous avocados that were consumed this season. I am hoping that the tree that gave us these gifts will be generous again, for I have many more ideas for how to sketch these berries ;)

Two Avocados that I did Not Eat

For a few days this spring I followed how avocados were slowly devoured by a mysterious creature. First, there was a gnawed-upon avocado on the ground. Then every morning I would find new teeth marks and a little less avocado left. I thought of fascination with these half-eaten single-seeded berries can be compared to an orthodont looking at teeth marks on a piece of chocolate, but then realized that it reminded me of Gerald Durrell's books and how much attention was given to what diet worked and what did not - for each of his animals. I sincerely was hoping the mysterious creature was enjoying the meal and toyed with the idea of continuing the feedings and installing a motion-activated camera to get to know them better ;) But then they stopped being interested in this food source! The question of avocado color remains though.

 

Alligator Pear

I've learned more things about avocados! They have the very appropriate name of Alligator Pair. They are not a vegetable but a fruit, or if you want to be more specific, a single-seed berry. And they are very much cultivated by humans - the researchers state that people of Central America started tending avocados more than 11 000 years ago.

Lemons, Avocados and Thinking

I've been thinking about different kinds of backgrounds. Backgrounds as something that we grow from. Backgrounds as something that seems irrelevant but is actually part of the picture. Backgrounds as additional information, like writing next to a sketch. 

I thought about widely advertised software that allows you to erase other people or objects from your photos. I thought about how there is a lot of pressure from spell-checking and ai-based text support that suggests words for you and influences your tone in writing. I've been thinking about how different people use streaming services in different ways (both music and video). And I thought about plants and disobedience. 

Ended up selecting these lemons and avocados as an illustration for all that thinking. 

Avocados on Bookshelves

I learned recently that avocados (at least from the tree that I know) do not ripen on a tree - which is very convenient. We get one or two avocados every few days, create a chain of avocados on the bookshelves and then eat them as they slowly get ready. Or draw them.
Here are some from the last week's sketchbook :)

Two Inks: My Winter Colors

I picked up a few new pens while traveling. One was a chisel nib with a lovely gliding feeling - I used it for sketching in Singapore quite a bit, thinking that it was water-proof - but when I tested it home I realized that it is water-resistant at best. Still - it's a joy if you like a quick and quirky line! I am thinking about refilling it with waterproof ink as a test :)

There were two fountain pens, both no-names but custom-adjusted by the owner of the famous Straits Art Store in Singapore. Andrew Tan (Drewscape - who has new Skillshare classes out by the way!) brought me there and introduced me to the store owners and we had a lovely conversation about art materials and urban sketching. I filled these pens only upon my return home because of all the travel and picked brown and blue-gray inks from my collection. One is De Atramentis Document Brown and another one is an old bottle of blue-gray, from an ink company that I cannot recommend but have some leftovers and will finish up before getting new ones. 

And these two colors became my signature winter colors! No matter what I draw (unless it is a crazy "on the go" situation like while moving my parents from one apartment to another when a ballpoint or a dry sharpie from marking boxes is all I have) my hand goes to one of these pens and other colors that I lean into are being curated by this pair. They work with each other, work with other materials but they also fly solo quite well - not boring but more austere. They give me a feeling of profound wintering.

Found Treasures: dry amaryllis and tiny avocado.

There was a lot of excitement when I found another avocado tree in our neighborhood. Some plants have that effect on some people :) At some point squirrels started to try fruits to see if any were ready and I started finding them on the floor. This tiny avocado was quite smooth and had no teeth marks! So it went into my pocket and then onto the art table and then into my sketchbook. It was not actually ready to be eaten. 

Amaryllis belladonna are fascinating plants for me - I am always surprised by their naked stalks with abundant inflorescence of unapologetically pink flowers and absolute lack of leaves. I am confused by where they are hiding the rest of the year and I recently learned that some of them have an amazing fragrance! When I got this beauty on a flower knot as gift it took me some time to realize that this is indeed amaryllis!   

November 2013: Morning (Breakfast) Drawings