Pot Pie Heaven!

Logan selling her pot pies from her business Pot Pie Factory

I’m a visual storyteller and one of the things I like is to do is to draw food. I was at an Illuminating Women event recently in June where there were a couple of cooking demonstrations for that month’s theme. Both chefs were interesting and the sample salads they made were tasty. But when that was over and Seattle-based chef Logan Niles brought out her frozen pot pies to sell, that’s when my interest in drawing the scene was piqued! Logan is very personable and very clearly connected to and proud of her products. All the pot pies in the boxes were lined up and so attractive. I liked how each one was handmade and each has cut outs of pastry to identify the type of pie. It was clear that Logan has lots of experience with these because although the pies were different because of ingredients, all were regular in size and similar in shape. I admire the hours that have been spent to master that technique.

I got a couple of pies to try at home. They were pre-baked then frozen so all I needed to do was finish the baking to heat and brown them. And when I got to eat mine, yum! I had fun putting together this collage of Logan and her pot pies together. If you’re interested in trying out her pot pies, Logan sells them online through her company Pot Pie Factory.

Artichokes Galore!

Here is a drawing I recently finished up of some artichokes I took a picture of at Russo’s, wonderful market in Watertown, MA. I do a lot of my drawings using reference pictures, and after I started sketching, I take my photographs differently so that I can sketch from them later. I love going to markets and seeing all the displays of produce piled up. I often go to a local Indian and Asian markets just to admire their fruit and vegetable displays. I sometimes will also come home with unusual things, for me, both to draw and to try to eat or cook - dragon fruit, bitter melon and drumstick beans have been some of my experiments.

Students' work from my Playing with Food in Your Sketchbook Workshop

My 6-week workshop of Playing with Your Food in a Sketchbook with ink and watercolor has begun and it has been so much fun so far! The first week was working with fresh produce and the images are some examples of my students’ work so far. They’ve done some fabulous work and I’m inspired to try drawing some of what they’ve done. This past week’s lesson was about drinks and I’ve given out the assignment to go to a coffeeshop and draw their drink. It’ll be fun to see what they draw.

I will be offering this course again in January 2019. Go to my workshop page and find more information and register there.

Taco Tasting Journey for the Sketchbook Project 2018

Here's a page-through of my taco themed sketchbook for the Sketchbook Project 2018 that will be housed in the permanent collection at the Brooklyn Art Library after a summer tour to various places. I like to food journal and document both my meals but also some of the surroundings and details of where I ate. The project evolved as I progressed through the sketchbook with more and more details getting incorporated and added. This was such a fun adventure and doing the research was not at all a hardship. It was like when I had to go to Hawaii for teacher training before I went to Japan to teach English!

If the video doesn't load, try this link: https://youtu.be/01-KP7VBSOA

If you like tacos, feel free to leave a comment of where some of your favorite restaurants or trucks are. I'd love to go and try some!

First Taco Dinner for the Sketchbook Project 2018

This is my sketch from my first taco themed spread for the Sketchbook Project 2018. The sketchbook is due at the end of April and I have a couple more meals to record. I typically take a bunch of pictures in the restaurant or at the food truck to get images of the atmosphere and then a number of photos of my tacos as they were presented. Since this was the very first spread, the design is fairly basic. As time progressed and I ate more meals and have done more pages, I have added more and more elements and details. I am slowly digitally cleaning up the images from the sketchbook and will post them here as I go. These were delicious. Where is your favorite taco place?

Bitter Melon

A bit of playing with my food. I went to an Indian food market a couple of days ago and had a fabulous time just looking at the fresh fruits and vegetables. I loved the bin of bitter melon and bought one to draw. I might eat it if I can figure out what to do with it! Know any recipes?

Chocolate Wrapper Done Two Ways

Here are two versions of the same chocolate bar wrapper. The one on the left was done at my fairly methodical pace. I challenged myself with the one on the right to limit myself to a drawing time of 10-15 minutes. Done was good. I painted them at the same time. Which do you like better?