Tuesday, October 25, 2011

Turban Squash

Turban Squash
Prismacolor colored pencils on Strathmore Bristol, vellum finish

"I wonder how they do that?!" exclaimed an older woman in the grocery line as she pointed to my turban squash.

Isn't nature amazing? Of all of the winter squash and pumpkins that I adore, this one has got to be the most exotic. There were lots of them at the farmer's market this weekend, and when you view them right-side-up, they do look like little heads sporting turbans.

This squash was the perfect little model: no wilting like a flower does, no drying out like blueberries and tomatoes do. It just sat there in all of its I-can-last-all-winter smugness. I guess that's why I like drawing botanicals like nuts, pine cones and winter squash—there's no hurry. So, I took my time (and used almost every pencil that I own in the green and orange families) and even made work-in-progress scans. As is often the case, I wasn't really happy with this final scan...the reds look a little splotchy and bright. So I took a quick shot with my iPhone4:
Not bad, huh? I stopped short when it came to adding a shadow, as I kind of like how it looks without it. What do you think? Does it look unfinished without one?

Here are the WIP views (click to enlarge)

17 comments:

  1. It's gorgeous. You ask if it looks finished. But I personally prefer art that has a less-than-finished (sort of zen) feeling, like what I aim for with my etegami. For me, something is perfect when it's just short of being perfect. Does that make sense?

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  2. I think you should have put it on a mirror and done its reflection too.



    KIDDING. Its gorgeous, just the way it is now. How big?

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  3. Paula, the image part is about 6 x 6.5 inches...a little smaller than the actual squash.

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  4. And I loved the joke about the mirror...that will NEVER happen! :)

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  5. Absolutely beautiful rendering. Your drawings are the FUEL that makes me want to keep working.

    Thanks again for checking in on me. I'm still dealing with the clean up and renovations following the Hurricane but I'm beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel (or at least the basement door).

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  6. Thanks for seeing something FUEL-related in it, Theo. I spent too much time on this and didn't get an entry in this week!

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  7. Lovely piece, Sarah - beautifully rendered! To shadow or not to shadow? ... Traditionally not necessary, but sometimes it's nice to be grounded - I'm Libran and indecisive!!

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  8. Hey, I was wondering how they do that too :) We don't have them here, well I don;t think we do :) Beautiful work as usual. Thanks for the blow by blow :)

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  9. Your wip shows how much work you put into this, excellent work Sarah!

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  10. Gorgeous Sarah. Love the colours. I don't think we have them here in Australia.

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  11. Your illustrations are beautiful! I think it looks finished without the shadow. I didn't notice until you mentioned it.

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  12. I followed your link from Pikaland and I am so glad that I did! I love your work. It's technically great but there is a sincerity to it that is hard to find these days. I will be back. Take Care and Happy November

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  13. Sarah! I missed this, since I have been on vacation, and have only had sporadic access to internet. I LOVE this turban squash...delicious colors and shape--shadow ro not :) And I agree with you about painting things like this. I used to get so frustrated painting flowers...they morphed before my eyes!

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  14. Really beautiful, love all the delicate layering of colours, great to see WIP too.

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  15. Amazing work! I love the colors. Not have a shadow to ground it gives the piece an illustrative quality. Love it!

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  16. We just ate one of these for dinner, hoping it would be as good as it looks—I have many more for decorative purposes. It was delicious, making a wonderful soup with potato and leek! Lovely illustration by the way!

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