Dragonfruit!

(click to enlarge—and to get rid of the weird blurry type that I can't seem to fix here...)

Dragon fruit—aka Pitaya—are one of the most exotic-looking things you'll ever see in the produce section. I've only seen these tropical beauties a few times in my grocery store, and they usually look a little shopworn. So when I saw a whole bin of them last week, in gorgeous condition, I had to bring one home to model for me.

As if that gorgeous exterior wasn't enough, when you cut open a dragon fruit, you have the contrast of the snow-white flesh full of little black seeds. The one I used didn't have a very interesting taste - rather milder than I expected, but the crunch of the seeds is wonderful. If you do an image search of "dragonfruit recipes" you'll see how these can be used—in puddings, desserts, etc. My favorite is using a melon baller to make beautiful speckled orbs from the flesh.

I worked this drawing a little more than I intended; I actually prefer the feel of the unfinished one. But I was sick for a few days after starting it, and sort of lost some momentum along the way.  It's all about knowing when to stop, isn't it?

It's pouring rain today, here in Northern California, which we are thrilled about as far as our drought goes, but I wouldn't mind being in someplace a bit more tropical...!