Friday, August 15, 2008

Blackberries are the perfect fruit


blackberries
Originally uploaded by daveterry.
Blackberries are my favorite fruit. I pluck them plain, off the vine, or slather them on my toast in jams or jellies.

They are the perfect fruit. They feel smooth, yet bumpy in the mouth and when I bite into them they crunch. Long after I swallow them I'm still enjoying the little seeds left behind.

While making the smoothie the other day I used blackberries. I almost didn't add them because I kept eating them while tossing in the other fruit.

After making the drink I sat down with a few left over and decided to sketch them. After the sketch I wanted to color wash them and used some of my watercolor paint but then I struck on an idea: Why not use the blackberry for it's own color. Again, I say they are the perfect fruit because I used the pulp for the color wash. Try that with a banana.

And the great thing about using the pulp for the color wash over the sketch is that I can eat the left over "paint" pulp.

The hardest thing about attempting to paint blackberries is keeping them in the bin long enough to finish the drawing. I kept sampling the fruit. I had to sketch quickly.

...dave
A blackberry in my mouth puts a smile on my face. - Dave Terry

4 comments:

Stephanie said...

great sketch, love your paint and I bet the smoothy was good too. :)

daveterry said...

Thanks. You can read about the smoothie experience by clicking on "the smoothie" in the post. Ah, makes we want to make one right now!
...dave

caseytoussaint said...

Beautifully done - at least there were a couple of berries left in the box!

daveterry said...

Thanks Cassey. Love your stuff. Very cool technique. Check out caseytoussaint.wordpress.com for a open and free watercolor style.
...dave