Hello, dear reader! I hope you're still out there. I'm still eating, still living, but haven't gotten to post anything food-related recently.
I have plans, though, to reunite with the kitchen. I still want to master more savory dishes, as well as desserts. I keep putting off my blueberry cheesecake conquest, but I'm hoping that sooner rather than later, I'll be able to tick that item off my newbie to-do list.
But... while cooking has been MIA from my life recently, I've picked up a long-dead hobby of mine. I used to love drawing (as well as writing) more than the average little girl, even if I never went to art school. I've only taken two art classes in my entire life.
Anyway, thanks to the recent influx of destressers like adult coloring books, slowly but surely, I've been rebuilding my art arsenal: from nothing to two sets of watercolor paints, four drawing books, three different types of coloring pencils (one just for watercoloring), and various drawing pens and paintbrushes — all in a span of a month and a half.
I've been trying to get back to doodling, lettering, and painting (which has always been a struggle of mine). After attempting various styles, I've stumbled upon one that I quite enjoy because it's both challenging and a passion of mine:
Painting food!
It's tricky because there are so many textures and colors in food. In the past three days, I've crumpled countless sheets of paper because of imprecise shading or blending "techniques" (trust me; I don't have any). But these five that I came up with are satisfactory enough for posting, haha!
(Disclaimer: I'm still in the process of basing my paintings off pictures, as is the case with many beginners. In time, I hope to be more "original" and create from images in my head.)
My first one: truffle pasta with portobello mushrooms on a clichéd checkered tablecloth
My second one: an attempt at a sushi tray. Not the most even sushi tray in existence and the wasabi needs serious improvement.
My third one: steak with baby tomatoes and potatoes, asparagus, and gravy. I kind of like how the asparagus turned out, for some reason.
My fourth one: a breakfast plate consisting of eggs, bacon, sausages, and potato wedges.
My most recent one: pizza, because who doesn't love a good gooey slice of pizza? The pepperoni and stringy cheese could use more work, though.
I was attempting to do another one (vongole, which is my mom's favorite pasta dish), but I chucked it; I'm not proud of the detailing on the clams, because I bought a really cheap fine detail brush. It has since split (whenever I wet it and press it down on the paint) after using it for only a month, and I can no longer make accurate strokes.
(Letterers and watercolor artists out there, if you could point me to a good place to source good quality fine detail brushes, I'd be really grateful!)
However, I'm excited to try painting other dishes! I know that there's much to improve on in terms of detailing, but I'm trying to be brave enough to post my works for accountability purposes and to see if I'm actually improving. Let me know, also, if you have suggestions for potential subjects in the near future.
And please stay tuned for (hopefully) more cooking posts and restaurant reviews (which I've also been failing to maintain; I hope to make up for this soon)! Catch you all again soon!
