Monday, February 4, 2013

Deer Tongue Lettuce

Here's is another illustration from a month or so ago. This one is of Deer Tongue
Lettuce is currently my favorite thing to paint. Although sometimes if it is really wrinkly the details can drive me nuts, I just think it always comes out looking really neat. I love the texture of the leaves and how, even though most lettuce is mostly green leaves, they are all so different.

Saturday, February 2, 2013

Calabrese Green Sprouting Broccoli

Here is an illustration I did a little more than a month ago of Calabrese Green Sprouting Broccoli.
Does anyone else have trouble spelling broccoli every time? I had to check and see how to spell it because I always want to put two l's instead of two c's.
I don't normally think of broccoli as a particularly Italian thing, but Wikipedia would have me believe it so. It reads as follows:
"Broccoli was derived from cultivated leafy cole crops in the Northern Mediterranean in about the 6th century BCE. Since the Roman Empire, broccoli has been considered a uniquely valuable food among Italians. Broccoli was brought to England from Antwerp in the mid-18th century by Peter Scheemakers. Broccoli was first introduced to the United States by Italian immigrants but did not become widely known there until the 1920s."

Friday, February 1, 2013

Early Wonder Tall Top Beet

Here is a illustration I did a month or so ago of early wonder tall top beet. I really like the way this one turned out. As I was working on the beets and before I put the greens in it reminded me of some strange anatomy illustration of a bunch of bleeding hearts, which I think suits the beet. As Tom Robbins says they are the most passionate of vegetables. :)