Physalis

Here's a first-try sketch of these funny little fruits. They have several names, mainly called Cape Gooseberries I think, and I've also seen them referred to as 'ground cherries' as well. This fruit is part of the nightshade family - which immediately makes me think they can't be edible* - they are sort of like cherry tomatoes but with a very intense and sharp fruitiness.

The challenge was to capture the reflected light and colour through the papery outer casing. Not entirely successful, but a useful exercise.

* 'Nightshade' always makes the word 'deadly' pop into my head, such an evocative and perfectly gothic name for a poisonous plant! But, this plant family - solanaceae - includes potato, aubergine, tomato and bell and chilli peppers as well as belladonna (nightshade), mandrake, datura and tobacco. 

Nuts in May

Painting is proving very absorbing.

Here's a little clutch of hazelnuts.

I really enjoyed drawing this little twist of seaweed - it has a very old fashioned feel about it, but both times I think I did a less than idea job of the top bits. It was a challenge though, as in fact it is really very black and matt, and I have indulged in a bit of artistic licence to describe the form.

And then my mum's - and dad's - favourite flag iris. Most of my iris, all of which come from the family garden, are pale purple. This one is really dramatic and bold, such a deep maroon, as rich and velvety as a victorian gentleman's smoking jacket. This is a work in progress, though the flower is going over so fast in this warm weather it's a real challenge.

Bitter melon

I saw this curious thing in the new(ish) Indian supermarket near Access to Music/Epic on Magdalen St, and thought it looked like a good subject for a painting. It's a bitter melon, a kind of cucumber/gourd thing, widely used in all Asian cookery. Can't waste it so will be reporting back later on that.

This needs a few tidying touches, but generally I'm pleased. It was daunting - all those knobbles and ridges, and it's not particularly big either, just 20cms tip to tip. I did it roughly to scale though, partly because the paper I have won't let me go much bigger anyway.

I didn't stretch the paper -  I thought it might be heavy enough to not cockle (my new favourite word), but you can clearly see that it did. Not too much, at least not enough to abandon the process.  But now I'll need to attempt a post-painting stretch...lots of people online suggesting it can be done with a steam iron. That sounds drastic, so I'll do a bit of research and a test run before trying it on this.