Painting a Day – Japanese persimmon

Art, daily painting, For Sale, Nature, Pastel | October 2, 2006 | By

4″ x 4″ pastel on paper

SOLD

Last Sunday we went to our local farmers’ market and I picked up quite a few unusual fruits from specialized growers. This little fellow is called a Japanese persimmon – a Fuyu, to be more precise. Unlike many other persimmons, it is short and round and looks a little bit like a tomato. I don’t know when it will get sweet but in the meantime I’m going to have a good time painting and drawing it. The oranges, golds and greens in the skin were a powerful lure.

Occasionally I’ll add a bit of pastel to a watercolor to enhance certain colors, but I haven’t done too many lately.

The Tujunga sunset (below) was my first attempt to get back into it (in June) after far too many years.

The good thing about letting your pastels sit around for a awhile is that they don’t dry up, fade or show any signs or deterioration. The bad thing is that your fingers get rusty. But that’s what learning’s all about, and I’m enjoying the process.

Have you revisited a medium that you put aside long ago? What did it feel like when you started up again? Vaguely familiar like riding a bike? Or strange and foreign?

Comments

  1. r.e.wolf
    October 3, 2006

    Working in good old graphite again after about 15 years… nothing foreign about it at all. It was like I’d never stopped. That feeling of using my fingers to move the shadows across the page, it was like sculpting in two dimensions.

    Love that persimmon – you have the West Coast Advantage, I’m afraid, when it comes to interesting vegetation!

  2. Brenda Yarborough
    October 3, 2006

    I ate my first Fuyu last year and was rather hesitant because I don’t like persimmons. It was GOOD. Did anyone tell you they don’t get as soft as regular persimmons?
    It’s always a treat to check your site! (Pun not intended – LOL)

  3. Frank Bettendorf
    October 3, 2006

    Karen,
    I really like the subject and pastel rendering of the Japanese fruit. I’ve noticed them in our Farmers’ Markets and wondered about them. Thanks for the lesson.
    Frank

  4. Katherine Tyrrell
    October 4, 2006

    I’m doing more pastels again after a long spell working with coloured pencils and it’s good to remember why I like them so much. One of the reasons is they’re great to scribble with and covering large surfaces happens a lot faster than with some other media!

  5. kuriyama
    October 4, 2006

    It is delicious.
    It is interesting.
    I think that I can already eat it from the picture.

  6. kuriyama
    October 4, 2006

    It is delicious.
    It is interesting.
    I think that You can already eat it from the picture.

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