Tuesday, August 28, 2007

EDM# 26: Draw a Vegetable


I was curious why we have such an unattractive name for this lovely vegetable. Here's what Wikipedia has to say about it:

"The name eggplant in the United States, Australia, and Canada developed from the fact that the fruits of some 18th century European cultivars were yellow or white and resembled goose or hen's eggs. Aubergine is the British name given to this fruit, from the French aubergine, derived from Catalan albergínia; from Arabic al-bãdhinjãn الباذنجان, Persian بادنجان bâdinjân, from Sanskrit vatinganah. In South Africa the fruit is known as a Brinjal. In India it is called by a variety of names. Baingan in Hindi and Urdu, and Katharikkaai in Tamil. In Mandarin Chinese the plant and fruit are referred to as qiezi (Simplified Chinese: 茄子; Traditional Chinese: 茄子; Pinyin: qiézi). In Spanish it is called Berenjena. In Trinidad & Tobago it is called Melongene or Baigan.

Because of the eggplant's relationship with the Solanaceae (nightshade) family, it was at one time believed to be poisonous."

I painted this on 300 lb. wc paper from Cheap Joe's. It's a totally different experience from 140 lb. paper...I'm sure I heard a huge sucking sound as soon as the wet brush was put to paper...

16 comments:

bettyfromtexas said...

Just fabulous! Yummy!

Anonymous said...

great job on this! In our dialect, it is caled "talong".
I haven't tried drawing a vegetable... for now flowers fascinate me.

Anonymous said...

This is beautiful! I really dig artists who can do loose watercolors. Yours are wonderful.

Nina Johansson said...

Such a nice watercolour, it really flows. Great work!

Shelly McC said...

Gorgeos painting!!

Africantapestry and Myfrenchkitchen said...

Wonderful handling of watercolor of your aubergine...it looks great! I haven't used the word "brinjal" for a very long time..it almost sound foreign to me now.
Ronell

Genine said...

Great eggplant, i really like the tomatoes and leaf too!!

Genine said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Sharon said...

Thank you for your kind comments. Occasionally, I manage to paint a watercolor that turns out the way I want and it is THRILLING! It annoys me that I don’t have a consistent style, but I’m still experimenting with different media and techniques…trying to figure out what I enjoy doing most and what presents the greatest challenge. Like everyone else, I love the vibrant, loose watercolors that EDM members Casey, Ronell and Laurel produce (to name only a few…) I hope someday to achieve their skill level.
Thanks for stopping by!

Lynn said...

Beautiful! You really nailed this one - the shape, the colors, everything about it is lovely.

Sherry Pierce Thurner said...

Love love love it. Of course I have a passion for eggplant.

seesue said...

JUICY! Yummy watercolour!

andrea joseph's sketchblog said...

Stunning.

Unknown said...

This came out fabulous. Juicey, fluid color- beautiful stuff!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous! The color is so rich and beautiful.

Serena Lewis said...

Great job, Sharon! It was an interesting read too. Brinjal Pickle is a favourite of mine.