Persimmons

Persimmons in a Wedgewood dish, pencil on paper. 9" x 6".

Two persimmons on a bamboo mat. fountain pen on paper. 5" x 5".

Persimmon and Batik Pouch, 9" x 6" (cropped), pencil on paper.

I've never drawn persimmons before, so I'm studying them because I want to put them in a painting. They aren't a fruit either of us especially likes to eat, so we rarely buy them, but I was captivated by the beautiful bins of fresh persimmons at the Arab market the last time we shopped there, and came home with a few.

In Florida, my aunt picked one off a tree and gave it to me, and I did eat (that sounds and feels a little Garden-of-Edenish.) It was better than the ones I've had from stores, though there's a mustiness to the taste that I don't like. But the color! So magnificent! I also find the dried bud-leaves around the stem quite interesting and characteristic: they're papery and dogwood-blossom-shaped, with a flat square center.

Anyway, we'll see what happens. Which of these drawings do you prefer?

Comments

[Priya Sebastian]

The drawings are all lovely but I like the first one best, especially how you've gotten the design on the plate with just a few loose pencil strokes.
Looking at your work inspires me to draw the pears I bought at Jean Talon. I love their shape.

[Beth]

Thanks, Priya. I hope you did draw your pears! And thank you for adding that batik pouch to my sketching kit. It was nice to draw it as well.

[Judith]

The Bamboo Mat look most natural, the dish most interesting. Living in Louisiana in my twenties, we had a tree in the yard. I loved the persimmons from there. After returning to the north I buy them when they rarely appear at the grocery. Never live up to that original experience. I loved their taste, look and the memories they evoke. Judith

[Martha Nelson]

I like the one on the wedge wood plate. I was just thinking, to be an artist you have to have very astute observational skills. It's amazing to me, how just a few lines can change an plum into a persimmon. Maybe to brighten the dark days of winter, we should all wear the color of persimmons!