This poor onion was sitting in a tureen on the kitchen counter along with others, waiting to be diced into a spaghetti sauce or maybe something a little more exciting. While its friends were content to keep waiting, this one gave it up and started to 'go funny'.
What fascinates me is how part of it is dying, while at the same time its shooting new life out of its head.
And so I had to draw it.
This was done with Polychromos and graphite, on illustration board. Its about 6 x 8 inches.
An interesting challenge was to get it drawn before it changed too much! This puppy GREW right before my eyes, I swear. I'd work on it, then go do something else for a few hours, and come back to find it had morphed into a slightly different creature. Just enough to make me wonder if it was just me. (Like, back in school, when we had an unsuccessful figure drawing, we'd say "but the model moved!") The same was true here - but it really did move!
Using graphite to do the 'peels' seemed like a good choice. I didn't feel like rendering them, and also felt like they'd detract from the rest of the piece. The 'story' was in the onion itself and the shoots.
And I had to get a 'square' in there somewhere. That's my 'thing' now I guess. I love square shapes. So if the art itself isn't square, there will be something square in it. You heard it here first.
2 Comments on Old Onion, last added: 4/26/2011
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It's lovely, Paula. I always like the green shoots coming from the vegetables in the pantry, whether it's an onion or a sweet potato. Sort of like a little science project going on in there. I like your square as a unifying element, too...kind of reminiscent of tiles or quilt squares or something...fun!
It's so beautiful and delicate! Btw, I love your 'kitty pic o' the week' - great idea!