Pineapple art

What is it about pineapples?!! They look like nothing else on earth. For a fruit, they have such great architecture - that funky hair! And the diamond skin? Genius!! What's more, they are eternally associated with hot tropical climates, holidays, good times, parties and cocktails. It's no wonder I love them!

I've been experimenting with pineapples in different paints and mediums recently and wanted to share some of my results..

I've taken some liberties with colour and form. But this one is fairly graphic and in my signature ink and watercolour. I'd love to be a little free-er in my drawings and watercolours - to employ a little more artistic license! But it seems I am always drawn back to clean lines, precision and cleanliness! Drawing from small photos or out of focus images is my worst nightmare - you have to make stuff up!! I think my training as a kiddo and beyond has been so much about drawing exactly what you SEE, regardless of how strange or unexpected it is, that I now really struggle to let go of this and experiment with shapes and lines to create an illusion of reality. So maybe I just need to embrace this as 'my style' and get on with it!!! It certainly seems to be going that way!

This is a work in progress once the ink outlines were complete:

If stage one like this goes well then it's such a mental battle to continue with the plan...what if I screw it all up when adding colour?! (Urgh, self doubt!) I'm far too impatient to start over again from scratch, I get bored far too easily! I wish I had the time and patience for practice sketches, planning and dry-runs. Nope, straight into the final piece for me! Hence it's always a gamble and if it doesn't go well, I get frustrated. Why is that a suprise?! 

But this, enough soul searching! Luckily this time I pushed through to a finished piece and am super chuffed with the results! 

So, what do you think?! 

p.s. you can see more of my ink and watercolour creations such as my NYC map and watercolour sweet peas.