Tag Archives: illustrated food blog

How to PAINT PRODUCE!

In celebration of the release of my latest Skillshare course Paint Produce! Intro to Drawing Fruits and Vegetables with Watercolor and my highly “giftable” “The New Victory Garden 2022” Calendar (see a theme?), I’ve synthesized a few hots tips on how to accurately render fruits and vegetables using watercolor.

Drawing fruit and vegetables is the perfect way to get well acquainted with watercolor paint. Not only should you have fruit and veg on hand (AKA no excuses), painting produce is the ultimate study in observation, volume and color.

“Draw from life!” There’s a reason that annoying drawing teacher of yours was also merging together random objects to create a still life. Drawing abides by the 10,000 hour rule. You’ve got to start somewhere and commit before you can move onto painting whatever it is that’s in your head. Drawing from life retrains your scrolling brain to reconnect with the present and forces you to draw what something is instead of what you “think” something looks like.

“Look Look Look!” Before committing with watercolor, give yourself a few 1-minute drawing exercises. Draw with your opposite hand. Draw the composition without taking your pencil off the paper. Draw your still life without looking down at the paper. It’s easy to get frustrated with technique especially if you haven’t picked up drawing since a discouraging art teacher killed your creative joy. But before getting lost in “what” to draw, commit to drawing what is in front of you. All the information is there, so just draw it. 

“Light Source”. Drawing veg is the ultimate exercise in understanding volume. And rest assured, it’s as easy as identifying where the light source is. This will cue you in on where you need to save the white space (what not to paint) and where to put the shadows. And of course, reflecting light can say a lot about what a fruit or vegetable can be. Think of how light reflects off of a red rubber ball versus an orange. A red rubber ball reflects it in one defined area because it has a completely smooth finish. The orange reflects light on each of the pores on its zest (note: how to create texture).

“Mix Mix Mix!” Who doesn’t love paint by number? But alas, this is the wild west of watercolor. The beauty and dynamic nature of the medium is when colors are mixed. It’s a truer representation of what you see and it’ll jump-start your understanding of watercolor, too.

“Be Bold!” Common knowledge in watercolor is to dose out the color from the lightest to darkest. This is good advice in a finicky medium that sadly still doesn’t have an undo button. However, since produce is already brightly saturated (AKA colourful), be bold and add the color as you see it instead of torturing yourself with layer after layer which can easily turn into a watermarked mess. 

Let loose, save the white space and don’t drink the watercolor water! More here.

The Unspoken Ways of French Eating

French culture isn’t a fluke. It’s ingrained as early as daycare when babies are serving 4-course meals (i.g. tomato and avocado salad, sautéed turkey, brie and fruit AKA my baby’s lunch menu). These customs are withheld for life. But all these micro details make France, France. And the French, French. And foreigners, well, foreign. Even if grab-and-go options and poké bowls have swept the capital by storm, these small table manners remain set in stone…

Julia Child’s Paris: Following in Her Footsteps & An Illustrated Map of Her Favorite Places

An illustrated watercolor map guide to Julia Child's favorite boutiques, restaurants and other haunts in Paris.
Julia Child's favorite restaurant in Paris, Le Grand Vefour, frequented by Colette. Julia Child's favorite places in Paris. Julia Child guide to Paris
Julia Child's favorite places in Paris. Julia Child guide to Paris. Best French onion soup, Au Pied de Cochon. Best late-night eats in Paris
Julia Child's favorite places in Paris. Julia Child guide to Paris. E.Dehillerin copper pots. Best kitchenware stores in Paris. French copper pots
Julia Child's favorite places in Paris. Julia Child guide to Paris. Where did Julia Child live in Paris? Where to live in Paris?
Coffee at Les Deux Magots and dessert at Brasserie Lipp. Julia Child's favorite places in Paris. Julia Child guide to Paris. My Life in France.
Julia Child's favorite places in Paris. Julia Child guide to Paris. Le Cordon Bleu alumni. Best culinary schools paris.

Whenever I get asked about must-go places in my hometown of Chicago, I have to preface my list stating that all my recommendations are at least a century old. No poké bowl recommendations here! I like directing friends to the haunts that my family has been flocking to for generations so they can enjoy (occasionally) musty old school charm that I think of when I think of “home”. When I was researching Julia Child’s favorite Parisian haunts for the most recent Julia Child issue of Cherry Bombe Magazine, I was reassured that there were still many similarly eternal institutions in my adopted city. These are equally as loved by true Parisians and tourists alike. Enjoy.

Originally published in The Julia Child Issue of Cherry Bombe Magazine, which celebrates women in food.

Braised meatballs aux petits pois

Jessie Kanelos Weiner_design sponge_thefrancoflyI just shared one of my favorite family recipes on Design*Sponge!

Read more here.

Jessie Kanelos Weiner_design sponge_thefrancofly 2

Braised meatballs aux petits pois

For 6 servings

Meatballs

– 1 slice white bread, crust removed
– 1 lb (450 g) ground beef
– 1 medium yellow onion, peeled and grated on the large holes of a box grater
– 1 egg, beaten
– 1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
– ½ teaspoon sea salt
– ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice (or 1 pinch of each: cinnamon, ginger, ground cloves and nutmeg)
– ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
– Olive oil

Petits pois

– 1 tablespoon olive oil
– 1 medium yellow onion, diced
– 1 stalk of celery, diced
– 1 carrot, diced
– 1 medium tomato, chopped
– 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
– 4 cups (600 g) shelled green peas or frozen sweet peas
– 2 ¼ cups (500 ml) vegetable broth
– 1 handful parsley leaves
– 1 bay leaf
– ½ teaspoon sea salt
– ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper

Method

Soak bread in water for a few minutes. Using hands, squeeze water from bread. Break ground beef into small pieces in a large bowl, add bread and remaining ingredients. Using hands, quickly and gently mix meat mixture just until all ingredients are evenly combined (do not overmix). Chill mixture at least 15 minutes and up to 1 hour. Moisten hands with water, then roll meat mixture between palms into golf-ball-size balls. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add meatballs, separating them so they are not touching. Cook 2-3 minutes on each side until golden brown and firm to the touch. Repeat till all the meatballs are cooked. Reserve.

For the peas, heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and carrot and cook, stirring often, until caramelized. Add tomato and cook, stirring often, until the mixture begins to stick to the pot, about 3-5 minutes. Add garlic, peas, broth, parsley, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer until flavors have melded and the broth has reduced, 25–30 minutes. Remove bay leaf. Add meatballs to peas and cook 10 minutes until heated through.

NYC to-eat #1

Golden donut_Kanelos Weiner

Edible Paradise: A Coloring Book of Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables will soon be more than just a social media anecdote.  It comes out March 15th, 2016!  And a mini continental book tour is on the books, too.  Returning to the motherland only once every two years, I’ve stocked up enough calories to indulge in every greasy Greek diner/Chicago deep-dish pizza/24/7 Mexican food impulse.

What’s a regal way to ring in my first major book release AND my 30th birthday?  How about the golden calf of food trends, the gilded donut.   Maybe I’ll just save my pennies for golden teeth instead.

Gilded donut, $100.  Manila Social Club, 2 Hope St, Brooklyn, NY 11211.

http://www.manilasocialclub.com/

Color Me Seasonal: January!

thefrancofly_Jessie Kanelos Weiner_Color me Seasonal January

Phew, 2016! 2015 wrapped up into a very fine year for me.  It was the first year where I can proudly say I was making it as a bona fide full-time living artist, a big feat for a professional fruit & veg doodler.  But the biggest news of 2015 was that I nailed my first US book deal with Rizzoli New York.  But I promise to share the process and all the juicy details very soon… 

partridge 2Fast forward to 2016, and said book will be released March 15th, 2016, Edible Paradise: A Coloring Book of Seasonal Fruits and Vegetables (Rizzoli’s Universe Imprint).  Coloring  books found a bit of a renaissance in 2015, promising to re spark everyday creativity and hit the overloaded mind’s refresh button. But Edible Paradise is more than just your kid’s chicken-scratched Frozen activity book.  It sets its readers of all ages on an enchanted journey, discovering the seasonal delicacies and creatures found in forests, fields, gardens, and urban farmer’s markets all in richly detailed freehand drawings. But in the humble opinion of its creator, the true beauty of the book lies in the hands of whoever colors it in.

You may be asking yourself, “I still can’t even write ‘2016’.  Why should I preorder a book that comes out in March?” The truth is, although I would love that you picked it up at your local mom & pop bookshop, in the current Amazon economy, the success of book sales are dependent on preorders.  Ever wonder how a new release is already a New York Times Bestseller the day it comes out?  Preordering largely determines that.  Ordering now not only promises you can attack it with your colored pencils ASAP, but it gives my editor a little vote of confidence.  It also increases the chances I can publish more passion projects like this one in the future. Preorder here.

In any case, I wish you joy and balance in 2015!  And thanks for your support in making this another Technicolor New Year!

–jkw