A PEAR IS THE GOLDILOCKS of still life subjects: a balance of simplicity, form, and detail. (Click on a pear to enlarge and read about its creation.)

 

Begun as an effort to extract something positive from 2020 by exploring the iPad, Apple pencil and Procreate software, the project took on a more meaningful character as friends and family began sending photos of pears for me to draw: it became a means to connect and collaborate with others. It has also become a way to support our beloved library through a series of exhibitions.

 

Each pear is drawn with a single digital "brush". Some brushes replicate their analog counterparts and respond to familiar drawing techniques. Others have unique reactions to the pressure, angle and speed of the pencil and must be approached as a new medium.

 

This project is, in a sense, a continuation of the "Chaos and Control" theme, except here the chaos is supplied by human decisions beyond my control – made by programmers and people who supply reference photos.

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I will add pears to this gallery until I run out of brushes, breath, pears or pandemic, whichever comes last.