Mastering Pancake Portraits with Graphite

PANCAKES was initially going to be a study in preparation for a still life of said pancakes. My wife, however, said the drawing was better than any painting she could imagine, and thus PANCAKES à la pencil was born. Either way I was going to end up hungry staring at pancakes all day. 

The trick, at least for me, with drawing a completely new subject matter is gauging how best to introduce realistic reflections with the limitations of graphite, which in case you hadn’t noticed is a singular hue. As it turns out, reflections were going to be the least of my worries, as pancakes are expected to be “fluffy”, while syrup tends to mimic a slow flowing waterfall with behavioral problems. 

I ended up using curved directional lines (vertical) and undulating horizontals to give the sense of a fluffy pancake, as well as drawing a number of the small, oddly shaped “circles” that make up the baking soda induced air holes of any self-respecting pancake recipe. At some point during the course of a still life, one hits the right level of detail that makes it look realistic. For me, honing the details beyond this subjective threshold starts to erode the artistic appeal of the piece at the cost of realism. While I can appreciate appeal of the challenge, as well as the skills to make a painting or drawing look as good as a photo, I don’t understand why someone would want to hang it on their wall. 

Ultimately, PANCAKES has already inspired me to consider more brunch-themed subjects. Top of the list is eggs Benedict, and if I’m feeling particularly confident, chicken and waffles would be a worthy challenge. 

Thanks for reading!

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