20 January, 2025

Showcase: curd pancakes with colour pencils

Last September we went to Lithuania. There, for the first time in many years, we ordered curd pancakes. I made a photo and decided at once that I wanted to draw them with color pencils. Here's what came out of it. This is the second take. Read on to find out what the first one looked like and how I came to this final result.

These are the curd pancakes I decided to draw. We ordered them at the Moss café. I really liked the presentation.

This is the first drawing, made on October 2, 2024. I didn't quite like it. The choice of colors is not really good, the pancakes don't look that much appetising, and there's not enough contrast between the roasted top and the rest of the pancake.

This is how the work looks like with daylight


So I wanted to draw them again after getting more knowledge. Now where do I take that knowledge? I figured that the easiest way would be to reproduce another's work. I found a drawing made by another illustrator, with a different kind of pancakes and fruits. I'm not putting it here for copyright reasons.
Why did I find reproducing a good idea? The first time I was doing it off the photo reference, the second time I used another drawing with the color palette already selected and with color rendering on fruits and pancakes already sorted out: how to show the roasted edges, the light reflection on fruits, and so on.
 

The close-up of my reference


I came to a few conclusions upon the reproduction:
- My original photo wasn't made to be a good reference; I was aiming to capture the presentation but I totally missed the lighting and photographed the shady side of the pancakes. Note for the future: even though it's only a reference, lighting and a quality photo will make it easier down the road to make a drawing.
- The composition can and should be adjusted and extended; there's no need to make a 100% photo-like representation of the original. In my case, I added berries and herbs to freshen the composition.
- The image should be not just nice, it should be delicious and advertising; if I draw food, the drawing should be mouth watering for the viewer, make them want to eat it.
 

Before getting to the second take I quickly outlined an improved composition; I felt that it's asking for something green for more freshness and that the berries could be thrown around somewhat differently.

I photographed each stage of the work. I don't draw everything in one go. Usually I set a timer for 30 minutes and after those I decide whether I'm good to go on, or it's enough for the moment. The thing is that at a certain point it always seems that everything went wrong, the drawing is screwed up, colors are off and the whole thing is ruined. In such moments I stop and get back to the drawing later, most often the next day. A fresh look typically helps to understand the situation more adequately and see whether something actually went wrong. Most often everything's fine. But if some mistakes were made along the way I note them for the next time, but also try to fix them in the current drawing. And what is the most important, finish it.

Drawing of the plate was a rather thrilling exercise for me; I cannot draw dishes well, especially the edges. But pancakes looked lonely without the plate, and the composition was falling apart. I wasn't sure if black was the right color for it; didn't want to be too inventive so just went ahead and made it as it was. And I'm satisfied with the outcome.