Concerning the Short Life of a Croissant

One of the mantras of sketching is to draw everything.  The underlying wisdom of this is that all subjects, no matter how common, are worthy of attention.  Sketching moves a person from looking to seeing.   In nineteen months of nearly daily engagement, my skills have grown and my interest in pushing the camera shutter has become more thoughtful. Drawing is  also a sort of Zen disengagement with the daily stresses.

Today, my "draw anything" was a buttery croissant. Here's what I created as a first study of the form and color.  Beyond the lines, there is another challenge, namely creating appropriate colors.  Honestly, finding appropriate hues and tones is a bigger challenge than the form.

I'm happy with the sketch. My objective is to create a two-page image that is stepping from the complete pastry to after the  plate is empty on the theme of:

The Short Life of  a Very Buttery Croissant

So,  the next step is to plan the set of sketches.  I now get to bite into the pastries and create a series of images to use for sketching.  Follow along with commentary on my choices for garnishes.

 Step One:

Just some soft butter.  Very nice depending on the quality of your butter.  Next, I upgraded to something that is special to me,  Apricot Preserves.

Reminds me of my daily breakfast at the Hotel Londres in Fountainebleau, France.   Each morning, a little delivery truck delivered croissants from a bakery that  had been chosen one year as the best in France.  Add some cheeses, and it was a great memory. (Each morning, I looked out my window at the Chateau in morning light.)

Next was Dalmatia Fig Spread.

Lovely.  The pastry is getting small.  One last spread, a French rhubarb spread.   Made this myself.  Recipe is:  4 cups diced rhubarb, 1/2 cup sugar, pinch of salt and 1 teaspoon vanilla.  Cook 'til soft, cool and puree in blender.  

The taste is very mild.  Also great on vanilla  ice cream.

Yes, croissants have a short life around me. 

This was one of the most satisfying sketching projects in recent memory.  I'd love to hear about any similar memories that you can share.

Have a good week.

Paul