I decided to look at the aspects surrounding the predominately Spanish dish, paella. Obviously the actual dish and the ingredients that make up the dish are the most important components surrounding the meal. Therefore to begin with I decided to draw sliced green and red peppers. Through completing this piece of work I was able to get the texture and the colours of the peppers and use them to good effect. I then went on to draw a clove of garlic. As the clove is mainly white I had to emphasise this by creating a somewhat strong shadow that consisted of many built up colours. Continuing with the theme of ingredients I went on to draw a sliced tomato, which I completed in pastels.
I finished by painting some peas and an olive oil bottle from observation. As paella is Spanish I decided to incorporate a Spanish theme into my project. I did this by observing Gaudi’s architecture, which can mainly be found in the Spanish capital, Barcelona. His work is said to be ‘organic architecture.’ This was a good aspect of his work as it meant I could tie in the food I had studied, into Guadi’s architecture. As well as looking at the culture I also decided to look at the working environment that such a dish may be prepared in. Therefore I drew my kitchen sink and it’s surroundings. I also looked at aspects of the table setting, by drawing a wine glass in white pastels on black paper. To finish my preparatory work I looked at different types of lettering that were used in various different recipe books.
To create my finished piece, I tried to tie in all of my preparatory studies into one piece of work. I came up with two designs which I felt were equally good, therefore I decided to do two final pieces. The first piece I did was in batik, the second was done by a use of mixed media, including pencil and pastel work. In the batik piece, I tried to tie in guadi’s work with my studies of the ingredients, in doing so most of the piece is pattern work, however certain aspects can be picked out of the work.
The batik work also creates vibrant colours, which add to the overall effect of the work. The second piece also linked in Gaudi’s ‘organic architecture.’ This time I emphasised this a lot more by making the roof tiles seem as if they were segments of garlic. I feel that my final pieces fit the criteria set and clearly show the different aspects that surround the Spanish dish paella. This includes the dish itself, the culture behind the dish and the cooking utensils and implements that are needed to create and enjoy this type of meal.
