Tuesday, July 9, 2013

How to Tell a Raspberry from Other Similar Berries















First thing this morning I needed to think through a design for a new way to make a handbag strap.  This drawing is a thinking drawing, and after I drew it I could understand how the strap was going to work.

At the top right a relaxing sketch of a primitive raku-fired bowl that has been in on top of my chest of drawers for ages.  Below the bowl are two drawings of what's left behind on the bush after you pick a raspberry.  I was wondering if the little red berries that grow wild around here are really raspberries because I've heard them called wine berries and dew berries, and because they look a little more like a red blackberry than the raspberries in the market.  My friend Fran explained to me that if there's a little nipple-like thing left behind, it's a raspberry.  All raspberries have that, which makes them very easy to pick (you just sort of brush them off into your hand), and the ones in the market have that deep indentation on the bottom that my grandson Nate uses to hold berries onto his thumb when he's eating them.  The nipple part is bright yellow.  Another thing about raspberries is that the thorns on them are soft and flexible, whereas on blackberries they're real thorns.






And finally, there's always Jesse to draw, this time dozing off on top of the dresser.

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