Making Fresh New Ways of Making Art Inspired by Fresh Fruit: Mixed Medium Artist Joey Zeledon on Strathmore Newsletter

We were so impressed by all the delicious drawings created by artist Joey Zeledon, we had to share it with you.  He has come up with a fresh new way to combine different mediums to create fresh fruit still life drawings.  Below, he describes in his own words his process.  This was part of a longer article on Strathmore's quarterly newsletter. 

Read the whole article at this link.

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" I start by creating ghost lines with a light grey marker to rough out a general proportion of the sketch and placing it on the paper without fully committing to black ink on paper. Once I have those general proportions, I go back and lay down the​darker outlines with a black pen. Then I do my ad hoc masking with strips of post-it notes, sticking them around the edge of the sketch in preparation for the air marker. The air marker tends to splatter when you first use it, so I start the air marker on the post-it note runway. Once it gets going, I bring it to the page where I want the color. I use the air marker as a way to color block, a way to lay down a base of color very smoothly. "

"Once I have the base layer down, I peel off all the masking and then I begin applying the lights and the darks, the highlights and the shadows for everything, in general and for the textures. I use a soft white colored pencil for the highlights and other colored pencils for the shadows. By using the colored pencils on top of the marker base color, I am able to smudge them with my fingers and get rid of the stroke lines."

"Through my sketching practice, I see the mundane as complex and beautiful. As a result, the process of drawing a still-life of fruit, something I once found boring and uncreative, has direct value to my work as a designer and impact on my ability to create. When I sketch fruit, I see their details in new ways—the patterns, commonalities, nuances, and differences. Parts of fruit become abstracted, and I see other things in them, and then I can see these abstractions in the things that I am designing. I am constantly asking myself questions like: What does this remind me of? What does this look like? This practice has allowed me to see complexity and beauty everywhere and to find inspiration in the most unlikely, everyday places."

ABOUT THE ARTIST: Joey Zeledón is an industrial designer and analog sketching advocate. He strives to design everyday objects that strike emotional chords with people. Joey believes that good design is like good music. It’s familiar, engaging and makes you feel. It’s something you want to play on repeat. Since graduating from RIT’s industrial design program in 2006, he has been creating iconic design for both young and established brands that make food, furniture, housewares, lighting, spaces, shoes and tech. See more of Joey’s work on Instagram or on his website.