Drawing Challenge#3 : 無花果 Common Fig

This is my first entry of @helene's Drawing Challenge #3. Again watercolor and this time also had a little challenge of drawing skill. Every time is a trail and error. Keep learning and practicing.

One of the reasons I choose fig is very simple, I like it taste :D I like many fruit like orange, strawberry, watermelon etc. But fig is quite special to me that I usually eat it as an ingredient (dried fig) of Chinese soup. It acts as an excellent “supporting role“ in different soup, even sweet soup. Like chicken or pork soups or with other fruits, e.g. pear, apple. I always pick all figs if they are not totally melt~ Beside, the fresh, sweetened dry or jam are also yummy 🤤

Another reason that I like fig very much is its names in Chinese. One of them is called "無花果", which means "fruit without flower". For things with successful ending, we always say "開花結果" (blossom and bear fruit) in Chinese. Therefore, the name of fig is interesting to me, mysterious and a bit lonely. When I was deciding what to draw, the story of the coming Chinese Valentine's Day inspired me, although the story is totally an opposite.

這是參加Helene 的繪畫比賽第三回的作品，無花果。這次還是水彩～因為我想繼續在水彩之路上更精進。這次也作出了一些小小的技考挑戰。

選無花果的其中一個理由是我很喜歡吃無花果。我也很喜歡別的水果，好像每天都吃的橙、還有草莓、西瓜等。無花果特別有趣的是我通常是在喝湯時吃的。無花果乾可以配搭很多材料，好像鹹的有豬肉、雞肉，甜的有蘋果、香梨。我會特別挑還沒有煮爛的無花果渣來吃～當然，新鮮的、果脯或果醬也很好吃 🤤

另一個原因是我很喜歡它的其中一個中文名字「無花果」。平常我們都說事情得到美好的成果是「開花結果」，而它無花就有果，神秘又有點寂寞。臨近七夕，雖牛郎織女的故事算是有花無果，但也勾起我畫無花果的念頭。

Process 過程

Please forgive my barely visible outline. I only drew a rough outline and started drawing.

請原諒這張太淺色的底線稿。我只畫了兩個大概的無花果形狀就開始上色了

This is the base color layer. It will be too saturated with only the purple color. My Van Gogh half pan set does not have purple, I used tube of Shinhan. I want to draw it more natural so I added orange to lower the saturation.

這是第一層底色。通常只用紫色的話飽和度會很高，我想它看上去貼近自然一點，所以加了一點橘色來壓低一點。(我的梵高套固彩沒有紫色，這是管裝新韓來的)

Here is a rough scale of the color used. 以下是粗略的用色比例
Skin : Purple +++++ // Per Orange ++ // Water ++++
Pulp (outer) : AZO Yellow Light ++++ // Yellow Ochre ++ // Sap green + // Water +++++
Pulp (inner) : AZO Yellow Light ++++ // Vermillion + // Madder Lake Deep + // Water +++++

Use the Per Red Light to fill shadow area of pulp. And a light layer of Madder Lake D for the highlight area of the skin.

然後用上永固深紅來補出果肉的暗部。而右邊的果皮較光的部份，用很輕的深茜草紅來顯現出來

Use the same method to draw the core part of the pulp with color of Madder Lake D. And for the skin, I use the same pigments as the base, but with much lesser water. And this time, I tried dry brush to draw the shallow rough texture. The dark area keeps purple plus orange. The light area, I used Chinese White.

同一樣的畫法，用深茜草紅來填滿果肉部份。而果皮是用同上的選色，但水量大減，增加深度。而這次挑戰了乾畫法來畫有一點凹凸的果皮。深色的部份繼續是紫和橙色的混合。而光位則用上乾筆加中國白輕掃上

There are some light dot on the skin, I washed it out by water and tissue. Filling the background and shadow, just use the pigment of outer pulp and skin with many water :-D

果皮上有些淺色的斑點，我用水和紙巾印出來；節儉顏料，剛才用剩的淺果肉顏色、果皮顏色，加水塗上背景和影子 :D

Some final touch, e.g. the skin of the buttom is too dark, I washed it a little bit. Finished！

稍為微調一下，好像底部的皮太暗了，輕輕洗走一點顏色。完成！

In fact, fig has flower. The binomial name of fig is Ficus carica (belongs to gynodioecious), deciduous tree or large shrub. The “invisible flower” generated idioms in different cultures. For example, in Hindi, the flower of fig means rare of the rarest. So, where is the flower of fig?

The complex inflorescence consists of a hollow fleshy structure called the syconium, which is lined with numerous unisexual flowers. The flowers themselves are not visible from outside the syconium, as they bloom inside the infructescence.

Fig native in Middle East and Western Asia, with a long cultivation history and now widely grow in the world. Additionally, I found some interesting stories of fig. Here is one of them:

In the Biblical Book of Genesis, Adam and Eve clad themselves with fig leaves (Genesis 3:7) after eating the "forbidden fruit" from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. Likewise, fig leaves, or depictions of fig leaves, have long been used to cover the genitals of nude figures in painting and sculpture, for example in Masaccio's The Expulsion from the Garden of Eden.

That’s why there is a idiom, “a fig leaf” :O A side track, fig leaf had played an “important role” in Western art history. Nude was common and presenting the beauty of body in Ancient Greek art and Ancient Roman art, until the conversion of the Roman Empire to Christianity. Nude bodies was forced to be covered by fig leaves to prevent embarrassing or disagreeable.

Some famous examples, like the Last Judgment of Michelangelo was forced to cover the genitals, also his David; the Expulsion from the Garden of Eden by Masaccio. Some of the “edited” art pieces were restored, but some of them are still covered. It is not easy to remove, both technical and cutural. The Last Judgment spent a long time till 1990’s was restored. This fig leaf campaign and the controversial last for about 450 years. It reminds me an exhibition of Renaissance held in Hong Kong 23 years ago, the David was classified as indecent by The Obscene Articles Tribunal. It seems the fig leaf still influential.

Thank you Helene for organizing the contest again, during the research, I learnt much more about fig. Fig in art, in history, in biology. It makes me love it more. Today, the Chinese Valentine’s Day, best wishes to all lovers and couples both blossom and the delicious fruit :-)

無花果那看不見的花成為了一些地區的諺語，好像印地語中無花果的花指事物是稀有中的稀有。所以...它有花嗎？花在哪裡呢？

隱頭花序是本屬植物最重要的特徵，因花是生長於果內，稱之為隱頭果，是無花果屬植物在桑科中與其他屬最大的差別。在果內果頂端長有雄花，底部的是雌花，及生有不育花（癭花），故花和果單看外表是分不出來。

原來如此！其實無花果是有花的呢！而它原產於中東和西亞地區，栽種歷史有五千多年。隸屬於桑科榕屬，主要生長於熱帶和溫帶，是亞熱帶落葉小喬木。

有果有花容我再離題一下，有五千多年栽培歷史的無花果的葉子在不少古文獻和文藝作品中登場。例如，在《創世紀》中亞當和夏娃偷吃禁果後就是用無花果的葉來遮擋身體。這使無花果葉在西洋美術史中也擔負了「重任」。在古希臘和古羅馬時期，很多藝術作品都重視肉體美，畫中出現裸體和性器官十分常見。直至後來在新教教庭的主導下，出現了「無花果葉運動」，好些藝術品都被無花果葉馬賽克掉。好像米開朗基羅的《最後的審判》；打開維基無花果條目就看到的馬薩喬的《從天堂驅逐》等。這場運動在不停的塗抹、辯論和修復中持續約四百五十年。這令我想起了二十三年前在香港的文藝復興展覽，《大衛》被淫審處評為不雅，看來無花果葉還有它的影響力。

這下畫一畫無花果，在生物科、美術科、歷史科都長了不少知識。最後來一個小謎題在英文諺語裡有 “a fig leaf” 一詞，我想意思很明顯了喇～ 謝謝Helene繼續舉辦這個比賽呢！今天是七夕，祝有情人開花又結果吧！

Reference

wikipedia : common fig // wikipedia : fig in the bible // Fig-Leaf Campaign // 裸体的古今文化