Story behind the art of Antoaneta Denkin

26th Annual International

American Society of Botanical Artists and Marin Art and Garden Center

Curcubita pepo

Cucurbita pepo

My drawing “Cucurbita pepo” is one of my first graphite drawings of a pumpkin. I have not been working a lot with graphite recently; the main reason is I have been trying to improve in watercolor. Graphite was my major medium for more than twenty years before I started doing botanical art, so this graphite pumpkin portrait is getting me back to monochrome drawing.  

I chose the pumpkin from a local store. I had been looking for a pumpkin with special character but could not find one. I started the drawing with no intention of working in details or even creating a graphite composition. The idea was to be a quick sketch that would turn into a watercolor painting. The pumpkin I chose was not too appealing to me from the outside, so I decided to slice it in two and draw the inside, where more action happens. 

Once I cut the pumpkin in half, another world revealed itself to me. I got inspired by the intricate details and decided to keep drawing, and I postponed the idea for a watercolor composition. As I kept working, I became totally engulfed by the details, exploring the seeds tangled in the fibrous strands, creating space, rendering values, and showing the microcosmos of the inside of the pumpkin.  I enjoyed drawing it, without thinking about what was going to come out of it. I am glad that I kept working and turned it into a finished composition. It was a special feeling of freedom, of not being attached to some outcome or expectation.

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Read more about this artist’s work: 24th Annual