“Promises of Peppers”, mixed media by Kerry McFall

Short on ambition today, I decided to bring in the Sweet Pepper plant I bought yesterday and do a sketch session on my dining room table.  If I was smart,  I would have started my next painting for the Call & Response show, which is due in June – oh, dear, it IS June now! – but after a Saturday flurry of activity, Sunday just needs to be slower.   If you know Photoshop, you recognize that I applied the Poster Edges filter, which is my favorite for sketches.  I also tried using my 1/4 inch quilter’s tape again to set off the left side detail blocks, but for some reason (temperature, maybe? it’s low 70’s today) it really didn’t want to let go when I was ready to pull it off, so I had to Photoshop/Rescue a couple of torn spots.

Shortly after finishing the sketch, I tucked the plant safely into the east end of my raised garden bed, next to the Cucumber Skate Ramp and Tomato Chairs, surrounded by bits of chicken wire to discourage kitty litterbox activity.  My gardening assistant/resident sketpic wondered aloud if there was really a possibility of getting any peppers to harvest.  Of course!  Schmidt’s Garden Center promises a “yield in 70 days”, which by my calculations means on about August 12th I should be sketching a bowl of plump, ripe peppers.  Check back then!