This is a back-dated post for my archive project, where I am copying over every piece of art I have ever submitted to DeviantArt, with the original submission date or watermarked year stamp, so a complete archive of my work can be found on this website, even if the item was never or is no longer displayed in my portfolios.

Originally posted September 13, 2010.

8″x10″, bamboo pen and sumi ink on vellum paper
~15 minutes

This was drawn in class from a real dried artichoke. I was very happy with how it turned out. I need to get or carve myself some more bamboo pens in different sizes.

Artichokes are related to cardoons and (more distantly) thistles. If they are allowed to go to seed, they bloom from the top and open out to fuzz. The one I was viewing was cut and saved after it had seeded.