June 2021 Monthly Theme - My Diet

Tonight I was in the mood to start my theme also using graphite.  Instead of a mechanical pencil, I chose to grab a regular 4B drawing pencil after a friend of mine shared his pencil sketches with me earlier in the day.  One of the things I love more about a regular pencil is being able to use the side of the lead.  The two big drawbacks, however, is the smudging using a softer grade pencil and the fact the lead wears down requiring sharpening.  

Monthly theme for June is "My diet" sketching/painting a minimum of three to six items that might fit the theme.  Not to mistaken "dieting" but instead foods I am eating at this point.....good or bad.  I'm TRYING to get back to eating healthier foods as I've been on a very long binge of eating comfort foods causing some health issues I'd rather not be dealing with.  It's difficult when one can't sleep and all those extra hours of being awake results in my wanting to eat....normally sweets or high carb foods such as bread and other highly processed foods.

One of the dishes I like to eat that is actually healthy is Kale...minus the bacon we use for flavoring.  Although it's actually not too bad with the number of slices used in the size pot of Kale we make.  We like making what some might consider a soup.

A very simple recipe using a bunch (as packaged at the store) of Kale, three to four slices of bacon, onion, and jalapeno pepper (just to add a slight kick but not too much heat) sautéed in the pan and then simmered together in about three to four cups of water.  I could sit and just drink the broth.   

With this latest batch, I decided to add grilled diced chicken giving the "soup" some extra protein and body.  Next time we want to try using chicken broth instead of just water for extra flavoring to see which way we like best.  We may also add spinach which we've done in the past and really liked.

9 x 12" Alpha sketchbook using Mars Lumograph 4B pencil.