Peeps | Peeps II (2016)
But only the classic yellow
When painting still lives, I enjoy painting things that are in season when possible. It’s a nice way of tying my work to the time and place I am in. Since I work as a fantasy illustrator most of the time, you’d be surprised how different this feels compared to working within worlds that don’t even exist.
So when out and about at that time, and noticing the spread of Easter candies that had popped up most grocery and drug stores, I reached back to a favorite from when I was young, the classic Peeps.
Thing is, I never really liked these, in terms of taste. It’s also possible that they, like many candies, have gotten worse over time, but that’s a separate conversation. The gritty colored sugar coating was more texture than flavor, and the marshmallow was always pretty basic. And yet, I ate my share growing up, probably owing to just how cute these darned things are.
Working from life on these was easier than usual since the setup would probably last just fine through the following year, if I needed more time. I set them up as any still life painting, and worked from life as usual.
The cheese board or whatever that I used was a bit on the narrow side, so I sort of extended it out in the painting. That didn’t work as effectively as I’d have liked, and shortly after completing the piece, I continued thinking about what to do with the peeps. I decided to take another stab at it, pulling apart their marshmallow goodness mediocrity and arranging them with less dramatic lighting. In this case I went far more flat as an opposition to the first take.
