I made this illustration early on in my art journey. If memory serves, I made it between April-May 2024, just a couple months after I made my first illustration. Similar to the first one, this one was again made for another art challenge hosted by Valerie Wai on her patreon where the goal was to make an artwork inspired by our favourite snack.

Cranberries are my weakness. Mixed with nuts they are such a delight. I have to stop myself from buying dried cranberries because I can’t stop myself once I begin!

It really was very difficult to come up with an idea for this illustration. My initial thoughts were to make a character (or characters) that look like nuts and berries but the designs I came up with weren’t very inspiring to me.

After researching and drawing so many designs I came across this beautiful illustration by Endre Szász (to the best of my knowledge).

This illustration reminded me of a famous folklore most kids in India (and the subcontinent) must’ve heard about – Kabuliwala.

From there the ideas just flowed. I loved designing the little imaginary machine to roast the berries and nuts.

This year I’ll be attempting to recreate this artwork from 2 years ago. I’m nervous!