We’ve already discussed the obsession of pairing your wines and appetizers with your DSLR. In sifting through old photos recently, I was shocked to realize that my photographic theme is about 80/20, food vs. other. When something looks good and tastes good it’s hard to not want to document it. But photography is a quick fix. In only a few seconds you’ve snapped what’s probably taken you (or someone else) a significant time to prep. So just like many food trends have started to incorporate “slow” elements, so has documenting them.

The new food porn? Drawing. Taking the old fashioned, hand-made mode of documentation and using it to highlight culinary works. I’ve seen several food-focused sketchbooks over the last few months, and much like well done travel journals make you want to drop everything and book a plane ticket, these works of art inspire a new-found love of food.

And although drawings and sketchbooks are a throwback to a time when we were less consumed by digital media, the internet is an excellent place to indulge in this new food porn. In fact, there’s an entire Flickr group devoted to it. Last summer, Etsy hosted a Competition for Food Art. This isn’t just sketching your wine glass on your dinner napkin; this is serious business.

My personal favorite source of creative inspiration is They Draw and Cook, a blog that focuses on depicting entire recipes through illustrations. And then there are artists like Emily Katz who take simple concoctions and turn them into masterpieces by drawing, painting and then outlining with the help of her sewing machine. The results are stunning. Illustrator Claudia Pearson is another, that not only draws greeting cards with recipes, but also has a “Buy Local” inspired calendar.

Why is food illustration taking off? Maybe it’s the combination of the love of food and art. Maybe it’s simply wanting to document the beauty of fresh vegetables. Or maybe it’s partnering DIY food culture with DIY art. Whatever it is, that sketchbook is certainly much more inconspicuous than a bright flash in the midst of dinner. Time to get to drawing.

Editor’s note: This is the latest installment of Anna Brones’s column at EcoSalon, Foodie Underground. Each week, Anna will be taking a look at something new and different that’s taking place in the underground food movement, from supper clubs to mini markets to culinary avant garde.

Images: Claudia Pearson, Laura Cooke

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