“Strawberry Girl” started from something that wasn’t meant to be serious at all. I asked my community for ideas, and among many suggestions, someone simply told me to draw a strawberry. A trivial impulse that stayed with me, because I immediately knew I didn’t want to interpret it literally.
The real challenge wasn’t drawing the fruit itself, but translating it into my own visual language without losing its impact. The gag eventually became the natural outcome of that process, carrying this tension between control, attraction, and discomfort that I’m drawn to. Getting there, however, wasn’t spontaneous—it was a series of deliberate decisions until the composition finally felt coherent.
Technically, this piece marked a shift. It was the first time I worked with acrylic ink and watercolor pencils, and that phase of experimentation is visible in the final image. The dark streaks weren’t part of the initial plan; they emerged later, driven by the urge to push the material further and introduce another layer of depth.
And then there is the strawberry itself—arguably the most demanding element I’ve ever drawn during that time. Every single seed is placed with precision, every detail carefully built, to the point where it almost became excessive. Looking back, that’s exactly where the piece transforms: somewhere between patience and frustration, between control and a subtle resistance against the subject itself.
“Strawberry Girl” may have started as a playful idea, but it refused to remain one.