When pho, broken rice, vermicelli with tofu and shrimp paste... become fairies

The fairy wearing ao dai and a crown containing a plate of rice with pork chop, pork skin and sausage makes netizens crave - Photo: NVCC

The photo series is inspired by Vietnamese food and was drawn by Nguyen Hoang Son (born in 1995, currently a freelance artist in Ho Chi Minh City).

Sharing with Tuoi Tre Online , Son said he has wanted to exploit and use Vietnamese food as creative material for a long time because it is very familiar and easy to find materials...

"Recently, when I had a job related to character design based on food, I suddenly remembered that Vietnamese dishes had not been recreated by anyone, so I wanted to try it," he said.

On average, Son spends 2-3 weeks to paint a picture. He said he doesn't use any special techniques, he just tries to depict the dish. As for the costumes, he often chooses colors based on his feelings. The following dishes will use a different color scheme than the ones he has painted before.

A plate of vermicelli with fermented shrimp paste looks flattering in a conical hat - Photo: NVCC

For example, the pho "fairy" has a light, soft feeling, with a cool green tone. The broken rice "fairy" is beautifully shaped and has some details added to make it easier for people to imagine.

The painting of broken rice was the most difficult for him to draw. The artist wanted to show the costumes representing broken rice in the South, but he had drawn the traditional Vietnamese dress “ao ba ba” and conical hat… before and they were not suitable to “hold” broken rice.

"I thought about it and decided to use the ao dai. I also made the character wear a crown that looked like a plate of rice. When drawing the rice grains, I didn't find it too difficult. I took the time to draw each leaf. I think the hardest part is to create a delicious, pleasing aroma so that the viewer feels hungry when looking at the painting," he said.

Author of this unique series of paintings - Photo: NVCC

The more I draw Vietnamese food, the more I crave it.

Son revealed that when he first started drawing food, the process of finding reference images made him very hungry. Sometimes he had to hold back until the weekend to go out to eat.

When drawing pho, the artist decided to buy pho as material to draw and eat. After finishing eating, he forgot something so he had to buy another bowl to eat the next day to have more ideas. Pho is also the painting that he likes the most, because it was drawn naturally and comfortably. The stages hardly require much thinking.

The beautiful pho fairy is portrayed very naturally by the artist - Photo: NVCC

According to him, to draw a vivid picture of food, the artist needs to create a feeling of hunger first, adding "dynamic" elements such as "flying" vegetables and onions to make the picture more vivid.

His secret is to always stick to the topic, what he wants, then emphasize further development. For example, when drawing broken rice, he only needs to think about the crown and the costume to match, instead of drawing each different part and then trying to force everything to be connected.

"When everything happens naturally, it's easier to look at and easily recognize the food and characters," Son said.

Vietnamese bread appears in the paintings of a 9X artist - Photo: NVCC

When posting the photo series on social networks, netizens not only praised the unique series of paintings but also provided information on how to enjoy food in different regions. For example, pho in Hanoi will not have bean sprouts, in other places, bun dau is eaten with fish sauce... which helped him learn more.

Chili sings rock music - Photo: NVCC

Many people even "challenged" the artist to draw famous dishes from other places. "I really love Vietnamese cuisine. Wherever I go, I always remember the close and familiar meals of my hometown. I plan to draw Hue beef noodle soup because I really love this dish," he said.

Son does not intend to draw all Vietnamese dishes, but will try to draw as many as possible. He is also thinking of drawing a series of paintings that personify Vietnamese architecture and landmarks and exploiting more materials from dishes from other countries in the world.

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/khi-pho-com-tam-bun-dau-mam-tom-tro-thanh-nhung-nang-tien-20240703162920734.htm