November is Brussels sprouts season in New York. I especially love the ones sold on the stalk. For this recipe’s illustration, I sketched the entire stalk on paper. Using watercolors, lights and darks were painted first, then middle tones, finishing with shadows and highlights. The piece didn’t look right. It seemed too small for the paper. On a second attempt I zoomed into one section. The leaves and buds began to intrigue me. They looked like faces, crescent moons and layers of abstract shapes. When the painting was finished, it felt as if I had captured the sprouts' spirit.