Gummi bears

Gummi bears study
carbon pencil
copyright Jeanette Jobson

Gummi bears scare me. They also taste disgusting, more the texture than flavour, all rubbery. You don't so much chew them, but mash the rubber into a form that you can swallow.

Have you ever really looked at their little faces, if you can call them that? They look like a cross between aliens from outer space and those little pottery Inca god statues. They're quite creepy...

Despite their drawbacks, they are fun to draw and this study was a warm up for a colour drawing I will do of some gummi bears. I took some photos today on one of those rare moments when some sun broke through the clouds and it made the little aliens glow with light. Or maybe they do that anyway.

The decision now is what medium to do a colour version in. Coloured pencils, oils, pastels....

Other facts about gummi bears:

From Jason Freeny at Moist Productions, a little lesson in gummi bear anatomy...

• The Gummi Bear originates from Germany where it is hugely popular under the name Gummibär.
• The traditional Gummi Bear is made from sugar, glucose syrup, starch, flavouring, food coloring, citric acid, and gelatin. There are also some types of Gummi Bears made with pectin or starchgelatin, making them suitable for vegans.
• Gummi bears, and other gummi candy, stick to teeth and may cause tooth decay. However, gummi bears containing the cavity-fighting additive xylitol (wood sugar) are now being tested.
• There has been some concern that gelatin, a key ingredient in most gummi bears, may harbor prions. Prions are misshapen proteins that cause BSE / Mad Cow Disease in cattle and CJD in humans. Based on studies, the United States FDA and various other national organizations and countries consider the risk of BSE transmission through gelatin to be minuscule as long as precautions are followed during the manufacturing process.

Finally, oddest of all, gummi bear art.