STORY BEHIND THE ART OF YUAN YUAN WANG
23rd Annual International
American Society of Botanical Artists at Wave Hill
Super Hot 2
Capsicum chinense 'Chocolate Champion'
I was browsing around the Union Square farmers market in New York City last fall when a stand with a variety of hot peppers caught my eye. I was struck by the visual diversity of the peppers which seemed to cover a rainbow spectrum of colors. I was also enamored to see obnoxiously bumpy specimens. I ended up picking out a variety based on visual interest. The names caught my attention as well, some of which included ‘Carolina Reaper,’ ‘Apocalypse Scorpion’ and ‘Chocolate Champion.’ When I was paying for the peppers, the cashier eyed me and said, “Very spicy.” I nodded and said, “Great!'”
Looking back, there really should have been a warning sign next to these peppers with some kind of disclosure. Perhaps the names should have tipped me off. I was not aware at the time that rattling around in my backpack on the subway to home were some of the spiciest pepper varieties in the world. On my mind was simply the fantastic chili I would cook with these peppers.
When I got home, I was eager to show off my finds to my partner, who immediately looked up just how spicy the peppers were. Turns out the Chocolate Champion pepper drawn here is within range of 1.6 million Scovilles on the Scoville scale of heat units! To give you a comparison, typical grocery store jalapeños range from 2000-8000 Scovilles.
I still made a chili that week as planned but put an extremely small amount of spicy pepper into it. Armed with plastic gloves, I cut up a ‘Chocolate Champion’ into tiny pieces and marinated it in some olive oil. Just a drop of this spiced up my whole pot of chili and added a very unique and addictive earthy flavor.
I am so glad I finally took a colored pencil class this past winter at the The New York Botanical Garden. I have always considered myself a painter and never really gave colored pencil a chance. Just like with the application of watercolor, layer upon layer can be applied with colored pencils to create subtleties and depth. My darkest shadows in this piece were built up by mixing extremely vivid complementary colors together over many, many layers.
I chose to draw this particular ‘Chocolate Champion’ because of its ultra-bumpy texture and curled up claw-like shape. I hope its unique form and earthy red colors capture and intrigue you, as it did me!
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Read more about this artist’s work: 21st Annual