The Wordsmith's Forge

These are the notes for "Mudra Fruit."


Buddha's hand is a type of citrus that can be used in many ways. It is large, yellow, and has "fingers" that may be open or closed. It smells like lemon and flowers. It has no pulp, only rind and pith, but it's not bitter like most citrus rind. Candied Buddha's hand is like lemon-and-flower-flavored gummy bears. And they're in season right now, very briefly, so if you see one, grab it!

Homemade bread like this Big Batch Honey Oat Bread needs to rise, get punched down, and then rise again before baking.

See a map of the India-China area where Buddha's hand probably originated.

Mudras are tiny yoga poses for your hands. The best book on them is Mudras: Yoga in Your Hands by Gertrud Hirschi.

Kolkata is the capital of West Bengal, India. It lies on the eastern bank of the Hooghly River, not far from the border with Bangladesh. It is the primary financial and commercial center of eastern and northeastern India.

Buddha’s Hand (Fingered Citron):
A strange fruit, Buddha’s hand looks like a lumpy lemon with elongated, yellowish tentacles (that resemble gnarled human fingers) protruding from the base; hence, its name—Buddha’s hand. Buddha’s hand has a mild yet zesty flavor and is a wonderful aroma—it is known to fill rooms with its fresh floral perfume.

Kunming is the capital of Yunnan province in China. It is the political, economic, communications and cultural center of the province. This is another place to find Buddha's hand.

Red-and-Green Holiday Salad

Still life is a major branch of art with a deep history. Because of its dramatic shape, Buddha's hand makes a magnificent addition to a still life with oranges, bananas, or other fruit. It works equally well for art or photography. Understand how to choose subjects for, compose, and observe the parts of a still life.

While researching references for this article, I stumbled across the best set of lessons I have seen for foundational drawing skills. Once you have the basics down, you can move on to more advanced techniques with confidence. Pay special attention to the mass-practice exercises which explain how to learn from that type of exercise. And just to make it extra-special, the website has an audio feature that will read the text to you, for free. So if you want to, you could do this by touch and draw with a line-n-dot pen.

This is exactly the kind of thing that Steve would adore, because he could do this kind of practice on a grocery bag with a burnt stick. Hence playing around with a still life, and then realizing that he wanted to explore the Buddha's hand in more detail by drawing many small studies of different shapes and orientations. It's a quirk that some artists have, liking to practice very basic things.

Lesson 0: Getting Started

Lesson 1: Lines, Ellipses and Boxes

Lesson 2: Contour Lines, Texture and Construction

Texture and Detail

Construction

250 Box Challenge

250 Cylinder Challenge

25 Texture Challenge

25 Wheel Challenge

100 Treasure Chest Challenge

Lesson 3: Applying Construction to Plants

Lesson 4: Applying Construction to Insects and Arachnids

Lesson 5: Applying Construction to Animals

Lesson 6: Applying Construction to Everyday Objects

Lesson 7: Applying Construction to Vehicles

Buddha's Hand Satori Shortbread Cookies

Candied Buddha's Hand

Infused Vodka

Buddha's hand cocktails can be made in various ways. Here are a few samples.

Buddha’s Hand and Thai Basil Cocktail

How to Make The Buddha's Hand Cocktail (with orange bitters)

Buddha’s Hand Cocktail (based on syrup)

The Buddha’s Hand Cocktail (with guava)