Cooking through illustration

Cooking through Illustration is a practice-led research project that aims to develop hands-on, multisensorial learning experiences based on analogies between cooking and illustration. The project is about transferring the use of cooking processes and tools to mark-making, illustration, and printmaking. This is done by mirroring the physical movement involved in cooking in drawing activities. During the project's development, I explored similarities and analogies between the terminology of "cooking" and "making" to inspire new ways of drawing. This thesis is based on the work of Gianni Rodari, a journalist, writer, and school teacher who developed the concept of the Fantastic Binomial in which you use word association but with two words that are not related to each other. Coupling these two distant words with prepositions can help create your story. I used the Fantastic Binomial to develop this thesis's theme, based on the words "food" and "ink." Afterward, I made the sentence "The ink in the food" and from there, the following fantastic situation formed and guided the thesis: "Seeing how the ink in the food made the dish taste incredibly delicious, the woman decided to give cooking classes for Illustrators, Cooking through Illustration was the course's name." The thesis aspects of food and cooking originate in my background, in an interest in food coupled with inhibitions to get involved in cooking. It builds on a previous project of mine: "Pan Makea," a ceramic illustrated recipe of sweet bread, which I made in collaboration with Chef Julia Sánchez Renero. She was the recipe creator, and I was the maker. This practice and process-led thesis aims to make people more comfortable with cooking, making, and drawing by encouraging them to get involved. Through "Cooking through Illustration," I did not aim for prescriptive, fixed outcomes. Instead, my focus is on multisensory engagement, making, and process-led decision-making. This is mirrored in my development process involving the making of tools, cooking, drawing, and even the bleeding caused by a minor accident during the production of the wooden tools. In a rapidly changing technological and virtual world, this thesis wants to slow down and make space so we don't forget that handmaking is vital for society. During the production of the wooden tools, a demo workshop was conducted where it was possible to co-design with the children and find out that some tools need tuning, and some dishes could be chosen to represent. The thesis project generated three main outcomes: a)"Cooking through drawing" workshop formats for children and adults. b) A set of wooden tools for my use and future workshop use. c) Documented illustrations and recipes. Based on the thesis findings, I will develop more cooking recipes, animation videos, and a zine with the recipes, both food-based and drawing-based, so that the participants can take home after the workshop is completed