I used to have an art teacher who took a photo of some grapes and then painted the exact same photo at least 10 times to demonstrate different underpainting techniques. Which was actually a pretty awesome thing for him to do to help his students learn
I still do the same thing, except instead of grapes, I use dinosaurs. It's even better when you aren't being instructed, as you can try out different things and see what does what. I know I'll never paint my perfect Carnotaurus, it's the pursuit of it.
Ok but still lives usually had a carefully crafted hidden meaning in them. Today a picture of a lemon is either for aesthetics, to illustrate a food recipe or to make a "when life gives you lemon" joke. Back then it was more like a celebration of the difficult moments in life. Partly peeled, it was because life is always evolving, fleeting, no one lasts, you're all gonna die :), totally peeled it was the representation of souls. Not the same vibe. Of course one can't deny the technicity and aesthetics of it (once again with the lemon, a partly peeled one has so many different textures it was a bit of a challenge). Of course it wasn't only with lemons, don't get me started on wine, lobsters, parrakeets and flowers.
HOW DARE YOU INSULT ALEJANDRO AND THE CUSTOM FISH TACOS CREATED FOR MY TASTE THAT MY GF TOOK A PICTURE OF.
Jk... I don't have a GF and some dude named Chester made my fish tacos.
Maybe if you ask Chester about all the type of fish and all the other ingredients he put in your taco you can come up with a very pompeous explanation, using symbolism to show how each ingredient represents something (from philosophy, the world or your personal life). You can compare the form of the taco to a representation of the ladyparts of the girlfriend you don't have, and link it to how modern society has lost the true meaning of love and projects it on food and overconsumption.
Then your taco will probably belong to an art exhibit. You still won't have a girlfriend or an Alejandro, but the honor of your fish taco will be safe.
Jk... I don't have a GF and some dude named Chester made my fish tacos.
Then your taco will probably belong to an art exhibit. You still won't have a girlfriend or an Alejandro, but the honor of your fish taco will be safe.