Staying cool with sorbetes art
Sorbetes & buko juice save me every time I’m out for a bike ride. Buko juice usually comes first for me, as it is more available and healthier than the sweeter sorbetes, but either one is welcome especially during the summer heat.
Over the last few weeks of the summer I found myself having more sorbetes as usual. The colorful carts of the sorbeteros are hard to miss, and they are a popular choice for small events that take place over the summer.
Naturally, as with most things at the forefront of my mind, I decided to make cute digital art for it. I browsed both photos I had as well as photos online to help determine the colors and text I would use for the cart. The ice cream and cone itself were obviously the easiest and fastest to draw.
My favorite flavors are usually avocado, chocolate, ube, or buko, depending what is available. Once and a while a sorbetero will have cookies and creme, which I also get if that’s available. I also love them in sandwiches, or even donuts.
Like most things I draw I like to learn a bit about the subject, luckily I had a small book by historian Ambeth Ocampo who wrote a bit on the history of sorbetes aka “dirty ice cream.” In the book he briefly goes over the the history of ice usage and making in the Philippines. It turns out that Filipinos made homemade ice cream with carabao milk and other local ingredients. According to Ocampo flavors of the past included mantecado (vanilla and butter), ube, queso, pinipig, and nangka. The sorbeteros back then, around the early 1900s, didn’t have carts yet and carried the sorbetes in containers hanging from poles carried on their shoulders. Much like most taho vendors still do today.
If you know anyone who might like printable artwork of my sorbetes that they can hang or display at home, have them see my sorbetes art on Etsy!
Printable set: https://www.etsy.com/listing/1488849385/sorbetes-with-baybayin-printable
I also made a modern take on sorbetes for my Filipino street food printable wall art set. Check them out here.
