This One's for Bay Area Donut Lovers

San Francisco-artist April V. Walters loves donuts. So much so that she's spent the last two years creating watercolor illustrations of puffy fried pastries. She's become known for her Donuts of the Bay Area Calendar, which is now in its second year, featuring 12 of her favorites from the Bay Area.

I reached out to April to find out more about her deep-fried dough obsession.

What do you love about donuts so much? When did your obsession begin?  

I've always enjoyed donuts, but I didn't really pay close attention to them until 2013. Strangely enough, my love for donuts began when I decided to change what I did for a living. Early last year I swore off having another desk job, so I took any workshop that interested me, including a watercolor basics class. Shortly after, I visited Lake Tahoe and a guy walked by me with an all-white snowboard. The first thing that popped into my head was, "That would look rad with three donuts on the bottom." When I got home I watercolored my first donut from a magazine picture. It turned out nicely so I marched down to my then-local donut shop (shout-out to Happy Donuts in Noe Valley) and bought a simple white cake donut with sprinkles. I painted it, posted it on Instagram, and my friends freaked out. That was the first time anyone told me that they wanted to give me money for something I painted.

It sounds weird, but the donut is basically my mascot and spirit pastry. It helped get me from being miserable at a desk job to full-time art and illustration.

I love painting donuts but I especially love painting them in donut shops because you really get a sense for a place and the people who are there all day. Also people tend to leave you alone or admire what you're doing from afar – no one says to you, "Wow, that is terrible!" like I do to myself so it balances things out. I know what I'm doing is a bit odd, but I have fun and other people enjoy my work.

Who makes your favorite donuts in the Bay Area? What about your favorite of all time (from anywhere in the world)?

I really cannot narrow it down to one place. A fresh-off-the-hopper donut from Bob's is magic. But then the whipped cream cheese brioche from Mr. Holmes is also perfect in its own right. The most genius thing I saw this year was custard-filled donut hole. That is exactly as much custard donut as I can handle.

My favorite donuts to date are from Blue Star Donuts in Portland. Somewhat prophetically, that first donut I painted from a magazine was a blueberry glaze from Blue Star. I'm always amazed at how many donuts are out there, so I'm hopeful that my favorite new donut joint is out there waiting for me and my portable watercolor set-up.

Yeast or cake donut? 

Yeast, all the way. Or more specifically, brioche.

I noticed that you give an option on Etsy to commission a donut illustration. Have you ever gotten a weird/funny request for this option?

Most of the commissions I've done are for very sweet, very thoughtful people who wanted a gift for their donut-loving friend or family member. From my experience, people tend to be pretty genuine about their love for donuts and un-ironic. I will say – there is at least one baby in the world with donut art hanging in his nursery. I also got commissioned to do a fried chicken drumstick. I loved that.

Besides donuts, what other obsessions do you have, and will we see illustrations/calendars of them from you in the future?

I still have a ton of donut ideas I'd like to see in the world, so there will be more of that first – specifically coasters, a t-shirt, and some sort of fabric for clothing. As for calendars, I seriously considered doing a Fried Chicken Sandwiches of the Bay Area calendar.

Honestly, the thing that I'm the most obsessive about is painting, drawing, sketching, doodling, and trying to make things after I have an idea. There is a lot more food-themed editorial work in my future, but I'm still in the midst of trying to translate non-food things like graphic patterns and lettering into actual work.

My ultimate dream is to retire to Palm Springs and create an illustrated pork chop repeat pattern on fabric which I'll then turn it into a caftan. I am thrilled by the idea of designing a line of fabrics and turning them into lounge wear, trapeze dresses, and muumuus. The more absurd the imagery, the better. My ambitions run deeper than calendars, though I would not rule out a Caftans of Palm Springs calendar in my golden years.

Buy your own 2015 Donut Calendar, or commission a donut painting by April via her Donut Galleria Etsy shop.

All images by Amy V. Walters