Tulips-Reaching into the Archives

© Ellen Blonder

Reaching back into my old art, I've used Photoshop to change the color story and touch things up. I had never been quite happy with the original gouache color combination, but pre-Photoshop changes would have meant either completely repainting it or overpainting existing color. A further complication is that colors never dry the shade that they are wet. I still like the hand-painted texture of the original, though. Dead flat colors wouldn't look the same.

Below is the design when worked into a repeat pattern. The design, intended for fabric or gift wrap, was never used, by the way.

© Ellen Blonder

Tulips from Years Ago

© Ellen Blonder

Sometimes it's nice to go back and trace where one's been in order to figure out where one's going. I've been interested in flower paintings for a long time; this was done in 1992. I painted this in gouache on bristol board; it's small, about 8 x 3 1/2 inches. It was meant for a line of enamelware teakettles and other kitchen accessories, but never got produced.

Stylized

© Ellen Blonder

This is a 4 x 6-inch gouche painting, part of a series I did when I was fascinated by Jacobean prints. It was intended for a note card, so I didn't have to work out an actual repeat pattern, but just give the impression that this might have been a section of a larger design. The series was never printed.