Shell Ginger

© Ellen Blonder

Shell ginger is one of my favorite flowers in Hawaii. I rescued this one from the gardener's trash pile. 

Red Heliconia

© Ellen Blonder

Another heliconia from the same sunshine market bouquet in Kauai. 

Orange Heliconia

© Ellen Blonder

My first watercolor sketch in Kauai this year is of an orange heliconia from a sunshine market bouquet. 

Dahlia with Curled Petals - Final

© Ellen Blonder

It probably took as long to layer on the darkest shades as it did to get to the progress shown in my last post. Now I can't wait for real dahlia season.

Dahlia with Curled Petals - Progress

© Ellen Blonder

After taking a break from a series of watercolor dahlia paintings, I realized there were more I had photographed and meant to paint ever since. This one has petals that curl in all directions.

© Ellen Blonder

No matter how dark I think my first shades of pink are, I always seem to go over them again and again as the flower takes shape.

© Ellen Blonder

Getting close.

Red Dahlia

© Ellen Blonder

I've been painting mostly pastel-tinted dahlias, but they come in bright red, too. Here's another flower from the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden. I'm painting it the week before Christmas, so it looks like a summer flower dressed in winter colors.

White Dahlia

 © Ellen Blonder

© Ellen Blonder

When I think of dahlias, I usually visualize bright colors. I thought it would be an interesting exercise to paint one that was all white, where I couldn't rely on color gradations to define the layers of petals. My reference was another flower from the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden. 

Another Pink Dahlia

 © Ellen Blonder

 © Ellen Blonder

© Ellen Blonder

Here's another dahlia from the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden. The variations are endless. I liked the way the petals curved in all directions in this one. Like the other dahlia paintings, this is a watercolor, built up darker and darker over a week's time, catch as catch can.

Frilly Dahlia

 © Ellen Blonder

This dahlia was so complicated I hesitated to try to capture it. I had photographed it at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Garden last summer, and loved its frilly petals.

 © Ellen Blonder

I always seem to start too light, but going straight to darker tones feels wrong.

© Ellen Blonder

Here it is finished, after several days' work. I decided it was complex enough without adding leaves.

Pink and White Dahlia

 © Ellen Blonder

 © Ellen Blonder

© Ellen Blonder

The last few days, I've been working on this watercolor of a pink and white dahlia that I saw last year at the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens at Fort Bragg, California. It was the height of the season for dahlias, so I took many photographs and hope to paint more.

Blasts from the Past - 2

These were under piles of other old artwork. I painted them on illustration board, using gouache and watercolor, and adding some final details with colored pencil. They illustrated an article on controlling pests in the garden in a 1983 issue of Home magazine.

Blasts from the Past - 1

 © Ellen Blonder

 © Ellen Blonder

Poor, neglected blog. I have been busy, though, spending over a month to finally dig through, purge and organize many years' worth of old art files. Sometimes you have to clear out what's behind you to see your way forward. 

One of the fun parts of all that was finding things I had forgotten I painted. These three spots were part of a presentation I made in 1994, for a line of stationery and other paper products. While I got the job, none of these spots were used. 

Pink and Yellow Dahlia - Start to Finish

 © Ellen Blonder

Last year, I photographed dahlias at the botanical garden in Fort Bragg, California. It has taken me this long to finally paint from those. 

  © Ellen Blonder

This flower seemed to glow from within, with delicate pinks layered over pale yellow on the inner parts of the petals.

 © Ellen Blonder

I've been working on this water color off and on over this last week. Time to stop fussing and getting to some of those other reference photos of these wildly varied flowers.

Mauve Dahlia - Final

© Ellen Blonder

Since the last post, I've been adding more blacks mixed with the pink-mauve. I was planning to add a leaf or two, but decided I like this the way it is. Done.

Mauve Dahlia - 2

© Ellen Blonder

It always feels like the first layer of basic color will be dark enough, but it never is once I start adding shadows. I'm slowly layering in darker shades.

Mauve Dahlia - 1

© Ellen Blonder

Back from a drive into Oregon, where I saw this lovely dahlia. I'm starting a watercolor of it, and this is the first two days' progress.

© Ellen Blonder

Tulip Studies

I found a great bunch of tulips at the market last week. I may work them into an acrylic painting, but for now, I've photographed them, then painted some quick watercolor studies in my sketchbook. 

Song Sparrow

I think this is a song sparrow. I spotted it at Sea Ranch, California, in May, perched on a yellow lupine. It posed for me while I fiddled with my new telephoto camera lens, and I was happy with the resulting reference photo. 

© Ellen Blonder

First nectarine from yesterday's farmers' market. I bought this one for its leaves. This is a watercolor in my sketchbook.

Lupine - 3 Final

It's starting to feel overworked, so I'm going to stop now.