Charlie Painting-Day 10

© Ellen Blonder

The plant at the far right wasn't working, so I painted it out last night. I'm going to replace it with a dark coleus that should recede behind the brighter ones in front of it. Grr--two steps forward, one backward.

Charlie Painting-Day 9

© Ellen Blonder

Working out details on the leaves in between time working in my real garden. Hm, both create order out of disorder.

Charlie Painting-Day 8

© Ellen Blonder

Detail of coleus plant, half finished in the foreground.

Charlie Painting-Day 7

© Ellen Blonder

Still underpainting foliage today.

Charlie Painting-Day 6

© Ellen Blonder

The first layers of paint for the foliage always look a bit raw.

Charlie Painting-Day 5 Detail

© Ellen Blonder

Here's a slight close-up showing the grass around Charlie.

Charlie Painting-Day 4

© Ellen Blonder

Charlie looks happier now that he's in cool garden shade. For now, I plan to paint coleus plants in front and bamboo on the upper left. And he'll be on grass; the brown is just what will peek out between the blades.

One

© Ellen Blonder

One year of posts today. I pulled this letterforms from three of them. Hope you've enjoyed the ride.

Charlie Painting-Day 3

© Ellen Blonder

Charlie's all roughed in. I like his shape so much I'm not sure what to do with background.

Charlie Painting-Day 2

© Ellen Blonder

Here's my reference photo next to my first day's work on Charlie's face.

Charlie Painting-Day 1

© Ellen Blonder

Time to start painting Charlie. I'm not sure what I'll put all around him, but I like him in this position on the 18 x 18-inch board. He has a strong black shape. I'm tempted to keep the background simple rather than filling it in with Hawaiian foliage, but we'll see. I loved sketching on the untreated board, like drawing on brown paper.

Georgia-Ink Sketch

© Ellen Blonder

Playing a little more with the etching idea after the Rembrandt-Lucian Freud exhibit at Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario, I used disposable pen to ink over a five-minute pencil sketch I had made last fall of Georgia from my drawing group.

Charlie-Study 4

© Ellen Blonder

While talking on the phone today, I idly sketched Charlie with a fine-tipped disposable pen. I've just returned from a trip to Toronto where the Art Gallery of Ontario had a show comparing etchings of Rembrandt and Lucian Freud. Made me wonder how Charlie might come off as an etching.

Charlie-Study 3

© Ellen Blonder

Charlie is one happy dog. I like this pose best so far because I'll be able to add things all around him easily and because he's looking right at you.

Charlie-Study 2

© Ellen Blonder

I didn't mean for months to go by without posting new art. Here's another pencil sketch of Charlie, I want to get a better feel for his face, shape and fur before I start in on an acrylic painting of him within a Hawaiian setting. He's all black, which makes drawing him both fun and challenging.

Dim Sum Cooking Demo

© Ellen Blonder

I haven't been posting because I've been prepping for a dim sum cooking demo I'm giving tomorrow at the City College of San Francisco, and signing books. Here's some of the art from the book, Dim Sum: The Art of Chinese Tea Lunch. I'm making two of the recipes in the picture, the potstickers and greens, and will also show ha gow (shrimp dumplings), siu mai, and lotus-wrapped rice. We'll finish off the afternoon with almond cookies. See you there?