Dark Rooster - Final

© Ellen Blonder

I've added grass details to the middle ground and details to the background. I knew this painting would take a while, and I'm happy to finally be done. 

Dark Rooster - 9

© Ellen Blonder

I like the ferns, but now I realize the sky is too dull and I don't like the background tree trunks. It's time to paint them out. 

Dark Rooster - 8

© Ellen Blonder

The Hawaiian morning glory on in the left foreground wasn't working, so I'm going to try ferns instead. 

Dark Rooster - 7

© Ellen Blonder

I'm back on the mainland, eager to add details to the blue jade vine. It's a complicated plant, but more so in the drawing than the painting. 

Dark Rooster - 6

© Ellen Blonder

It's time to work on the background plants. I'm sorry I will also be returning to the mainland before I can finish this.

Dark Rooster - 5

© Ellen Blonder

What was I thinking? Croton leaves have intricate color patterns that feel impossible to capture, and it feels like it's taking forever to paint.

Dark Rooster - 4

© Ellen Blonder

The next thing I want to work on is the yellow croton in the foreground.

Dark Rooster - 3

© Ellen Blonder

I'm working on the rooster first to anchor the painting. It's just too messy overall otherwise to see what's happening.

Dark Rooster - 2

© Ellen Blonder

I needed to add rough color all around to get a better idea of where I'm headed. There's some beautiful croton growing here, and I want to use it in the foreground. I think I'll use some Hawaiian morning glory around the rooster's feet. It grows abundantly along the coast.

Dark Rooster - 1

© Ellen Blonder

I keep seeing this dark-headed rooster on my walks on the bike path here in Kauai. He's a handsome guy, with no visible white feathers, and his red comb has a dusting of black. 

I have also been wanting to include blue jade vine in a painting for some time. It's a rare plant, with beautiful turquoise green flowers that make exquisite leis. Although I'm not sure what else to put on this painting, here's the first color I've added to this 16 x 20-inch canvas board. 

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. 

Bull Terrier

© Ellen Blonder

A few years ago, I posted this sketch of a couple of bull terriers in someone's yard in Kauai. It has taken me all this time to finally do a small painting of one of them.

© Ellen Blonder

First I turned him around to face right, working on an 8 x 10-inch canvas panel in acrylics. I like it on the abstract ground, but never seem to be able to leave it at that.

© Ellen Blonder

So I put the dog in a Hawaiian setting.

© Ellen Blonder

And added foliage to give the dog some scale.

Art Imitates Art

Art © Ellen Blonder

Brush handmade by Isabella Kirkland

One of the most unusual gifts I have ever received is this hand-made brush made by the extraordinary artist Isabella Kirkland. The startling thing about it is that the hairs of the brush are taken from her cat Dandelion's shed fur. The brush is even named "Dandy #12" since it's the twelfth brush she has made in this series.

The hairs are aligned precisely and glued in place on the black bamboo handle; when the brush is dipped in liquid the brush comes together in a beautiful fine point. It feels much softer against paper than a sable brush but holds a surprising amount of paint. 

To finish off what was already an incredible amount of meticulous work, Isabella hand-lettered the name on the side of the brush and topped it off with a perfectly sized carnelian from a local beach.

I tried it out in my watercolor sketchbook on a sketch of olives; then I painted the brush itself. It felt like making art imitate art. 

Thank you, Izzy. I will treasure this always.

Monoprints

 ©Ellen Blonder

And now for something entirely different...

Often it feels necessary to loosen up, and I thought a monoprint workshop would help. The teacher was the delightful Cindy Miracle (check out her website here), whose own work provided beautiful inspiration, and whose depth of knowledge and gentle manner made the day fly by.

Each print is 8 x 10 inches, inked in water-soluble inks on plexiglass plates. 

 ©Ellen Blonder

In addition to the inks, we used alcohol sprays, stencils and scratching tools.

 ©Ellen Blonder

Something I found irresistible was adding layers of papers, glued between the printing paper and ink, in a technique called chine colle.

 ©Ellen Blonder

Years ago, I became interested in scribbly textures, and the plates provide a great medium for that.

 ©Ellen Blonder

Some of these feel unfinished, so I hope to either return to the workshop to print additional layers or sketch over the print.