What I Did on My Summer Vacation-Day 2

© Ellen Blonder

On a driving trip north, my husband and I stopped in on my old boss, who lives in rural northern California, almost to the Oregon border. The sketch shows a working outhouse between the apple trees, but the toilet in front of it is just for decoration. It'll be planted with flowers.

© Ellen Blonder

We continued on to lunch at Culture Works in Ashland, Oregon. The veggie panini served on a crusty ciabatta roll burst with garden freshness. Attention to organic ingredients showed in this vegetarian restaurant/performance space. I wish we could have stayed for dinner.

Life Drawing This Week

© Ellen Blonder

My daughter Lisa was home for a few days, and we spent one morning at a drawing session. The model completed 61 poses in a three-hour period, with most poses lasting one to four minutes. Here are a couple of four-minute poses. See Lisa's on her blog.

Parrot-Final

© Ellen Blonder

Finished.

Parrot-Day 6

© Ellen Blonder

The foliage needed to be brightened, so most of it has been overpainted. The shell ginger flowers still need work.

Parrot-Days 4 and 5

© Ellen Blonder

I've been working on the feathers before I finish out the foliage.

Parrot-Day 3

© Ellen Blonder

Adding detail to foliage catch as catch can lately.

Parrot-Day 2

© Ellen Blonder

Just laid in washes today so I could see how the parrot will look against all that green.

Parrot-Day 1

© Ellen Blonder

This doesn't show up very well, but I'm sketching a parrot on a 12 x 24-inch canvas board. The parrot was photographed by a friend on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco. I'm taking it out of its urban setting in favor of tropical shell ginger.

Life Drawing

© Ellen Blonder

© Ellen Blonder

The drawing at the top is a ten-minute sketch that I did months ago; the one at the bottom is a five-minute sketch of a different model from two weeks ago. I just discovered a drawing group nearby, where no pose lasts longer than seven minutes and most are one to five minutes. It feels like an all-out sprint to draw that fast, and a session is three hours long. It's a workout--and I feel out of shape.

Another Rooster-Final

© Ellen Blonder

Done!

Foodie Break

Cooked for a party last night: triangles of smoky tempeh with nectarines and basil before I added a dab of chipotle dressing; grilled veggies (summer squash, radicchio, eggplant, red peppers and zucchini; non-dairy cashew "cheese" on broken rosemary crackers with sundried tomatoes and chives; and peach-blueberry galette. Fun to apply abstract shape and play with colors of different food.

Another Rooster-Day 10

© Ellen Blonder
Working on grasses in the foreground; they'll need work to bring out highlights and shadows. I also added some red-leaved plants to break up all that green.

Another Rooster-Days 8 and 9

© Ellen Blonder

I've been painting catch-as-catch-can lately, slowly filling in the upper left area. One of my reference photos shows a tree trunk blotchy with lichen and criscrossed with wiry vines, and figuring out how to paint the texture was a fun challenge. I still need to add details to the hanging leaves and the left foreground.

Another Rooster-Day 7 Detail

© Ellen Blonder

Over the holiday weekend I finished the rooster's feathers after painting in some background behind his tail.

Another Rooster-Day 6 Detail

© Ellen Blonder

The spider lily is such a complicated flower, even though I've simplified and stylized it somewhat. I think I can finally move on to another part of the painting.

Another Rooster-Day 5

© Ellen Blonder

Slow progress on the feathers, especially on the neck. A little more detail on the spider lily in the front right corner.