Ellen Haiken: New Work

ERNESTO THE GREAT

2009-08-02T14:41:00.000-07:00

It's rare for me to get a chance to draw a great male model. Ernesto looks like he stepped out of a Tintoretto painting.
Two very different drawings:

Rainier Cherries

2009-07-11T14:23:00.000-07:00

Here is a small - 8" x 10" oil I did of some cherries. I find it quite hard to be confined by the small sized canvas.

Before I can properly paint the three dimensionality of the stems, I need time for the slow drying reds to harden enough for them to be painted on.

All of the work here is for sale- unless already sold, of course.

2009-07-08T18:51:00.000-07:00

If anyone is interested in buying any of the works shown on this blog, please e-mail me at elhaiken@gmail.com.
Or call me at 978- 697-8788.

I also do portraits and other custom work on commission.

And- thank you for taking the time to look at my stuff.

Ellen

RIPENING PEARS-- finished

2009-07-08T18:49:00.000-07:00

done!

JUST ABOUT FINISHED!

2009-06-26T13:35:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I worked mostly on the lower right quadrent. I'

2009-06-24T06:20:00.000-07:00

A FEW QUICK SKETCHES I've been going to the MFA- Museum of Fine Arts, in Boston- on Wednesdays for Drawing in the Galleries, an open modeling session

2009-06-17T05:17:00.000-07:00

Most of these are 5 to 15 minute poses.

TWO PORTRAITS OF NICK AND SOME ROOTS

2009-04-28T05:28:00.000-07:00

Nick is a really sweet model who has a very hard, military drill sargent-type look. The challenge is to make the person show through...

18"x24" oil pencil on gray tinted paper
9"x12" oil pencil and acrylic gesso on canvas

Roots 16"x18" oil pastel and graphite on gray tinted paper

AN ORGY OF PARSNIPS

2009-04-27T05:45:00.000-07:00

I was waiting for my daughter to get out of (minor) surgery at BI in Union Square while the Greenmarket was in progress. Saw these gargantuan amazing parsnips. I was compelled to find Utrecht and get some paper- already had pencils,etc.

Didn't have enough time to do more, since I had to keep one eye on the clock for Sarah to get out of recovery.

approx. 18x24, oil pencil on heavy paper

DRAWINGS

2009-03-16T10:02:00.000-07:00

Here are a few of my favorite drawings...most are very quick sketches, from a few minutes to fifteen or twenty minutes.

except: the very large drawing- 24"x36" of Valerie, drawn with sanguine oil pencil on cotton rag paper,

Portrait- pencil and inktense.

MORE STILL LIFES

2009-03-16T09:47:00.000-07:00

GREEN APPLES

RED APPLES are each 18"x36", oil on canvas.

POMELOS (GREEN #2) is 36"x48", oil on canvas

2009-03-16T09:33:00.000-07:00

WHITE SERIES

I've been exploring white lately. All are oil on canvas, from 24x30, 30x30, 24x36, except for one, which is oil on panel.

COOL DRAWING

2008-08-31T16:07:00.000-07:00

Challenge: Draw the object at an open studio, Museum of Fine Arts, Ancient Near Eastern Gallery.

I saw these weights in the shape of a duck......and they meshed perfectly with my intent to leave a lot of white space and non-traditional siting on the page.

Actually turned out the way I planned. I like it, anyway.

18"X24", lousy paper, Pitt soft black oil pencil, about an hour.

Duo#2-Forelle and Black Mission Fig

2008-08-30T15:10:00.000-07:00

MORE DUOS

2008-08-30T15:06:00.000-07:00

The challenge is to create six paintings of two objects, taking one out each time and substituting the oldest.
All 10"x 12", oil on canvas

Duo #1 Forelle Pears

DUOS

2008-08-30T15:02:00.000-07:00

9"x 12", oil on canvas

A FEW QUICK SKETCHES

2008-08-30T14:42:00.001-07:00

Great model- Natasha. Pre-Raphealite to 1940's at the drop of a hat.
These are 5- 10 min. poses.

TWO SUBJECT OILS PAINTINGS

2008-08-18T18:01:00.000-07:00

I'm doing a series of smaller oil paintings, two subjects a piece...one challenge is to substitute one object for another until you have four paintings, all related. The Forelle Pears is my first..for the next I took away one pear and added a fresh mission fig. Which I'll post soon.

1. Bleu d'Auvergne
2. Forelle Pears

Oil on canvas, 8"x10

Matt

2008-08-18T17:58:00.000-07:00

Drawing, graphite, 11x14

CANTALOUPE

2008-08-09T08:03:00.000-07:00

I've been painting bread lately, so I thought I'd try to draw another difficult subject. This was done for a scavenger hunt where I had to draw something with seeds.

MORE DRAWINGS

2008-08-09T07:54:00.000-07:00

I've been working on three paintings...not ready to show yet. Here are a couple of drawings done at the MFA (Museum of Fine Arts in Boston) last Wednesday. The model- Ishmael- was really exciting to draw.

RED COMPOSITION#1

2008-07-22T08:34:00.000-07:00

Here's my latest painting, almost finished..I need to paint in the roots and always a few things I keep noticing.
I wanted to play the purple reds off the cadmium reds and madders. This has been the most frustrating painting to date..I've had to replace the beets and radishes almost every day because they wilt in about 5 minutes and change color immediately as soon as they dry off. And if I keep them in water, they smell. I always figured vegetables make cheap models, but for what I spent on these, I could have hired a figure model....

The colors did not photograph true..the painting has much richer, deeper reds with the radishes' blueish rose madder showing up quite well in contrast. Here, the radishes don't stand out.

2008-07-21T08:02:00.000-07:00

DRAWINGS

LOTS OF NEW STUFF

2008-07-21T06:22:00.000-07:00

I'm afraid I've neglected the blog...between painting most days and the breakdown of my computer in which I lost everything, this hasn't been attended to as I would like.
I've had to find and reload all of my programs, and re- photograph all of my work. (Not yet completed, if ever.)
So, here is some of what I've been doing lately:
Here are a couple of drawings of Packham pears..one with a Magic pencil, one with regular 4B graphite. I was inspired by the fabulous Antonio Lopez Garcia exhibit at the MFA.
approx. 8"x10''

Here is my latest finished oil painting...boy, painting that bread took some doing. The knife my daughter brought back from Israel, and the antique breadboard I got in England years ago.

BREAD AND CIRCUS
Oil on canvas
18"x24

MORE NEW WORK

2008-04-10T10:06:00.000-07:00

Sorry- the first time it didn't upload.

Becky #2
18"x24"
graphite on paper

NEW STUFF

2008-04-10T09:35:00.000-07:00

SELF PORTRAIT

Oil on canvas, 12"x16"

BECKY #2

I was able to do another drawing of the fabulous Becky.
18"x24"
graphite on paper

WORK IN PROGRESS

I've been working on this far too long...beets are nasty, foul things. Seemed like a good idea at the time when I saw them in the market, but they fade color and the leaves die within a few minutes, and spraying with water doesn't help for more than a second or two. I'm running to the store to buy more beets and radishes constantly. At least I can eat the radishes.

Becky

2008-03-23T07:26:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I had the utter pleasure of drawing a model in one pose for two hours. Sheer bliss!
I've never had the chance before to do an unhurried drawing,,,usually the poses are no longer than twenty minutes.

18"x24"
Graphite on paper

Turquoise Earplug

2008-03-07T17:36:00.000-08:00

Here's a quick portrait sketch of Masha, who has knee length dreads and large turquoise plugs in her ears. Small ones in her nose, but I was too far away from her to see them well. The image is fuzzy because I couldn't keep the camera still..

Oil on canvas, approx. 10"x12"

another scavenger hunt drawing

2008-02-16T09:14:00.000-08:00

oil pastel on paper 8x10

More Paintings

2008-02-15T18:34:00.000-08:00

I tried to edit and I seem to have lost a couple, so I'll try again. Forgive me if things double post.

2008-02-15T17:05:00.001-08:00

More Scavenger Hunt Drawings

2008-02-15T13:54:00.000-08:00

2008-02-15T13:19:00.001-08:00

SCAVENGER HUNT DRAWINGS

2008-01-04T14:23:00.000-08:00

I've been participating in an on-line 'scavenger hunt' where we're given 26 items to sketch in 9 days, and subject challenges where one draws the same thing for a month. Here are a few of my favorites:

MORE SMALL STUFF

2008-01-04T14:11:00.000-08:00

I've been trying to do a small ( 5x7" ) painting a day, working on trying to see the world as a painter rather than a sculptor. Also working on trying to push these things out faster. Not sure its working on either front. Here are a few:

SMALL PAINTINGS

2007-12-17T09:32:00.000-08:00

SMALL PAINTINGS:

I'm doing a series of small studies in oils approximately 5"x7" in size..trying to increase my fluency in the medium. Here are the first few:

To Purchase Works or Contact the Artist

2007-12-10T08:11:00.000-08:00

Ellen Haiken may be contacted via phone: 978 697 8788
or E-mail at: elhaiken@gmail.com

NEW PAINTING: Composition in Red, Purple, and Yellow

2007-12-10T08:02:00.000-08:00

This is my latest in the Still Life series..Three Eggplants

The eggplants are reflected in a golden surface.

Size: 20"x24"
Material: Canvas
Medium: Oil Paint

Makeda

2007-12-10T07:55:00.000-08:00

Another work on paper: a fellow artist at an open drawing session at the MFA.

Size: 11" x 14"
Material: Paper
Medium: Graphite

Moxie

2007-11-26T16:26:00.000-08:00

Just a quick sketch of the Mox..

RED FRUIT

2007-11-19T10:24:00.000-08:00

LATEST PAINTING
MEDUIM: OIL PAINT
SURFACE: CANVAS
SIZE: 20"X24"

Drawings

2007-11-08T08:09:00.000-08:00

A couple of portraits I did last night. The model Emmanuel has a dark and hypnotic quality..the other is a quick sketch of another artist.

Oyster Bowl

2007-11-07T10:14:00.000-08:00

This is the last piece I did before the wrist injury. Also the last of the applewood. All the pieces are balanced together before being fixed with a rod.

Size: 20"

Material: Apple burl wood

Sea stone bowl

2007-11-07T09:57:00.000-08:00

Smooth stones, created by the ocean, can be stacked in interesting ways with only one small point of balance.

Material: Apple burl wood

Size: 16"

Seagull Bowl

2007-11-06T19:32:00.000-08:00

This is number 2 in the Apple series. Carved from apple burl wood, these are variations on the theme of a footed bowl. You will see the foot- or base- become increasingly important.

This has been fixed on a natural balancing point.

Size: 12" x 20"
material: apple burl
2007

Vegetables, measuring cup and spoons

2007-11-06T18:04:00.000-08:00

Two Pears

2007-11-01T18:07:00.000-07:00

I find pears to be very sensual..like a woman's body. I was struck by the anthropomorphic relationship between the two.

Medium: Oil paint

Size: approx. 16"x 22"

Surface: Paper

From Life

2007-11-01T16:30:00.000-07:00

My newest painting: FOUR TOMATOES

Medium: Oil paint

Size: 18"x22"

Surface: Paper

From Life

This should be slightly disturbing: it plays somewhat with reality.

- Ellen Haiken

2007-11-01T16:29:00.001-07:00