Ellen Dittebrandt

Posted on February 8, 2011 by m

Ellen Dittebrandt

I have been drawing and painting since I was big enough to hold a pencil. My first pictures were sold when I was ten years old. Drawing has been my way to communicate what I see and feel.

I study a scene, imagining how to draw it effectively. How does one draw a moving wave to make it look real? How can I show the color and reflections on water?

The play of light is fascinating. Light dances across the land, reflecting and changing all the time; changing from light to dark, changing colors in shadows. There’s evening light with its golden colors and the pure light of morning. Water and snow each affect light in their own special ways.

I discovered pastels in high school, learning to use them by trial and error. I enjoy pastels because they are so much like oils. I studied art for two and a half years at Pacific Northwest College of Art. For the last five years, I’ve been painting a portrait of Oregon, and have traveled all over the state finding new places to record.

The immense variety in nature excites my artistic response. My work includes many examples of the way lights and shapes intertwine. A landscape provides endless opportunities for lifting shapes and colors in interesting detail. Each section of the drawing has its own life, but together they make a landscape.

Some of my favorite artists are Claude Monet, Maxfield Parrish, Frank Benson, N. C. Wyeth, Georges Noyes, John Singer Sargent and modern painter Michael Fergus. I admire the way these artists handle color and technique.