Would you like to make a creamy eggplant dip, no dairy involved, with tangy flavor and chopped vegetables? Read on.
Ingredients for main dip:
1 eggplant
2 cloves garlic, peeled
1 onion (optional)
1 lemon for its juice
1 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
Salt, pepper, cumin to taste
Fresh cilantro (you can use parsley, but it won’t be quite as flavorful)
Ingredients for salad mixins / toppings:
2 or 3 red radishes, chopped small
1 cucumber, chopped in cubes
1 tomato, chopped in cubes (optional)
2 Tbsp. chopped red onion (optional)
1 chopped scallion (optional)
Bake the eggplant in a casserole dish at 375 for about 1.5 hours or until soft. Scrape out the insides into food processor. Place all the ingredients for the main dip (garlic, onion, lemon juice, olive oil, spices, cilantro) into the food processor. Blend until smooth. Before serving, add chopped vegetables: radishes, cucumber, tomato, red onion, scallion. Serve at room temperature. Enjoy!
P.S. I just bought an Instant Pot. So far, I’ve used it to make flavored rice. Maybe my next watercolor will have some of the ingredients of my rice dish. Have you bought an Instant Pot? What do you make with it?
This watercolor sketch of a man in parka was painted while looking at a photo from 1985. Seems like another age – before digital photos. If you wonder why the background looks like ancient ruins, it was indeed somewhere in Israel. I do not know where in Israel.
When lousy things happen, either in the news or in one’s personal life, it is helpful to have expressive outlets. Some play music. Some write essays. I am pleased that I started painting again.
After months of not painting or posting, I am finally back to doing watercolor! Here is a watercolor painting of a girl wearing sunglasses. Does she look like a spy? The setting is Grounds for Sculpture in Hanilton Township, New Jersey, a wonderful place for an excursion.
I am happy to paint watercolors again. What subject(s) should I tackle next? I will play with ideas.
Note: I need to remember that I used software called VueScan to do this scan. When I did it straight with Photoshop or with Image Scan on the mac, both came out too bright and blurred details.
I hope you will continue to visit. Feel free to leave a comment on any creative endeavors you have been pursuing or enjoying.
Recently my theme has been landscape with water – this one is a playful watercolor with colors not necessarily seen in the “original” scene. I can see possibilities for doing the scene again in different ways. I would like to spend more time studying the architecture of the house, for example.
This watercolor with a figure by a lake displays an underlying drawing a more or less true to the original composition. Unlike the one above, the colors are more muted. I like the idea of doing this scene with oils or with gouache or with stronger watercolor choices. I love the photo that I took of the scene; however, I don’t want to post it because I would rather viewer see just my artwork rather than judging the artwork based on the photo.
This frenetic, busy, intense marker-drawn scene was inspired by a series of videos called Sketchbook Revival. One artist talked about selected certain colors and then just making marks as desired – somehow this fun scene came out of my marker pens as a result. Like the scene on top, this one also has a house by the water. All three have signs of human involvement – the top one has a house, a pathway, a fence and tiny figures on the path. The second has the figure by the lake. The last one has the least – just a scribble scrabble hint of a house.
Over to the readers: What do you like to draw? Has one subject recently inspired you? If you have not drawn or painted, would you like to get started?
Last December we stayed in the beautiful Jerusalem neighborhood called Emek Refaim. I took a photo of the this residence with a gate and stairs. Recently, I created this watercolor. In addition to being a study of a piece of a residential area, it is a study of greens. How many greens can one create in watercolor – you can take any other tube of color, even a red or a brown, add a bit to the green, and you have a new green, often a grayer green. Stairs (with shades of brown and tan) draw the viewer into the scene.
I started posting my artwork and some photos to Instagram – feel free to follow me on Instagram. I will continue to post my favorite artwork here on Sketching Out, because on a blog it feels more permanent (though what in life is really permanent). And there is more opportunity to discuss the artwork.
If you want a good watercolor book, I recommend David Bellamy’s Complete Guide to Watercolour Painting.
I painted this watercolor sketch of a girl praying with concentration in late December. There was a poster on the wall, and it inspired me to paint. The “concentration” refers to the concept of kavanah – כַּוָּנָה. At least to me, she does look like she is praying with intent, with feeling and emotion. Of course, we have no way of knowing for sure. But that is part of art – looking at a scene, and interpreting it in our own way.
I was pleased with the way all the white works in this watercolor sketch. I am trying to resist commenting on any piece of this watercolor sketch that I see as less than perfect.
Looking forward to doing more painting. Thank you for looking and for reading – and it is always a pleasure to get a kind comment or two.
When walking around the neighborhoods of Jerusalem, one can often see flowers in a pot outside of quaint older buildings. I enjoyed converting this scene of pots with plants on a wall into a watercolor sketch.
In depicting a scene with watercolor, the artist must ask: how much do I show? What are the colors I should choose? Do I work to extend the contrasts of lights to darks or do I keep the range to lighter tones?
Finally, I am getting back the main reason for this blog: posting sketches of my art. Above is a scene from a neighborhood of Jerusalem called Yemin Moshe – it overlooks the Old City. I purposely chose a limited palette for this watercolor. The composition and the drawing are about where I want them to be. I will probably return to this subject and depict it again. I left the areas white that I might in the future make into a very pale gold.
Yemin Moshe was built at time before cars. There are now places to park behind the houses, but one mostly walks up and down stairs to tour the neighborhood. We visited Yemin Moshe in 2016. It is quite picturesque (and pricey as well).
When I post these watercolors, I think of the first words of the famous Naomi Shemer song:
“The mountain air is clear as wine
And the scent of pines …”
Looking forward to doing more watercolors, landscapes or portraits. Have you ever painted or drawn? What are some of your favorite subjects to depict?
I started this sketch of Esther pointing out Haman to Ahashverosh of Persia way back in December. It is based on an old painting – if you want, you can look it up. I liked the idea of the boldness of Esther. Is she someone to emulate? Can we find evil and point it out? Even if it means risking out lives?
The story of Esther is told at the Jewish holiday of Purim, which usually falls in the early spring. So you would think December would be enough time to finish a sketch? Mind you, this isn’t a full-scale oil painting, although I think portraiture (especially three people) is much easier in the medium. Well, December rolled in January and February, when I went with my daughter to Israel. Then I got offered some great website work when I returned … I am still working quite a few hours a week for a school at Rutgers University. Fast forward … daughter went to camp, husband took son to college orientation in Maryland. I’m home alone … what do I pull out, but this painting! Started it again. The first time Haman turned out like a blob of black. I intended to give him a three-cornered hat instead of the Dutch feathered cap in the painting I used as a model. Maybe next time.
I will now spend a bit of time poking around for inspiration for a new watercolor sketch. Suggestions welcome.
Portrait of a Young Man, watercolor on paper by Leora Wenger 2015 January
More in my “young man watercolor portrait” series – I have to enjoy my sons while they are home! One son is “visiting” from college, and he is applying for internships, so who knows when he will get a yes and off he will go again. My other son is applying to college and programs in Israel, so he, too, won’t be living at home forever. When they sit at the dining room table looking at a laptop or a tablet, at least they don’t mind too much if I paint them.
Hope to post some bird pics next week. Coming up soon is Shabbat Shira. Maybe I will even write a new post on Why does one feed the birds for that parsha? (and of course, if one starts feeding them, one should continue, right?). I noted on that old post from 2010 how to attach the suction cups to the window; one came down yesterday, and I had no luck. Maybe I’ll bring it inside and follow the instructions (soak in hot water, dry, rub with them, then attach).
Meanwhile, would love to hear any reaction to my watercolor.
