Day 52

Day 52 "African Violets"

 

A few weeks back I found a little pot of African Violets in the sale aisle ... 

I absolutely love these adorable flowers and purchased them to add 

a little cheer to my kitchen garden window.   They are now in full

bloom and so pretty I decided to use them for my fifty-second sketch.

Happy day to all!

Karen Anne

Day 51

Day 51 "The Tortoise"

Days 49 and 50

Day 49 "A Mannequin Of Many Moves"

 

Day 50 "The Little Dancer"

Day 48

For day 48, I decided to try out some unfamiliar zentangle patterns ....

Day 47

Day 47 "A Monarch Butterfly"

After I posted this ink sketch, I thought it would be fun to experiment a bit in Photoshop and add some color to the flower and the border, then reduce it down to ACEO size (2.5" x 3.5" from its original size of about 5" x 7").  I chose a pale yellow for the flower and a darker hue for the border ... I think it turned out rather nice ... what do you think?

Happy day to all!
Karen Anne

Day 46

Day 46 ... "The Feather" ...

Day 45 "The Boy With Four Red Cherries"

Subject today is from a photo taken around 1994? 

Day 45 "The Boy With Four Red Cherries"

 

Ever closer .....

Karen Anne

Day 44

In our home we have hanging on a wall a "Hooded Monks Candle Holder" which is very old and made of plaster, ergo very delicate.  I used to have it next to the fireplace with each of the candle holders filled with wooden matches for lighting fireplace fires, but they seemed to be in harms way so I moved them to a more protected and safer area. 

Today I was walking through the house in search of a subject matter for Day 44 and spied them on the dining room wall and thought "Yes!  Perfect!", a fun subject filled with lots of character!

Day 44

 

Thirty-six sketch days to go and I will earn my "Artistic License" from Brenda Swenson! 

Here is a sample of Brenda's artistic license....

 

Of course the one I receive will have my name and picture on it ....

what fun!

Happy Sketching!

Karen Anne

Days 42 and 43

I really like pottery character mugs!  They always make me smile.  For Day 42 I chose one of my favorites as today's subject .....

Day 42

 

The other day we were stopped at a railroad crossing waiting for a train to pass.  It is really interesting to see all the graffiti displayed on so many of the rail cars.  I always get the feeling that I am watching a mobile art gallery passing by..... thought I'd try my hand at some graffiti for Day 43!

Day 43

Happy sketching everyone!

Karen Anne

Day 41

Paper Whites fit the bill for quick and easy today .....

 

Happy Sketching!

Karen Anne

Day 40

My goodness ... Day 40!  Only 35 days left ... very nice!  I may just finish this challenge and earn my "Artistic License" yet!

For the day 40 subject I chose a sea urchin that my hubby has in his sea shell collection ... I think it was a bit more detail than I really had time for today and on this one I really could have used a pencil to get the shape more accurate ... and the curves in the sea urchin designs .... am I digressing in that I miss my pencil and eraser?

 

Happy Day!

Karen Anne

Day 39

A day at the coast brings up dreams of beach combing treasures ....

Day 39 in the Brenda Swenson 75 Day Sketch Challenge.....

YaHoo over the half way mark!

Karen Anne Brady

Days 37 and 38

Not sure exactly why but I decided to try my hand at drawing a Buffalo Head .... so I found a photograph and began day 37 .... as I have said before, drawing animals is not my strong suit.  When I was done, I looked at the sketch and thought ... "Wow, I have just sketched a Werewolf with horns!" ....

Day 37 - First attempt at sketching a buffalo head ...

 

On Day 38 I found a different photo of a buffalo, this one had a great more details and I could see it a lot more clearly; and decided to attempt another version, but this time I grabbed a sheet of notebook paper and did a pencil pre-sketch to get the feel of the subject, the shadowing, and the shape of the head.  Well, this one at least looks like a buffalo and not a werewolf ... maybe the third time will be a charm????

 

Day 38 ink sketch version of the buffalo head ... I think I put in about 4 hours on this sketch because I really wanted it to turn out good, so I went much slower and paid a lot more attention to detail.  I think this version turned out much better!

 

Moral of the story?  Just keep on trying!

Happy sketching!

Karen Anne

Day 36

Day 36  1/15/2012  "Fungi"

Days 34 and 35

Day 34 "Dragonfly Wings"

 

Day 35 "Circles"

Words of Love for my younger sister ....

A flower has been taken from our family bouquet;
A flower whose name is Teresa (Teri) Rae.

Our beautiful flower, who brought us happiness and laughter,
Is now with our Dad in the heavenly hereafter.

We will always cherish her sweetness and love,
And know she is smiling on us from Heaven above.

Day Thirty-three

My nephew, Sammy, who works in landscaping, is an avid amateur photographer and while on the job he discovers little creatures that abound in the outdoors.  He takes beautiful photos of his discoveries and shares them with others through Facebook.  The sketch today is of a tree snail he captured.  I thought it had interesting textures and would be a good pen and ink subject.

 

Happy sketching!

Karen Anne

Day Thirty-two

I am currently on creating a set of Zentangle Inspired Numbers to compliment the Zentangle Alphabet that I completed in 2010.  Today I wanted to try out some new zentangle patterns to see if I could incorporate them into the number 3 illustration that I am currently working on.  So today's ink sketch is more of a zentangle sampler .....

Happy sketching!
Karen Anne

Day Thirty-one

Day thirty-one's sketch is a whimsical floral design. 

Happy sketching!
Karen Anne

Day Thirty

I have begun illustrating a zentangle number series to compliment my zentangle alphabet series, so numbers are on my mind.  Today's sketch is (Surprise!) - Numbers!

 

Happy sketching!

Karen Anne Brady

Day Twenty-nine

I have to admit, I did the day twenty-eight drawing just to get it done ... my hubby was looking at it last night and said "You didn't post this, did you? It's not finished ... ". Reluctantly I had to admit, "Yeah, I was rushing ... and you are right, I do need to finish it..." Ergo, day twenty-nine is going to turn into the finishing of day twenty-eight. 

My Jim is my greatest critic, and he know's me sooooooooo well, that he tells me what he thinks about each piece I do, most generally ... he is right. I was trying to slide this by him ... but he caught me! God has to love a great spouse!

Take care, be happy, hope your are blessed with a good and loving critic in your life!

Karen Anne

Day Twenty-eight

I just realized that I am now over one-third of the way to completing the "75 Day Sketch Challenge"!  The subject for today's ink sketch is an octopus .....

Wishing all a great day!
Karen Anne Brady

Day Twenty-seven

Today I decided to do a piece I have not done in quite awhile, a zentangle inspired sketch.
A zentangle is an easy to learn method of creating beautiful images from repetitive patterns. It is a fascinating art form that is fun and relaxing. It increases focus and creativity, artistic satisfaction as well as an increased sense of personal well being.  Zentangle was created by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas, you can learn more abut this enjoyable art form by going to their blog, Zentangle.com. 

Whenever I feel the need to draw but can't settle on a subject I turn to zentangle.  It is very easy to become completely absorbed in the creation of a zentangle inspired piece.

Happy Day,
Karen Anne Brady

Day Twenty-six

Today I wanted to see if drawing the picture I did on day twenty-four would turn out different if I first scanned the photo to my computer, then put it in Photoshop, flipped it so that the young boy was now facing to the left (as opposed to facing to the right in the original sketch), and proceed to draw it from that view.

I think my theory of drawing subjects straight on or facing to the left is much easier for me than subjects facing to the right as I am a right handed artist is true, because this sketch came out much better.  I guess I must see everything from a right handed point of view???

Oh, I also learned that it is wise to keep your old pens, that are nearly out of ink, on hand because they are great for ink shadowing!  Yes!

Happy sketching!

Karen Anne Brady

 

Day Twenty-five

I have missed designing new outfits for my "Humming Belles" paper dolls so I thought today would be fun to create a new dress as my challenge sketch.

I do so enjoy creating new outfits, props and scenes for these little charmers ... guess I'm going to have to get busy with these so they don't feel neglected!

Have a grand day!
Karen Anne Brady

Day Twenty-four

Day twenty-four is here and I found a picture of this little guy reading a book that I thought was very sweet.  The intensity on his face was captivating and I thought it would make for a good challenge sketch. 

Being right handed, I have a very difficult time drawing anything that is facing to the right ... I never seem to get the proportions correct ... guess my mind just works that way.  Since I am challenging myself, I thought OK - I'll try ... not everything in life is easy!  But drawing a subject facing to the left is definitely easier for me .... so here is today's sketch that I have titled "Beginning Reader"....

Enjoy the day!

Karen Anne Brady

Day Twenty-three

Ever have one of those day's when nothing seems to go right?   This picture just seems to capture that feeling.....

"A Sad Little Girl"

Mind you, I am not having one of those days ... this picture

just captured my attention and I felt compelled to see

if I could actually capture the feeling.

Having a good day!

Karen Anne Brady

Day Twenty-Two and Happy New Year To You!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Today's sketch is mixed up with a bit of whimsy!  

The sketch looked so plain all by it's self that I added a bit of

Zentangle inspired designs to give it a little zip!

 

Wishing you all the very best in 2012!

Karen Anne Brady