"HAPPY THANKSGIVING!"

And the Colored Pencil Magazine Pro Winner of the October Challenge is .......

I just received an email that nearly knocked me off my chair!   And I just had to share it with all of you ....  here it is:

Karen Anne Brady

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PRO CHALLENGE WINNER! 1 message

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COLORED PENCIL Magazine	Fri, Nov 16, 2012 at 3:13 PM
Reply-To: COLORED PENCIL Magazine To: KABrady.Art@gmail.com
Karen, I am so pleased to write to tell you that after much deliberation, we have selected you as the Pro Winner of the October 2012 #1210 Kiiro Art Challenge! You have also won a great prize from our friends and sponsors at UART to include 10 huge sheets of  18 x 24 sanded pastel 600 grade paper. This is a great prize and you are going to be surprised when it arrives how unique a surface this is to draw on. I hope you share with us something you do on it. Why you were selected by our staff: We just couldn’t escape your charming colorful concept and brilliant execution of this gecko challenge. It is an exciting change of perspective AND mirror image that isn’t too perfect of a mirror so that each lizard has it’s own little personality. We also love how you didn’t give up when you weren’t quite satisfied with your first attempt and how you pushed yourself to take chances the second time around. I know this wonderfully illustrated piece is one that many people would love as a print of and I hope it serves you well, if you put prints up for sale, be sure to link to it on the flickr page. Of course you have full rights to your image and use of the photograph. We will be showing you off in the December 2012 issue and facebook page. Check back on our blog to see all the entries and other winner. Please send your shipping address to us. You are still eligible to win again so please continue to join this awesome group of artists at flickr. http://www.flickr.com/groups/cpmchallenge Sally Ford COLORED PENCIL Magazine admin@coloredpencilmag.com www.coloredpencilmag.com Join us on facebook! www.facebook.com/coloredpencilmagazine My Blog Friends, You can view all of the wonderful and creative submissions at http://www.flickr.com/groups/cpmchallenge/pool/with/8139128623/#photo_8139128623 where you'll find a wide range of artistic views of the monthly challenge photos! Oh ... and here is the piece that won!  I titled it "Two Snow Leopard Geckos" If you would like your own print, you can find them in my Etsy Shop

as an art print (in various sizes) or in ACEO format!

Holey Moley!  I am still shaking! And I have to tell you ... as I opened it, I was looking forward to seeing who had won ... and was totally stunned when I saw that it was me!

Happy Day to all!
Karen Anne

"Apples and Cones"

As you know from my previous posts, the Colored Pencil Magazine posts a colored pencil competition each month, the November challenge is a photo of a apples and cones, a still life. In this submission I tried out oil based colored pencils, Lyra Rembrandt Polychrome Pencils. To my delight, I found I really like them! I can achieve deeper colors that are brighter and more vivid, and I do not have to work as long or hard to achieve the results I want.

The biggest plus?  Elimination of "Wax Bloom" (a condition created by too many applied layers of wax based colored pencils) and no need to use a workable fixative between layers!  When I was researching the pros and cons of oil based pencils, I read that they smear more easily than wax based pencils ... this was not the case for me.   I also read that they could be used on smooth paper and used smooth paper on this rendering, I like the effect I was able to achieve.  I further learned they have a harder core than waxed based pencils and, since I prefer harder leads, this was a great plus to me. 

The following is my submission to the Colored Pencil Magazine November Contest ...

"Apples and Cones"

 

Prints of this illustration are available in my Etsy Store as an authorized art print (https://www.etsy.com/listing/114809578/apples-and-cones-an-authorized-art-print) and in ACEO format (https://www.etsy.com/listing/114810399/aceo-open-edition-art-print-titled).

Below is the Colored Pencil Magazine challenge photograph

As you can see, I rearranged things a bit in my version.