Nibblefest Art Contest for January 2015!

The Nibblefest Art Contest begins in one week! (on the 20th) January's theme is "A Subject Beginning With the 3rd Letter of Your Given Name (real first name)".   Nibblefest Art Contest (NFAC), is the fun and friendly, monthly-themed art competition that begins on the 20th of each month, and is open to all. Hosted via Ebay, all Nibblefest art entries start at just .99 cents -- fun for artists AND collectors....!

The subject I chose, beginning with the third letter of my real first name of KaRen, is a Red Cardinal proudly perched on the head of the statue of St. Francis!  He won't be posted on eBay until January 20th, 2015 so I thought I would give my Blog Followers a sneak preview of my entry ....




















For this painting I used a reference photo by Gillian Floyd posted on the site, Paint My Photo, of a cardinal perched on the St. Francis statue in her backyard.  I loved the photo and thought it would be perfect for my entry in this month's Nibblefest Contest!  On the 20th of January you will be able to go to eBay and put the word NFAC in their search engine and you will be able to find it and many of the other terrific entries in this contest.   Remember, all entries start at an opening bidding price of $.99!  You could win a piece of terrific original artwork at a lower price than expected!

Here is a link to her photo: http://paintmyphoto.ning.com/photo/cardinal-15
And here is a copy of her photo:

Take care and be happy!
Karen Anne

More Lil' Friends ACEOs!

Hi my friends!  It has been awhile since I last posted anything so today I have 4 new lil' images to share with you since my last post.

I am enjoying working on my "Lil' Friends" series and taking my time with each new little creation.  I am trying to hone my colored pencil techniques by not rushing through any piece, which is hard to do because I am always exceedingly anxious to see the finished piece!  One thing I truly appreciate about colored pencils is the fact that I can stop what I am doing at a moments notice and it will be there waiting for my return. A small blessing when you life becomes a bit more hectic than one would prefer.  

A necessary tool in the art of colored pencil painting is a good blender and after trying a multitude of blenders a friend of mine suggested I try a "Caran D'Ache Full Blender Bright" and now I am one of its biggest fans!  It is really an amazing tool and seems to cut down on blending time by at least 50%!  The only draw back I have so far found is that it doesn't provide a good foundation for applying ink because of the glossy surface it produces, but an application of a workable matte fixative helps to reduce that problem; one does have to wait for the fixative to fully dry before trying to apply ink to the piece.  

On "Lil' Miss Steampunk #1" I did not wait long enough ... I had finished the piece except for the background and so I colored it in, blended it with the Caran D'Ache Full Blender and began applying ink for the wall paper design.  When I was nearly finished I noticed I had smeared nearly all of the inks (gel pens and art pens alike) ~ I was horrified!  All that work and at the nth moment I had ruined the piece!  OH NO!  

After studying the mess I had made (luckily none had smeared on the subject) I decided to smear the entire background together which created a purplish greenish gray effect.  I then sprayed it with a matte workable fixative, waited for it to dry and then re-did the wall paper designs ... happily it worked out and the piece was salvaged!  Actually, it looks better with the darker wall paper ... guess you could say "God" was helping me out by providing a learning experience.

Without further ado, here are my latest four colored pencil miniature paintings in the order in which they were created....

"Lil' Witch #4"  (recently adopted by a dear friend of mine in Canada ... Stacy)

"Lil' Witch #5" (currently being auctioned on eBay)

"Lil' Miss Steampunk #1" (original not currently for sale)

"Lil' Steampunk #2" (original not currently for sale)

All four pieces are now available as Open Edition ACEO Authorized Art Prints in my Etsy Shop for a staggering $1 each!  

ACEOs make wonderful little stocking stuffers and fun additions to Holiday, Birthday, and gift cards!

Wishing you all a very happy day!

Karen Anne Brady aka Ireland Brady

Finally - A New Post - About Time!

Oh my, I have certainly been neglecting my blog.  A big case of life interrupting my plans!  Oh well, that is what keeps life interesting, the unexpected popping up with new challenges ... some good, some not so good but challenging never the less.

As you make recall, I belong to an artists eBay group and each month they have a Theme Week Contest.  This month's theme is "Native American" and the following are my two ACEO (2.5" x 3.5") entries in the Theme Week contest from the ACEO ~ Art Cards Editions and Originals group on eBay. The contest takes place the first week of each month. To view other listings, by some very talented artists, you can use this link ACEO TW NOV

"Native Girl with Doll"

"NW Coast Girl"

The originals are currently up for bid on eBay and Authorized Open Editions are available on Etsy.

Right now I am in the midst of moving my studio from the dining room to our upstairs area.  My supplies are piling up higher and higher in the dining room and I am in need of more space!  The only problem is, we have been using the upstairs as a "Catch All" these past several years and it is quite packed.  Yesterday I unburied my drafting table and light table.  Today I am geared up to tackle the main room ... ugh!

Take care, be happy ...

Karen Anne Brady