New ACEOs!

The eBay artists' group I belong to has a Theme Week contest on the 1st week of each month.  The theme for the month of June is "Fish" ... well, I really like fish and I managed to come up with 5 "Fish" ACEOs!  Each is strongly influenced by Zentangle patterns ...

Each piece was created using Derwent Inktense pencils, Prismacolor Verithin colored pencils, watercolor pencils and technical art pens on Stonehenge Art Paper.  I like the bright colors of the watercolor and Inktense pencils and the shadowing I am able to achieve with the Verithin (dry) colored pencils.  The detail is provided with the technical pens.

"Jellyfish" on eBay and at Etsy

"Clown Fish and Star Fish" on eBay and at Etsy

"Salmon" on eBay and at Etsy

"Angel Fish" on eBay and at Etsy

"Seahorse" (Yes, a seahorse is a fish!) on eBay and at Etsy

I really enjoyed creating these five ACEOs and hope that you like and enjoy my efforts.   If you would like to see all of the entries in the ACEO TW JUNE challenge here is a link that will take you there:

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid=p2047675.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0&_nkw=ACEO+TW+JUN&_sacat=0&_from=R40

It is really interesting to see all the different variations on the theme!

Take care and have a great weekend everyone!

Karen Anne aka Ireland Brady

In a Jar ...........

Awhile back my ACEO eBay Group held a challenge based on what you could find in a jar ... with the subject jar being an old fashioned canning jar.  I came up with three versions ....

"Sunflowers In A Jar"

"Dandelion Bouquet In A Jar"

"Fairy In A Jar"

I am happy to say, the challenge worked out quite well for me because these three ACEOs sold really quickly on eBay!   Thanks to the wonderful equipment we now have, prints are still available in my Etsy Shop.  

This week I am working on a new challenge, the theme is "Fish".  On June 1st, I will be posting all the "Fish" themed ACEOs to eBay and Etsy.  I like the way they are coming along ....

Take care and be happy!

Karen Anne aka Ireland Brady

"Bird of Paradise Fairy"

One of our favorite flowers is the "Bird of Paradise" and I thought it would be fun to create a Bird of Paradise Fairy ACEO.  The beauty of the Bird of Paradise is mesmerizing and captivating, evoking dreams of exotic lands  and glorious colors and natural splendors.  

And here is my latest ACEO, "Bird of Paradise Fairy" ... albeit, if I do say so myself, she does look a bit like Carmen Miranda!

The original is now up for auction at eBay:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=121095310935

Authorized Open Edition ACEO Art Prints are on Etsy:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/129363746/aceo-open-edition-art-print-titled-bird?ref=shop_home_active

Best wishes for a beautiful spring week ...

Karen Anne aka Ireland Brady

"Blue Dragonfly"

Here my latest ACEO which I have titled "Blue Dragonfly". I really like Dragonflies ... they remind of something pre-historic and they always make me smile, plus they don't bite! The patterns in their wings are so delicate and complex, with each new dragonfly I create on paper ... I get a little better at capturing that beauty. I hope you like my "Blue Dragonfly"!

I have the original listed in my eBay Store ...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=121093151447#ht_550wt_1191

and Open Edition ACEO Authorized Art Prints in my Etsy Shop ...

https://www.etsy.com/listing/128992014/aceo-open-edition-art-print-titled-blue?ref=shop_home_active

Hope all is well with you and you are enjoying this day (even though it is wet and gloomy here)!

Karen Anne aka IrelandBrady

Dragonfly Fairy (with Mystic Fairy Flower)

It has been awhile since I created any fairy illustrations, so yesterday I did!


With this piece, I wanted to see how much detail I could get into a 2.5" x 3.5" area. So, I began with a tiny face with a fairy and a dragonfly in mind. Combined the two to create a "Dragonfly Fairy" and went from there. As the drawing progressed, the Mystic Fairy Flower was added, as well as several other zentangle inspired patterns. The final result is what you are viewing in this post.

"Dragonfly Fairy"

The original is up for auction at eBay....

http://www.ebay.com/itm/281090735525?ssPageName=STRK%3AMESELX%3AIT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649

Open Editions prints are in my Etsy Shop ....

https://www.etsy.com/listing/128892422/aceo-open-edition-art-print-titled

Hope you are all having a wonderful day!

Karen Anne aka Ireland Brady

March 2013 Colored Pencil Challenge

This drawing was done on a 5" x 7" sheet of Stonehenge paper using Prismacolor Verithin colored pencils and a LePen technical pen for fine line details (about 5%), in the hair and eye lashes.

This is my interpretation of "Veiled", this month's subject photo by Sally Ford.   The subject is so pretty I decided to eliminate all the jewelry, thereby removing distractions and focusing the viewer's attention on her beautiful face. I am not a portrait artist but I really enjoy working on illustrations of people, I use the photo merely as inspiration and a starting point. In this piece, I gave her a bit of a smile and thickened her hair. My intention was to give her a more "dream-like" quality as opposed to a photographic realness; which, quite frankly, is beyond my skills and capability.

The most challenging portion was the veil, in the beginning I had applied way too much color and had to carefully remove most of it. The end result was that it does somewhat have the appearance of veiling.

This was a good learning challenge.

Here is my interpretation of "Veiled" which I have titled

"Look of Love"

this is a copy of the 
photo "Veiled" taken by Sally Ford

If you would like to join in on the challenge, here is a link that provides details and information:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/coloredpencilmag/8495249165/in/pool-cpmchallenge

Take care and hope you are having a productive and happy day!

Karen Anne aka Ireland Brady

"The Mermaid and The Sea Horse"

Finally, I finished my Beta inspired mermaid!  Added a little fantasy sea horse, some sea weed, mussels, a star fish, a sand dollar, a bit of coral and some odd colored water.  The original size is 8.5" x 10.5" and was completed using colored pencils (primarily Prismacolor Verithins) and fine tip art pens.   I didn't want a lot of paper texture showing through so I used a smooth art paper that is made for use with artist ink pens.  For the air bubbles (by the sea horse and the mermaid) and the pearls (in her hair) and accents on the fins and tail, I used a white gel pen.

I haven't yet posted this in either my Etsy Shop or my eBay Store, thought it would be nice to first get some feedback on what people think of my first mermaid.  I fell in love with the gorgeous fins and tails on the Beta fish and really wanted to incorporate some of that beauty into this piece.  I hope you like it!

I think I'd like to do at least one more mermaid, but I think it will be awhile before I get to do more art work.  Time has a way of catching up with one and it is time to get the paper work done for taxes AND to deep clean the house!  

I mean MAJOR Goodwill and Salvation Army will be VERY happy type of cleaning!  The type of DEEP cleaning that will empty a LOT of extra "stuff" and open up some rooms for use cleaning!  We moved into this house 10/1/1970 and it was very, very empty.  43 years later, the 3 kids have moved on, 1 grandkid moved in, another grand has a lot of her stuff here while she is overseas (in the Navy).  Heck, we still have Jim's old Boy Scout uniform upstairs!  Boxes get moved, get piled, get saved and the "mass" accumulates!  But the darned thing is ... I know as soon as I give or toss something away ... I'll find I need it!  This is gonna be WAY hard!  The good thing will be ... what is left will be "findable"! 

So if you don't hear from me for quite awhile, its not that I am ignoring you ... its just something that we gotta do before we are too old to move anything and everything collapses in on top of us!  The hardest part will be the two of us agreeing on things that should go.  

And our kids will surely breath a sign of relief!  They are terrified that we may die and leave everything for them to go through!  Like I told my hubby, if we really miss something we can always go to Goodwill or Salvation Army and visit it!  I'm sure this project will take a good month, if we don't wane in our attempts.  Wish us luck!

Happy day all!

Karen Anne