"Lil' Dragon 2, Pyro Training" ... Finished!

"Lil' Dragon 2, Pyro Training" is officially completed!  Personally, I like the colors I used in this version and I like how he seems to be developing a personality.  He seems to be taking on a lot of traits that belong to our little min pin ... this should be interesting to watch as he evolves.

For now, here is Lil' Dragon 2 in pyro training .....

Ok ... on 7-22-14 I decided this piece needed a little more contrast so I updated it to this ...

Hope you are all having a very enjoyable day!

Take care, be happy,

Karen Anne aka Ireland Brady

Lil' Dragon, Pyro Training - Day Six

Working on Lil' Dragon, Pyro Training has been a bit slow going ... seems like yard work and house work seem to be taking precedence lately!  Pooh!

Today was the only free day I have this week (meaning no appointments, no shopping) so this morning I got an early start before the heat set in and edged the entire back yard!  In most cases, edging wouldn't be a big task .. however, in our case, the edges rarely get trimmed and soon they begin to drastically encroach on the grass area.  As the grass (er, mowed area that is comprised mostly of weed type vegetation) becomes smaller and smaller I begin to envision a huge weed jungle of over 6' high beginning to take over!  Ergo, today I donned my "Edging" gear, plugged in the weed eater and mulched weeds back to fences, garages, and house foundation!  Tomorrow, all that downed vegetation should be pretty well dry and I can rake it up before my first appointment of the day!

Once that was done I had about 4 hours left over for me!  I opted to trot up stairs and work on my favorite little dragon!  Here is what day six resulted in ....

The little guy is coming to life!  I am liking the color selections in this version but have already figured out some more changes that need to be made to this charming little character in my next rendering!

Take care and happy day!
Karen Anne

Lil' Dragon - Pyro Training - Day Five

HAPPY FOURTH OF JULY USA!  Hope everyone is having great weather to celebrate this day of Independence!

We are just hanging around the ol' homestead.   I was able to spend a bit of time working on "Lil' Dragon, Pyro in Training".  Yes!  I was able to apply a base coat with watercolor paints to the body and the fire, and then I began work on the shadowing of the wood in the fire pit.  I also lightened up the sky a bit, to add more contrast, with a light grey colored pencil.  I am looking forward to working on the little guy some more tomorrow!

And Jim tried, in vain, to locate which circuit breaker has deadened all the electrical outlets on the north side of our home; the circuit box labels do not make much sense at all and after 2 days of trying to figure things out, Jim finally broke down and called an electrician who should be here next Tuesday.

As an alternative project, Jim is now working on putting together our new Gorilla Garden Dump Cart!
It should make yard work much easier than trying to drag stuff around in a recycling tub!

Best wishes for wonderful 4th of July celebrations all across this great nation!

Take care and be happy,
Karen Anne

Lil' Dragon - Pyro Training - Day Four

Had some extra time to work on inking in the background details today.  The scene is now set for a late evening camp fire ... wonder if Lil' Danny Boy Dragon will be able to pull it off?!  If so, perhaps some "Smores" will be on tonight's dinner menu???  We'll see .....

This scanned image is actually a bit lighter than the original, probably because I just ran a quick automatic mode scan; but you can see where I am going with this piece.

Take care and be happy,
Karen Anne and Danny Boy

Lil' Dragon - Pyro Training ... Day 3

In addition to five loads of laundry and walking the doggie, I also managed to get the background watercolors painted.  I can already see how the colors are going to dictate the ink work I add to the piece tomorrow ... hope it turns out as well as I am seeing it in my mind!

I have covered Lil' Dragon and the fire with frisket film to protect that portion of the drawing while I am working on the background.  The hardest part with the frisket film is cutting around the protected area with an X-acto knife then removing the excess film, tedious and time consuming work.

I have to tell you, working with watercolors on Stonehenge paper is terrific!  I literally had this piece of paper sopping wet today, I had applied too much dark paint and I was dunking paper towels into water and sopping up excess paint; I am just amazed that there is only a slight curve to the dried paper.  Amazing!

So much for all the technical chit chat ... here is day 3 progress:

Take care and be happy!
Karen Anne

Lil' Dragon finished on 6/18/2014!

Lil' Dragon is officially completed as of June 18th, 2014!  I am pleased with how the little fella turned out and hope you like him too.   The finished, trimmed size is 8.278" x 10.803" ...

I'm thinking that I would like to try my hand at another Lil' Dragon ... ;)

Tuesday Progress on Lil' Dragon

I had a bit of time after all the other stuff that needed tending today so I was actually able to work a bit on the Lil' Dragon.  Today his face and arm/hand holding the Dragon Pop have been completed and I started shadowing on the yellow part of his torso ... I think I may just complete this lil' guy tomorrow!

PS  Today I received two lovely comments from Oma Linda and Lise ... would you believe, I hit the "Delete" button instead of the "Publish" button!  I just want you both to know I received you comments, and I loved them ... that Delete button is just too darn close to the Publish button!  Sorry Oma Linda and Lise!  

Baby Dragon Pencil Sketch 6-11-14

Today I wanted to draw a dragon, a baby dragon to be exact.  Don't know why I am  fixed upon a dragon as my next piece of artwork ... but I am and I am going to keep working on him/her until I have developed a cute little character.  I'm thinking I could add him into some of my other pieces eventually.

Today I had a couple hours to spare so I really cleaned up my art area, put on some good music with a happy beat and lost myself in a little pencil sketch.   I think I am going to do this little guy in watercolor, colored pencils and ink; then I may attempt to do him in acrylics.

Yep, my dear friends ... acrylics!   From the time I was 17 (late 1960's) until the late 1980's most of my work was done in acrylics.  Then life got so busy (I had to go to work) that I had little time for artwork. My paints eventually dried up, most of my brushes kinda disappeared and I just lost interest in acrylics.

Well, for the last 6 months I have been wanting to try my hand at acrylics again; finally, after MUCH deliberation, I finally ordered myself some acrylics paints, some brushes, canvas paper & acrylic finish and it should all arrive by this Friday at the earliest.  I am looking forward to dipping my new brushes into some paint and seeing what I can do now ... oh boy, nice challenge!

Back to my "Toddler Dragon" ... this is how far along I got today with my pencil sketch ... now, I am going to study him, tweak him, and see where my pencils take me on my drawing of a dragon quest!

"Toddler Dragon" 6-11-2014 (1st sketch)

If you have any suggestions on changes you can see that would enhance this image, please feel free to share with me!

Thanks a bunch!

Karen Anne

PS  After 8 days in the hospital, my hubby finally came home 5 days ago; he is doing much better now and working on regaining his strength and weight.  Thank you so much for all the prayers and good thoughts and wishes you all sent ... they really do help and are very appreciated!  Take care and know you are loved.  Karen Anne *big hug to all of you*

"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

The Colored Pencil Magazine January 2013 Challenge

The Colored Pencil Magazine January Challenge is from a photo of a Beta Fish.  I really had a lot of fun with this illustration!  As I was drawing my pencil sketch I kept thinking of a 1950's Hot Rod with flames shooting back from the front of the car, guess the way I drew the fin tips is what inspired that idea.  Anyway, I decided to go with the hot rod flame theme ... worked for me since I was in a bit of a fanciful mood anyway.  Guess one could call this a "Hot Rod Flame Beta"!

This illustration was completed on Stonehenge paper using Verithin and Lyra Rembrandt colored pencils.  I find these two brands work well together for me.  I did use some art marker pen to sharpen up the detail around the eyes and mouth.  The finished size is 8.5" x 10.5" and I will be posting open edition art prints and ACEOs of it in my Etsy Store shortly.

"Flame, the Hot Red Crown Fin Beta Fish"

Here is the theme photo for this month's challenge...

If you would like to see the other great entries, use this link to the CPM Challenge Pool on Flickr 

If you are a colored pencil artist, why not join in on the challenges?  They are loads of fun and there are categories for pros and beginners alike, so all are welcome to join in!

Take care and be happy!

Karen Anne aka Ireland Brady

New Etsy Listings, PLUS A Work In Progress Slideshow Video!

I recently completed a colored pencil illustration titled "The Frog and The Princess", it is available in my Etsy Shop in ACEO format as well as an 8" x 10" authorized print.

Authorized Art Print:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/112060645/aceo-open-edition-art-print-titled-the
ACEO Open Edition Print:
https://www.etsy.com/listing/112061414/the-frog-and-the-princess-an-authorized

Additionally, while I was working on this piece I photographed the progress and put together a slideshow video where you can observe the process from beginning to end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYOTJImbR88  
(you may need to cut and paste this link into your address bar in order to access it)

Wishing all of you happiness,
Karen Anne

Building up to "Celebrate Oz" Blog Party!

As a build up to the "Celebrate Oz" blog party over at Oma Linda's blog, "Olde Baggs 'n Stuffed Shirts" , I have begun listing the 18 Oz ACEO's in my Etsy Shop.  I am listing one a day until the 19th of July (Partay Day!) and thought I'd share them here as well.

I have a bunch of giveaways planned for the fun celebration day  ....  one lucky person will win an Oz ACEO original of their choice!  Be sure to come back on July 19th for details on how to enter!

OK ... so, here are the first five Oz ACEO's that I have currently listed in my shop ....

"Hello My Pretty!"

"Dorothy and Toto"

"The Wicked Witch Is Dead!"

"Munchkins"

"Glinda"

I'm really looking forward to Oma Linda's Celebrate Oz 2012 Party and hope you will join in on the fun too!  If you would like to personally participate add your link to Oma Linda's Participants Linky List!

Happy Day!

Karen Anne