Showing posts with label green. Show all posts
Showing posts with label green. Show all posts

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

"Star Gazer Lilies"

I don't know about you, but I think Star Gazer Lilies are among the most delicious smelling and beautiful flowers Mother Nature has provided for us.  Their appearance is so magical and romantic, their aroma so sweet and heady.  They actually appear to have been sprinkled with fairy dust!  

My last two ACEOs have the main subject as Star Gazer Lilies .....

"Star Gazers"


"Star Gazer Lilies"



Take care and have a wonderful week!
Karen Anne aka IrelandBrady


Friday, February 8, 2013

Ta-da! Bitty Betta #5!

OK, I thought I was over my Betta Binge ... but guess not!  Really, these little ACEOs are great practice for getting comfortable with the various betta fins, tails and scales ... once I am really comfortable with those things, I'll begin work on the mermaid ... correction, Betta Mermaid!  Of course, she will be larger than an ACEO ... an idea is formulating in my brain and once it is ready to be put on paper I will begin.  In the meantime .... more Bettas!

"Bitty Betta #5"


The orginal ACEO is available in my eBay Store:

Open Edition ACEO Art Prints are for sale in my Etsy Shop:

Happy day everyone!

Karen Anne aka Ireland Brady

Monday, November 12, 2012

"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"



Below is the Colored Pencil Magazine challenge photograph

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


Tuesday, October 30, 2012

CPM October Challenge - 2nd Entry.....

The Colored Pencil Magazine posts a colored pencil competition each month, this month's challenge was a photo of a snow leopard gecko.  I have already entered one drawing and came up with another variation on the same subject matter.

 With this version I challenged myself on vibrancy, intensity of color and shadowing. Every night when I have finished working on a piece for the day, I place it into a plastic sleeve and place it on an easel on our coffee table. Then I sit back, listen to the news and other entertaining shows, and I constantly look at and critique the current piece. A lot of times I find something I want to jump up and amend but I just leave it there, let it mull in my mind over night.

This morning I woke up and went "It is totally dull ... ". Something was missing. Finally realized the something that was missing was Me! I was so worried about using the right techniques, not ruining the paper, not ruining the drawing, that I was holding myself back. So I threw up my hands, said to myself .. "It's only a piece of paper ... go for it and be happy when you are doing it!".

I know I have made a lot of mistakes in this drawing (like too much pencil pressure, scratches from the pencil are showing, wasn't blended subtly) but I was sure happy at the end of the day when I sat back and relaxed enough to see what I had done. I think art is not so much about doing it right but putting your twist and yourself into what you are doing and being happy with what you have created. I win again! I am finding myself revealed in my art!


Prints of this piece are available in My Etsy Shop..... in ACEO format as well as various Art Print sizes.

Below is a copy of the CPM challenge photo....



Happy Day!

Saturday, October 20, 2012

"Colored Pencil Magazine" October Art Challenge #1210 "Kiiro"

The Colored Pencil Magazine posts a colored pencil competition each month, this month's challenge is a photo of a snow leopard gecko, Art Challenge #1210 "Kiiro" (which means yellow in Japanese).


Well, I have been in a creative slump for about the past month and thought this challenge might be just the ticket to charge me back up. I have been working on it for about five days and today I decided it was finally complete. In addition to entering this piece in the October Art Challenge I am also offering prints in my Etsy Shop.

"Snow Leopard Gecko"

 ACEO link:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/112707218/aceo-open-edition-art-print-titled-snow

Art Print link:  https://www.etsy.com/listing/112706851/snow-leopard-gecko-an-authorized-art

Even if I do not win a prize in this contest, I have already won because I am drawing again!

Take care and be happy!
Karen Anne

Saturday, October 13, 2012

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

Saturday, July 21, 2012

"Dancing Dragonflies"

"Dancing Dragonflies" is my latest illustration.  This drawing was inspired by a couple who are getting married in October, their theme is dragonflies and their colors are deep violet and cranberry red.  For some reason I kept seeing two dragonflies in my mind and just had to get the design down on paper ... and the color combination of violet and red was a great plus!

The dragonflies took about two days to complete, during which time I kept mulling over in my mind what should I do with the background?  Leaves kept popping up ... so, once I had completed the two dragonflies I made a copy and began experimenting ...since leaves predominated my mind, I started there, grabbed a green art pen and started randomly putting them down on paper.  I liked the effect it was having and grabbed the original and spent the next two days drawing green leaves!

I think this drawing really turned out quite nice and am happy to share it with you today, so... here is

This illustration is now available in my Etsy Shop as an authorized art print (your choice of print size up to 8.5" x 11") and as an open edition ACEO (size 2.5" x 3.5").
I was really surprised when I made my first print of the original ... the print actually looked better than the original!  That's a first and quite a nice surprise!

Happy Day All!
Karen Anne

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Oh My! More Water Droplets!

I spent a long time on the internet this morning watching and reading tutorials on how to draw water drops.  I figure a couple more days and I'll have these water drops down.  I think I have already improved .... but would like to get even better.

In my quest to learn I searched for hours and the best tutorial I found was at this link:
http://design-newyork.com/blog/2009/07/28/a-wee-tutorial-how-to-draw-a-water-droplet/
so, if you are interested in learning how to draw water drops ... check it out!

This was the best visual aid that I could locate to print out for reference; but there are several video demonstrations on YouTube that also aided me in my quest for understanding the dynamics of a water drop.



The purple one actually looks more like a tear drop bead, don't you think?

The originals are for sale in my Etsy Shop and I will not be making any limited edition or open edition prints of these pieces.  These are OOAK (one of a kind) pieces of artwork.

Happy Day!
Karen Anne