Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Day 52

Day 52 "African Violets"
A few weeks back I found a little pot of African Violets in the sale aisle ... 
I absolutely love these adorable flowers and purchased them to add 
a little cheer to my kitchen garden window.   They are now in full
bloom and so pretty I decided to use them for my fifty-second sketch.

Happy day to all!
Karen Anne


Friday, January 27, 2012

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Day 47

Day 47 "A Monarch Butterfly"

After I posted this ink sketch, I thought it would be fun to experiment a bit in Photoshop and add some color to the flower and the border, then reduce it down to ACEO size (2.5" x 3.5" from its original size of about 5" x 7").  I chose a pale yellow for the flower and a darker hue for the border ... I think it turned out rather nice ... what do you think?
Happy day to all!
Karen Anne

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Day 45 "The Boy With Four Red Cherries"

Subject today is from a photo taken around 1994? 

Day 45 "The Boy With Four Red Cherries"

Ever closer .....
Karen Anne

Monday, January 23, 2012

Day 44

In our home we have hanging on a wall a "Hooded Monks Candle Holder" which is very old and made of plaster, ergo very delicate.  I used to have it next to the fireplace with each of the candle holders filled with wooden matches for lighting fireplace fires, but they seemed to be in harms way so I moved them to a more protected and safer area. 

Today I was walking through the house in search of a subject matter for Day 44 and spied them on the dining room wall and thought "Yes!  Perfect!", a fun subject filled with lots of character!
Day 44

Thirty-six sketch days to go and I will earn my "Artistic License" from Brenda Swenson! 
Here is a sample of Brenda's artistic license....
Of course the one I receive will have my name and picture on it ....
what fun!

Happy Sketching!
Karen Anne

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Days 42 and 43

I really like pottery character mugs!  They always make me smile.  For Day 42 I chose one of my favorites as today's subject .....

Day 42

The other day we were stopped at a railroad crossing waiting for a train to pass.  It is really interesting to see all the graffiti displayed on so many of the rail cars.  I always get the feeling that I am watching a mobile art gallery passing by..... thought I'd try my hand at some graffiti for Day 43!
Day 43
Happy sketching everyone!
Karen Anne

Friday, January 20, 2012

Day 41

Paper Whites fit the bill for quick and easy today .....

Happy Sketching!
Karen Anne

Thursday, January 19, 2012

Day 40

My goodness ... Day 40!  Only 35 days left ... very nice!  I may just finish this challenge and earn my "Artistic License" yet!

For the day 40 subject I chose a sea urchin that my hubby has in his sea shell collection ... I think it was a bit more detail than I really had time for today and on this one I really could have used a pencil to get the shape more accurate ... and the curves in the sea urchin designs .... am I digressing in that I miss my pencil and eraser?


Happy Day!
Karen Anne

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

Day 39

A day at the coast brings up dreams of beach combing treasures ....
Day 39 in the Brenda Swenson 75 Day Sketch Challenge.....

YaHoo over the half way mark!

Karen Anne Brady

Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Days 37 and 38

Not sure exactly why but I decided to try my hand at drawing a Buffalo Head .... so I found a photograph and began day 37 .... as I have said before, drawing animals is not my strong suit.  When I was done, I looked at the sketch and thought ... "Wow, I have just sketched a Werewolf with horns!" ....

Day 37 - First attempt at sketching a buffalo head ...

On Day 38 I found a different photo of a buffalo, this one had a great more details and I could see it a lot more clearly; and decided to attempt another version, but this time I grabbed a sheet of notebook paper and did a pencil pre-sketch to get the feel of the subject, the shadowing, and the shape of the head.  Well, this one at least looks like a buffalo and not a werewolf ... maybe the third time will be a charm????

Day 38 ink sketch version of the buffalo head ... I think I put in about 4 hours on this sketch because I really wanted it to turn out good, so I went much slower and paid a lot more attention to detail.  I think this version turned out much better!
Moral of the story?  Just keep on trying!
Happy sketching!
Karen Anne


Thursday, January 12, 2012

Words of Love for my younger sister ....

A flower has been taken from our family bouquet;
A flower whose name is Teresa (Teri) Rae.

Our beautiful flower, who brought us happiness and laughter,
Is now with our Dad in the heavenly hereafter.

We will always cherish her sweetness and love,
And know she is smiling on us from Heaven above.

Day Thirty-three

My nephew, Sammy, who works in landscaping, is an avid amateur photographer and while on the job he discovers little creatures that abound in the outdoors.  He takes beautiful photos of his discoveries and shares them with others through Facebook.  The sketch today is of a tree snail he captured.  I thought it had interesting textures and would be a good pen and ink subject.

Happy sketching!
Karen Anne

Wednesday, January 11, 2012

Day Thirty-two

I am currently on creating a set of Zentangle Inspired Numbers to compliment the Zentangle Alphabet that I completed in 2010.  Today I wanted to try out some new zentangle patterns to see if I could incorporate them into the number 3 illustration that I am currently working on.  So today's ink sketch is more of a zentangle sampler .....
Happy sketching!
Karen Anne

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Monday, January 9, 2012

Day Thirty

I have begun illustrating a zentangle number series to compliment my zentangle alphabet series, so numbers are on my mind.  Today's sketch is (Surprise!) - Numbers!

Happy sketching!
Karen Anne Brady