Water Splash on Black

This time out I attempted a water splash on black card stock ... only thing is, the colored paper had a bit of texture which kept complicating the drawing ... I should have just started over with a smooth sheet of black, oh well!  This one was completed using colored pencils ... the white highlights were a bit on the dull side so I took a watercolor pencil and wetted it slightly to achieve the brighter whites.

Water splashes are NOT easy to do!  But, I'll try a few more ....

"Water Splash on Black"

Again, the original is for sale in my Etsy Shop and I will not be making any open or limited edition prints.

Happy Day!

Karen Anne

"Big Splash In A Small Pond!"

I am now working my way around the structure of water splashes ... this first one is of a stone being tossed in a pond, you can vaguely see stones that are lying below the surface of the water ...  I have titled this first attempt ...

"Big Splash In A Small Pond!"

 

Not too bad for a first attempt ... hoping to improve as I progress.  I have listed this original ACEO for sale in my Etsy Shop , again ... only the original will be sold, no limited edition or open edition copies will be made available.

Happy Day!

Karen Anne

(Off to seek some more images of water splashes to color!)

Two Last Water Drop ACEO Originals

I finished two more original ACEO's featuring water drops .... I think I now have the concept of water drops down.  Plus, I'm getting tired of water drops!  LOL!

"Mama Water Drop and Her Little Droplets"

 

"Water Drops on Deep Red" 

I look at this one and it looks like a clown face!  LOL!  Too funny!  I think I definitely need to move onto another subject matter!

These two originals are for sale in my Etsy Shop and again ... no limited edition or open edition prints will be made from these colored pencil ACEO's.

Happy Day!

Karen Anne

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.

"Water Droplets on Green"

"Water Droplet on Purple"

 

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

Days 60 and 61

Day 60 "Magnifying Glass"

 

Day 61 "Lion Cub"

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

Day Twenty-eight

I just realized that I am now over one-third of the way to completing the "75 Day Sketch Challenge"!  The subject for today's ink sketch is an octopus .....

Wishing all a great day!
Karen Anne Brady

Day Twenty-three

Ever have one of those day's when nothing seems to go right?   This picture just seems to capture that feeling.....

"A Sad Little Girl"

Mind you, I am not having one of those days ... this picture

just captured my attention and I felt compelled to see

if I could actually capture the feeling.

Having a good day!

Karen Anne Brady

My Third and Final ACEO Challenge ACEO

Outside of our kitchen garden window we have an arborvitae that stands at the east end of the window.  We also have a family of squirrels that nest in the tall blue spruce in our front yard.  The squirrels gather and bury nuts all over our yard, later they will dig up their little treasures and many a time I have been working in the kitchen and a motion will capture my attention outside of the window, I look up and I'll see a little squirrel happily munching on a tender nut morsel. 

This happened again today and inspired my third and final entry in The ACEO Challenge which I have titled "Garden Window Visitor"....

Happy Day all!

Karen Anne

Another ACEO Challenge ACEO!

This is good!  Two ACEO's completed!  What better view from your front door window could greet you than a surprise visit from someone you love!

I've titled this little piece "Christmas Time Visitor" .....

Merry Christmas everyone!

Big Hugs,

Karen Anne

PS  If you make ACEO's, why not pop over to The ACEO Challenge  Blog and challenge yourself and enter this month's Challenge of  ".....Out Your Window"!

The ACEO Challenge for December 2011

I think I have been in an artistic slump these past several weeks and, as I was visiting The ACEO Challenge Blog  yesterday, decided the December Challenge was just what I needed to get my creative juices again flowing.  The challenge this month is ".....Out your window"; I looked out my front room window and saw my little Humming Bird friends hovering around the humming bird feeders and decided to begin with them in mind.

Christmas decorations are coming out of their year long storage and had been added to the porch and, together with the humming birds, created a charming view.  So here is the Christmas view from my front room window.....

So now I am off to enter it in the December ACEO Challenge .... and begin work on another little ACEO!

Merry Christmas!

Karen Anne

"Twin Horned Toad Lizards"

I have illustrated zentangle inspired salmon, flounder, crawdads, and geckos ... last week my husband asked me to create a zentangle inspired drawing featuring Horned Toad Lizards, when he was a young lad he had one as a pet and he really likes them! Well, I will tell you, this was one of the hardest drawings I have ever done! It took over two days of sketching before I finally came up with a shape that he was happy with and wow, was he ever particular! I am happy to say, we are still married!

So here you go .... Jim's "Twin Horned Toad Lizards"

Happy Day!

Karen Anne

"Dance Of The Gecko's"

I have had numerous requests to illustrate a gecko design and this past week I finally did just that!  Here is my latest piece of art titled "Dance Of The Gecko's", hope you like it!

Some new One Dollar ACEO's.....

"Kickin' Back At White River"

 

"Zentangle On Blue" 

 

"Undersea Panel Number Three" 

A Wonderful Surprise from Australia!

Today in the mail I received a wonderful surprise from my Etsy friend in Australia, SunshineShelle.  Awhile back I had won an ACEO at SunshineShelle's Blog (be sure to check out her blog, it's great!) and I sent her a photo of our little miniature pinscher, Danny Boy, and asked if she could do him.  Well, today, her beautiful ACEO Original of Danny Boy arrived!  Shelle did a beautiful job on capturing his expression and I just have to share it will all of you ....

This is the photo I sent to Shelle of Danny Boy

 

And THIS is what she did!  Beautiful!

 

Thank you so very much Shelle!  

I just love it!

"Home of One Dollar Open Edition ACEO Art Prints" Plus Free Shipping in the USA for the month of May!

I was going through my shop the past few days and realized I needed to restock.  I also checked to see what other artists are selling their ACEO Prints for and soon realized I was one of the very few who offers $1 Open Edition ACEO Art Prints.  So, I thought I'd dub my shop "The Home Of The One Dollar ACEO's" .... kinda catchy, don't you think?

Anyway, in looking over the number of One Dollar ACEO's I have available I realized I have over 100 One Dollar ACEO's in stock!
You can find over 90 different ones in the One Dollar ACEO Prints Section
and over 30 in the One Dollar ACEO Alphabet Section.

In addition to a great supply of ACEO's on hand, I am also offering free domestic shipping for the month of May!  To apply the discount enter the code FREESHIPPINGUSA on your order form in the coupon box as you are checking out!

One dollar ACEO's and free shipping - Wow!  You can't get much better than that!


May you always have
Love to Share,
Health to Spare,
And Friends who Care!

Karen Anne aka IrelandBrady

The Times Of Danny Boy

Good Day!  I have four new ACEO's to share with you.  These little drawings are all based around the character and antics of our little min pin, Danny Boy.  Danny Boy loves to be outside when it is warm and the sun is shinning.  But occasionally he does get

"Caught By April Showers"

At other times he will be outside, enjoying a warm breeze and soaking up the sun when out of no where he will be surprised by 

"Danny Boy's Nemesis"

Most of all Danny Boy loves going on long walks in the early evening hours with his "Dad".  Danny Boy especially enjoys the springtime and is constantly stopping along the way and 

"Taking Time To Smell The Flowers"

Once he and "Dad" get home from their evening walk, Danny Boy proudly bounds into the house to let "Mom" know he has done his job and exercised "Dad"!  For this outstanding job he earns a reward of some kind, in this case it was one of his favorite treats - A Chew!  Unfortunately, this presents the poor little fellow with 

"A Dog Gone Dilemna"

And he is confronted with the challenge of finding the ultimate safe hiding place for his treasured treat!

May you always have

Love to Share,

Health to Spare,

And Friends who Care!

Karen Anne

A New ACEO

Hi all!  It's been a bit since I have made an original ACEO so I decided to take on this month's ACEO Challenge with its theme of "April Showers".  I have additionally taken on a challenge from my hubby to draw a picture of our little miniature pinscher, "Danny Boy".  Drawing animals is, in itself, a very big challenge to me so I have really made a concerted effort to study Danny Boy and finally came up a small illustration that I will actually share.  Bear in mind that Danny Boy loves flowers (he is always burying his little nose into any flowers he finds on his travels) but its "I'm out of here" when it comes to showers!  That said, it took a real act of courage by him to pose for this illustration, he hopes you appreciate his efforts.

This little ACEO is titled "April Showers Bring Sweet Flowers"

May you always have

Love to Share,

Health to Spare,

And Friends who Care!

Karen Anne aka IrelandBrady

"Would You Like To Be Included?"

Hi!  The other day I was wondering how I could better connect with people when I complete a new art piece.  I currently post them on my blog and list them in My Etsy Shop; the only additional places I promote my work are on My Twitter,  My FaceBook Fan Page, sometimes in Etsy Team Forums, plus The Acetsy Team Blog and VAST Team Blog.

What I really want is to connect more personally with those who have expressed in interest in my pieces.  So I sat down and thought why not make up a group email list of those people?  That way, when I complete a piece of work or have a special promotion I can let them know before the general public.

In these group mailings I will send all participants only "Bcc" copies so that your email address will NOT be shared with others.  I don't work fast enough to be overwhelming your inbox with a lot of excess mail so, if you would like to be included, you can let me know by sending an email request to me at     IrelandsMusings@mail.com     (an address I set up just for responses to this post).


May you always have
Love to Share,
Health to Spare,
An Friends who Care!


Karen Anne Brady aka IrelandBrady

"Discount Coupon for Blog Followers"

As a small thank you to all of my blog followers, for the entire month of April I am offering a discount of 30% on all items in My Etsy Shop.  If you would like to make use of this discount, use the code MYBLOG30 on your order form when you are checking out.  The discount will be automatically applied to your purchase.  The discount will not apply to shipping and handling.

May you celebrate a joyous Easter Season!

Karen Anne