"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

Pyro in Training in Ink ...

Today I transferred the pencil sketch to Stonehenge Paper in ink.  I am pleased with how it turned out and look forward to beginning the coloring process.  I am also saving copies of the ink drawings for coloring pages, it is always fun to surprise neighborhood kids with a fun page to color!

I'm going for a similar background as I did with the first Lil' Dragon but am inclined to doing him in blues, lavenders, reds and possibly green this time ..... we'll see!

Take care and happy day!

Karen Anne

Toddler Dragon - Ink Rendition 6-12-14

Here is phase two of my Toddler Dragon, basic lines done in black ink.  All ready to apply color!

Back up to my studio to begin adding some color!  Since my acrylics haven't arrived, I begin this version with colored pencils (wet & dry) and finish it off with ink ... will be fun to see where it goes next!

Bigs hugs my good friends!
Karen Anne

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*