Saturday, January 22, 2011

The Uninvited Guests

The Uninvited Guests
30cm x 30cm
Coloured pencils on wood

What fun I had with this artwork! This time the wood was sealed first, then an undercoat of acrylic applied to the appropriate areas, and then two coats of clear colourfix primer was applied. I am struggling now, to find plain pine breadboards, and so tried this bamboo and pine combination breadboard. The bamboo is much harder than the pine of course, and even though I gave it a good sand with a fine sander, it still has more texture than the pine and probably more than I would like, but it was a fun experiment anyway. This is my last artwork on wood for a little while, as I now have to buckle down and do some illustration work, but my goal is to do more of these pieces, as I have so many ideas floating around that I could sit and draw for months - sadly there just aren't enough hours in the day!!!

17 comments:

Kerry Daley said...

I think this is just gorgeous, Karen. It's difficult to comprehend that you have used coloured pencil, that knife is so believable! I would love to have a real good look at this in real life. Much success to you.

Autumn Leaves said...

I agree, definitely not enough hours in a day. I have to say, Karen, that these two mice give me the willies and what a waste of some gorgeously yummy bread! I'd have to toss it for sure. Of course, I'd also have to move...! (I hate mice in my house!!!)

Unknown said...

Thank you Kerry for your very kind words and good wishes. My aim is to get people thinking and wanting to come in for a closer look with these pieces, so I'm thrilled you like it!!! :)

Sherry you make me laugh - I can tell everything is looking brighter for you - your cheeky humour is showing through. I know this image would freak many people out and that makes it all the more fun :)

Mona Diane Conner said...

holy smokes Karen, thought this was a Corel piece!
Amazing!!!

Mona Diane Conner said...

p.s., how big would this be approx. in inches?

Unknown said...

Thank you Mona LOL - this is about 12 x 12 inches :)

Kelly's Studio said...

My goodness, I thought the kitten was adorable...

Beautiful piece of work, Karen, like Kerry I would love to see this in real life - will it be on display at any of the events you go to?

I'm sad it's your last for a while, the wood seems to give these pieces a different dimension. I think your talent might also be something to do with it, hehe!

Little request - Can we have some info on the pencils you used, ie what makes you prefer, too? Do you cover this in your download tutorials?

Unknown said...

Thank you Kelly for all your kind words. I definitely want to put these into some exhibitions, but I'm not sure which ones. It is too small for some of the exhibitions and others specify 'Works on Paper' for drawings, so I may be limited as to where I can put them, but I'll keep you posted.

As for the pencils I use - I do outline all the pencils used in each tutorial, but overall my favourite pencils are the Faber Castell Polychromos, the Prismacolour Verithins and the Derwent Drawing pencils. :)

Bev said...

Amazing work Karen, I love the whole idea and I love the mice!
Another thing to add to my to do list which grows ever longer.

Barbara A. Freeman said...

What a fun piece, Karen! I agree with Mona, it's so real! I can see why the mice would give Sherry the willies! Good luck with getting your illustration work finished.

Unknown said...

Thank you Bev - I know, there are just so many things to try and not enough time - at least we'll never be bored!!! :)

Thank you Barbara LOL - mice never have that affect on me, but I know lots of people can't stand them :)

artbyakiko said...

Amazing work, Karen! Every element looks so real. There are so much to learn from you. Thanks for sharing your beautiful work.

Unknown said...

Thank you Akiko - I wanted to make it look as real as possible, so thank you heaps!!! :)

Artoholic said...

Karen that's hilarious! And in a good good way - It is so life-like I'd leave it on the kitchen bench and hope that it scares the bejeebers out of all the house guests I have when I want them to move on....

This is really on a whole other level to your previous work - just brilliant!

I'm also putting my hand up to say I'd like to see it in "real life". I just want to count all those holes in the loaf...

Unknown said...

OMG Cindy - you're always good for a nice big belly laugh. My brother reckons I should get a whole lot of breadboards printed off with this image on them so people with strange senses of humour can buy them. I'm having so much fun with these and can't wait to do more.

I hope all is going well in WA and you are surviving the heat!!! 41.4 here in Penrith today and they say it will be hotter tomorrow!!!

Unknown said...

Awesome Karen, such attention to detail, bravo!

Unknown said...

Thank you Sam - it's those little details that are so fun to do :)