A Couple of Goats

Thursday, April 26, 2007

Gimme Some - color pencil ACEO by Ann RanlettAnother ACEO - this one is of a pair of goats I photographed at last year's Placer County fair. The larger goat was nibbling on a bit of alfalfa and the smaller one was interested in its buddy's (perhaps mom's?) snack, so I decided to title the drawing "Gimme Some". Both goats had stuck their heads through their pen into the adjoining one where a small pile of alfalfa had been left unattended.

When I started this color pencil ACEO, I wanted to document my steps and create a video of the progress. So now, I have 2 videos on YouTube. Actually, I have 3, but the third one is just a condensed version of the goat demo - I have a link to the short video on the eBay auction for the ACEO.

This is the reference photo I used for "Gimme Some", the goats are standard goat colors. I wanted something more vibrant for my drawing, however, so I chose purple and orange for the goats and yellow green for the background. reference photo for Gimme Some

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2 New ACEOs

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Haven't posted in a while and here I have 2 posts in one day! This'll be a shorter one than the last . . . and with more pictures.

Just listed this tabby kitten ACEO. I call it "The Look", 'cause she has that "look" that we all know - cute as heck, but devilish and mischievous too! Hey, she's a kitten - she can't help it. I took this photo a while back at FieldHaven, a local feline rescue and adoption center. I always take my camera when I go over to visit since there are plenty of great photo opportunities.
The Look - watercolor/color pencil ACEO by An Ranlett
Click on the image to view the auction. And yes, I know the kitten is green - it's intentional.

I also have this Thick-Billed Parrot listed - the auction ends in just under 3 days. This is the second TB Parrot ACEO for me - search previous posts for the first one.
Pine Nut - color pencil ACEO by Ann Ranlett
At the request of one of the bidders on this auction, I've also created some TB Parrot earrings. Those are in my store and will be available indefinitely.
Thick-Billed Parrot earrings by Ann Ranlett
Click on either image to view the auction.

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My First YouTube Video

Although we're still limping along with a dial-up internet connection, I decided to try my hand at creating a video to post on YouTube. The reason I even considered this is that I'd been reading about a number of art-related videos recently uploaded by some members of the eBay artists' groups to which I belong. I hadn't bothered to try viewing any of the videos because I knew the dial-up time delay would just make me crazy. But after reading all the rave reviews, curiousity got the better of me. So, I logged onto YouTube, found one of the videos, started it loading and went elsewhere for a while. Upon my return (probably 40 minutes later?) the video was ready for viewing. I was not disappointed - and was, in fact, inspired to create one of my own.

I learned that I could create a similar video using Windows Movie Maker and I chose to focus on a selection of my ACEOs along with some info about the mini-format paintings. The creating was fun and relatively easy, but the music searching & downloading and the video uploading were not - can you say "time-consuming"? But I persevered and am quite pleased with the result. I found a wonderful piece of music on a free download site and I e-mailed the musician (Krysna) to ask her permission to use it. She graciously agreed to allow me to use her song "SunDance".

So now, I present, taa daaah, my first YouTube video:

click on the image to watch the video

To view some of the other art-related videos, visit the "favorites" section of my YouTube channel.

I plan to create some more videos and would like to come up with a couple of "work in progress" demos, but it'll have to wait until we get broadband - which is finally on the horizon (literally). We found a broadband service that has a tower visible waaaay across the valley from us, if we stand down near the bottom of the driveway and look through a little hole in the tree canopy. There's a bit of work to do before they can come back and set us up, but there's light at the end of the tunnel. We have to put a pole in the ground (in the line of sight to the tower) so a receiver panel can be attached to it, then we have to run the cable from the pole, through conduit which we must put in the lawn that we have to trench to bury the conduit. Then I have to crawl under the house to feed the cable over from the side of the house where it comes out of the lawn, under the house to the far side where it will go up through a hole in the floor of my office. And, yes I volunteered to crawl under the house - getting broadband means that much to me!!! You can be sure that I'll be completely covered from head to toe - gloves, hat, bandanna around my face, with pant and shirt cuffs taped down - NO spiders or other creepy crawlies will be climbing inside my clothes!

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Mermaids and Musk Oxen

Saturday, April 07, 2007

More thoughts and a bit of inside info from the world of ACEOs (miniature art that was "born" on eBay). I've been creating ACEOs since late 2006, and since then I've seen that one of the big "fads" is mermaids. To see the mermaid phenomenon, click here and you'll get a list of the current mermaid themed ACEOs on eBay. Now, don't get me wrong, there's some wonderful mermaid art created by some very talented artists, but the subject matter just isn't my "thing" and I think I can safely guess that by this time next year another subject will be in demand.

Now it would be tempting to paint a mermaid, because so many people are and because it just might sell, but I'm not one to follow trends, so I had vowed not to paint a mermaid just because everyone else was! And besides, animals are my favorite subjects, not people or "people-like" creatures. Ahh, but never say never, right!? Well, I have to admit, I broke down and did one (but just one) mermaid ACEO. The kicker (and this is where I'm rationalizing my decision) is that it's subversive, a bit twisted, not at all serious and I did it because I (and a number of other ACEO artists) was feeling a bit snarky about the whole mermaid thing. With some inspiration from a few other subversive mermaid ACEOs, I came up with the lovely and fragrant ManureMaid. She didn't sell, but I did enjoy sharing her with my fellow snarky ACEO artists. She IS still available, by the way; if you'd like to check her out and read the full story of her "birth", click here. Manure Maid - mixed media ACEO by Ann Ranlett

And now for a few words about Musk Oxen . . .
The homely yet intriguing musk ox (or muskox) has a fan in an eBay buyer who posted his wish for ACEOs featuring this creature. Boy, did the ACEO artists respond! Not unlike the mermaid craze (although a bit shorter lived), a musk ox craze was born. ACEO artists jumped on this one like a duck on a june bug. Musk oxen in a variety of media and styles were created in the span of a week or two after the buyer's request came to light. There are still a few available now, although our dear buyer appears to have had his fill. One of the ACEO artists wrote this blog post that's an excellent summary of the musk ox art proliferation and of ACEOs in general. To see the currently available musk ox art, click here. Of course, you know I jumped on this band wagon! Our musk ox fan purchased 2 of my pieces (the first 2 shown below) - click on their images to see the archived listings. There are currently 2 more available (the last 2 shown below). The very last one, the skull, represents my decision to make that my final musk ox ACEO - I'm pretty sure that 4 is sufficient. The title, appropriately enough, is "The Last Musk Ox".

Musk Ox by Gosh - scratchboard ACEO by Ann Ranlett Too Tundra Fun - mixed media ACEO by Ann Ranlett Mystified Musk Ox - color pencil ACEO by Ann Ranlett
The Last Musk Ox - scratchboard (and color pencil) ACEO by Ann Ranlett

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- - - All art and images ©Ann Ranlett, unless otherwise credited. All rights reserved. - - -
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