"Watchful Rest" - Tiger ACEO

Saturday, August 28, 2010


"Watchful Rest" - 2.5" x 3.5"

Now available on eBay, this mixed-media painting of a Sumatran Tiger. I used a black micron pen to draw the stripes, then added watercolor for the background and the orange of the tiger. I also used purple paint over the stripes. Then I used color pencil on the tiger for additional detail/shading. The surface is Multimedia Artboard, an archival surface that is stiff and about 1/32" thick. It can be sanded and I rounded the corners with a sanding block before I started the painting.

I took the reference photo at the Sacramento Zoo.
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Materials used:
Multimedia Artboard
Sanding Block
Micron Pen (black ink)
Daniel Smith Watercolors
Prismacolor Colored Pencils
Krylon UV Resistant Clear Spray

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"The Green Snail of Happiness"

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

This is probably the most interesting commission I've received to date - a snail painting!


"The Green Snail of Happiness" - 4" x 4", Watercolor on Yupo with Colored Pencil

My client already owns one of my tomato paintings and my tobacco hornworm painting (see below). I ran into her at an Art Walk in Auburn and she wondered if I could paint a snail. Then she pulled out a photo of a snail that she carried in her purse (because it's cute). I did have to agree, the snail in the photo was cute! And, of course, I could do a snail painting - why not?

I immediately thought it should be in a style similar to the worm, so it would work as a "companion piece". My client agreed and I took her photo with me. I scanned the photo and returned it to her later. Then I took the scan and tweaked it in Photoshop to give it a look similar to what I'd done with the worm painting.


"Green Scourge" - 4" x 4", Watercolor on Yupo with Ink





I decided not to try to attempt the background pattern in the photo, but to make it similar to the worm's background. I made some changes to the foreground grasses also and had to extend them at the bottom so the painting would be square. This was not a situation where I tried to duplicate the photo, but I used it as a guide. Sure, it's a crazy painting, but I'm pleased with the result! And my client's response? Well, she's happy with her "Green Snail of Happiness": "I LOVE my happy little snail!!! He’s just so WONDERFUL!!

Click here to see the original photo and the Photoshopped version of the worm photo.

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"Devotion" - New ACEO

Tuesday, August 17, 2010


"Devotion" - pencil on Bristol, 2.5" x 3.5"

My latest ACEO is a drawing of a chestnut-colored pit bull with a wonderful white blaze and an expression of total adoration and devotion (well, he could just be begging for a cookie). Although I'm a die-hard border collie fan, I have a big soft mushy spot in my heart for pit bulls. We all know they get a bad rap, so part of it is that I like to root for the underdog, but another part of it is that they have such great expressions they make fabulous subjects for my art. And the pitties I've had the pleasure to meet are big ol' goofy love bugs.



My friend Sandy took the photo I used for reference.


Unfortunately, there are a lot of pit bulls in animal shelters and rescue facilities. There are too many being bred and they're a tough sell to potential adopters because of the negative press. So I decided that this drawing will help support a group that rescues and places quite a few pit bulls: A New Hope Animal Foundation. I had listed the drawing for auction on Art By Us, hoping to spark enthusiastic bidding and raise some money for A New Hope, but it didn't sell. So I'll frame it and keep it here for my upcoming September art show.

If you're interested in some note cards of "Devotion", you can find those in my Bonanzle booth.

I scanned the art at various stages of the drawing process, here's a video:


To learn more about pit bulls (which is really just a catch-all term for a few breeds and mixes of those breeds) you can visit Chako.org or Pit Bull Chat.

Oh, and I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that the title for this drawing was provided by fellow artist Judith Monroe - another pit bull fan.

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Mustang Kallie

Friday, August 13, 2010

Just finished, my first horse portrait in graphite pencil - this is Kallie the mustang.


Kallie - graphite pencil on Bristol, 6" x 8"

I've created other horse portraits, but I used ink & ink wash on scratchboard for those (click here to see them). I wasn't working in pencil when I did the previous equine portraits. I'd worked in pencil ages ago, stopped for many years and then started using it again when I began creating ACEOs (miniature drawings). When this commission came in, I wanted to use pencil for it and my client agreed. The main reason for wanting to try this one in pencil is that it's easier to draw a smooth, flat, short-haired area with pencil than with the ink on scratchboard. With scratchboard, I have to make a lot of small scratches to achieve the same look. Scratchboard is great for animals with fur texture, but capturing the smooth blend of tones on the surfaces of a horse are more time consuming.

Below is the reference photo for the portrait. I'll describe the tweaks I made to it for the drawing and point out where I used artistic license. As I've mentioned in previous posts, I work from reference photos, but I have to be aware when to make changes during the drawing process. What may read fine in a photo doesn't always work well for the portrait.


The photo provided by Kallie's owner. Those are her hands in the lower right. I asked her if she wanted Kallie's mouth open or closed, she requested closed.



I rotated the photo slightly for a better head angle. On the left is a line I added to approximate the curve of Kallie's neck where it goes out beyond the edge of the photo.



I converted the photo to greyscale to help me see the tones better. I also lightened it to see more detail.


I only took one photo of the work in progress. You can see how I tidied up her mane. I liked the way her forelock looked, so I didn't change it very much. To fill in detail that was hard to see in the photo and to see how her mouth would look closed, I sifted through my archives of other horse photos where their heads were at a similar angle. I also posed my own horse and took a couple of photos.

The mane and forelock were a challenge because Kallie is a grulla (greyish) color with a black mane and the photo is dark. The ends of her mane/forelock hairs are faded from the sun, so they're lighter. And I wanted to make her mane smoother than in the photo. So this is where the artistic license came in - instead of trying to copy the photo exactly, I used contrast and texture to render these areas and have them stand out from her head.


You can see the lighter ends of the forelock in this detail.


Detail of Kallie's muzzle.

I'm very pleased with the way this portrait turned out, but if you'd like to see equine pencil art taken to the next level, check out the amazing work of Karmel Timmons.
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Materials used:

Strathmore Bristol A heavy weight paper
Saral Transfer Paper I use the grey (graphite) for tracing the initial line-work to the the Bristol
Faber-Castell 9000 Pencils I love these - they're smooth and rich. I start with a 2B and then darken areas as needed with 4B & 6B. I used an F in the light areas of the ear.
Kneaded Rubber Eraser I use this for lifting areas where needed. I don't "erase" as much as "blot" or "lift". I can shape the eraser into a point or an edge to lift out small areas. I also use it to erase any smudges on the paper.
Workable Fixatif To set the graphite when the portrait is finished so it won't smudge.

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