I feel like I need to stand up and confess a big dark secret…… for many years I have been using acrylic glass for framing pastel artwork and charcoal drawings I send in the post….. I feel so much better now! I’ve had a few run ins with other artists who know better than me about it, if you don’t want to use acrylic glass, then don’t but please don’t tell me I need to be educated! I’ve been using it for 12 years now and have repeat commissions from people who are very happy with their framed pieces. The secret is to use the right acrylic glass. There are many types and quality of acrylic glas ..read more

So happy to share my new pastel pencil video art tutorial with you all. This one is my new red squirrel art tutorial, a very cute little creature perfect for capturing your attention and honing your art skills. Here’s a little timelapse of the full tutorial. Completed with just a few pastel pencils, this red squirrel art tutorial will help you create a soft focus background, short shiny fur, longer soft fur and texture on a branch all using very easy to follow instructions by following a live recorded full length video tutorial. You will be able to create your sketch using my print rea ..read more

My brand new snowy owl art tutorial is now live in my learning portal! I’ve been busy working on a brand new piece, this time a beautiful snowy owl which has been made into a new full length voiced art tutorial. It’s been created using panpastels and pastel pencils on pastelmat from my own reference and imagination so you can use your own completed owl artwork in anyway you see fit as there are no copyright issues (my artwork is copyright protected) So you can create this snowy owl yourself. My snowy owl video art tutorial has been recorded in real time, I’ve left everything in so you can se ..read more

My new rose art tutorial is released! Real time video recorded on the fly showing step by step creation. Rose Art Tutorial It’s been a beautiful summer so far in England and my roses have been thriving in the sunshine. This one lives outside the patio windows and has been blooming repeatedly, the best it’s ever been! It smells delicious, so good in fact it would be rude not to paint and draw it. I took the photograph myself, so again this is a copyright free art tutorial, you can do as you wish with your finished artwork, gift it, print it, sell it and so on. The rose artwork was create ..read more

My new wolf art tutorial is released as a full length video with real time voice over! Wolf Art Tutorial So in this art tutorial I show you step by step how to draw a realistic wolf using panpastels and pastel pencils. Each stage is described in detail  plus you can actually see the techniques I use in the video. This beautiful wolf face drawing has been created from a copyright free image on Pixabay meaning you can do whatever you like with the finished piece, you can sell it, gift it, print it, enter it into competitions and so on as there are no copyright issues at all but aside from ..read more

I use pastel pencils for all my detailed work plus sometimes for base layers too but did you know the lightfastness of pastel pencils varies from brand to brand so not all pastel pencils are created equal!!! Some pastel pencil facts for you – Did you know….. Not all pastel pencils (pans and sticks too) are lightfast! If you want to produce archival and professional work it’s best to find the colour charts for each brand and cherry pick the lightfast colours you will use the most. No brand offers a complete set of lightfast pastels. Art supply manufacturers use a test called the blue wool te ..read more

I love panpastels, I love the way they can be blended on a support like paint. I do own the full set and even purchased the metallics and pearl versions because I like them so much! The official tools used to apply them are sofft tools which are a variety of sponges, some you can slip onto tools of different shapes so you can get into little areas plus they come as big sponges for covering much larger areas. The problem with these tools is they wear out so quickly. I use pastelmat paper which is abrasive and will tear the sponges quite easily, they are good but just don’t last as long ..read more

So when you start creating art, you just want to get on with the exciting part right? The art itself is calling you but how do you get an accurate line drawing to begin with? Been there and done that. Spent days at a time when I first started out trying to create the perfect sketch to use. It’s hard and takes practice and I’m sure it has made many a potential art master give up in dismay. You will need drawing skills eventually but you also need to learn techniques to create amazing artwork. If you have to wait until your sketches are perfect, you’ll take so much time getting there ..read more

So when you start creating art, you just want to get on with the exciting part right? The art itself is calling you but how do you get an accurate line drawing to begin with? (more…)The post Using transfer paper appeared first on Art by Karie-Ann ..read more

I was commissioned to create a springer spaniel charcoal pet portrait of Mia after meeting her humans at a show. Springer spaniel charcoal pet portrait They sent me some photos of the lovely Mia and her pose chosen for the portrait was just beautiful with good lighting and clear details, all perfect for me to use as a reference for a dog portrait. Step by step how Mia was created in charcoals I used a variety of items to create Mia’s springer spaniel charcoal pet portrait including derwent charcoal sticks and pencils, generals white charcoal pencils and panpastel for the backg ..read more