New one

Recently it came to my attention that a set of images depicting Vespa scooters I put up here 7-8 months ago was of interest to someone in Italy. While the original pieces posted here are not available for use as they are owned by the Vespa Corporation, I felt that it would be fun to create something new that I would own and could allow people to use, (if they ask me nicely). This is what I came up with. I added a few new elements, such as color on the person riding the scooter, some shadows, and a few other things. I do this because the person interested in the original imagery was so kind and took the images down (they were on his blog) right after I asked, see what happens when we are all nice to each other? I love it. If you are interested in seeing this new image on the blog it was created for go CLICK HERE.

X-Files

This past Sunday I got to see a GREAT movie, the "The X-Files: I Want To Believe." It was so much fun. The story was interesting, the acting great, the relationship between Scully and Mulder was wonderful, and there was just a touch of humor. And in the end, Scully and Mulder sailed away in a row boat across a beautiful ocean, something that made me just a little jealous, I admit. As for this picture, there was a tiny scene depicting a priest leaning against a wall in the movie. He looked completely lost in thought, really in his own world, I loved the simplicity, quiet and color of the image, so, I thought I'd try to draw it. For those of you who have seen this movie, I know this isn't what the movie was about, but you just can't help what images strike you as interesting. It may be a cloud in the sky, or a pattern in the rug, or someone waiting for a bus, it is what it is. This image is part drawing part collage and I like the softness and open spaces mixed with layers of color.

(PS. thanks Ben, I loved it.)

Print Purchasing and Shipping Policies

Welcome to my blog, I am excited to share some of my artwork with you. If there is something regarding purchasing a print, shipping, etc. that I don't cover here, please email me: karaboulden@hotmail.com

I accept Paypal. When you decide to purchase a print, please let me know which one you would like and I will create a temporary button here on my blog that you can click on. It will take you directly to paypal.com where you can pay. I ship packages within 1-3 business days after receiving payment.

In general I ship to anywhere in the United States. The items in the next paragraph apply to these shipments. If you are from somewhere OUTSIDE OF THE USA, please contact me for pricing and shipping options.

I ship all prints in thick, sturdy mailing tubes. Prints come with protective paper around them for easy removal from tube. I ship all prints via United States Postal Office, first class mail, for one base price, $25.00. Prints come uninsured. Shipping can be upgraded or insured, but I will need to check the cost at the post office and charge extra.

For prints purchased in the USA, I purchase delivery confirmation when I ship prints. So, if it looks like your print is lost, we have an easy way of figuring out where it went.

I am committed to making making your experience on my blog positive. If items arrive damaged, I'm happy to refund your money, less shipping and handling costs ($5.00).

Please note: Prints come hand signed by me, unless you specify otherwise, but copyright information you see on images here WILL NOT appear on your print.

Thank you and I hope to see you here on my blog often.

Kara

Meerkat

Back again to the land of "Meerkat Manor." A couple of posts ago I put up a picture of the Kalahari Desert which I drew after being inspired from the amazing landscapes depicted in the tv show "Meerkat Manor." After I put that picture up I suddenly wanted to draw an actual meerkat. This drawing was rare for me, in that it took several drawing sessions to finish. Normally, I like to finish drawings in one sitting. What is there to say about this picture? The meerkat is cute I think, but they are so cute in real life that that's not surprising. One thing that was interesting about creating this drawing was putting in several meerkats. I seem to stick to one subject per drawing in most cases, so that was sort of fun.

Just a fun FYI: the big meerkat depicted here is a temporary babysitter. I've learned from watching "Meerkat Manor" that one or more older meerkats volunteer (or sometimes, are volunteered) to stay behind and watch the little ones at one of many burrows while the rest of the family forages for food. The sense of family among meerkats is really amazing to watch.

Really big

About a week or so ago I put up some pictures of baby birds in a nest attached to the building where I work. Checking up on them from time to time has become a fun past time. The baby birds are so big now that they almost don't fit in the nest anymore, it looks like any second now the nest will explode and they'll all have to fly or fall. For an added bonus, it's also scary out there because it only takes about 2.5 seconds before the little bird's parents start swooping at me, aiming for my head. I got to work a few minutes early today so thought I'd see if I could get an updated picture of the birds to put here. I also took a picture of the area just around the building, mostly because the nest picture is so boring in color. See the wall at the right side of the picture of trees and railing? Just around that corner is where the nest is, that is about as close as I can get to it.

Meerkat Manor

There is a fantastic show on Animal Planet called "Meerkat Manor." It's about a family of meerkats called the Whiskers who live in the Kalahari desert in Africa. It's awesome. If you're interested, CLICK HERE to see Animal Planet's webpage about the show. It's definitely one program on tv (or borrowed from your local library, in my case) that I'd wholeheartedly recommend.

How does this relate to the picture above? The landscapes shown on "Meerkat Manor" are really pretty, the red sands of the Kalahari look amazing next to the vivid blue skies. I've been trying to keep images from the show in my mind to draw. Here is what I came up with. I especially like the tree trunks in this image.

Influences

Influences. Recently there has been so much to think about in the news. Lets be frank, so much to be worried about if you want to lean that way. Gas prices going up, food prices going up. Talk of global warming, pollution, animal species in danger, coral reefs dying. Politics, world wide issues of all sorts. We all, or at least most of us, worry about money, do we have enough, what if there is a crisis? Lots of us are tired, traffic is frustrating. There are bills, credit cards. There are of course good influences too, don't get me wrong. Family, nature, books, to name a few. In thinking about this over the last few days, about daily influences, I started to form an image in my mind for a picture I wanted to create. I pictured an image that was made up of lots of things, influences. Everything, every influence in this image lived next to the other one. To me this represents the way things really are, nothing is separate, we all go through every day with so many things jumbling about in our brains. Really, it's a wonder that we are as sane as we are. Back to this image in my mind, all of these influences are jumbled together under a shiny clear dome, with sparkles on the surface. What is this image saying? I think it's saying that everything does co-exist. It's ok to feel a multitude of emotions and thoughts throughout the day. It's nice to think things through and realize that this is a crazy world but damn it all, it I like it anyway. Is that too simplistic? Probably. But that's what I've got so far, I'm sure as I keep thinking about this and as I look at this picture, I'll come up with more conclusions. For now, if you click on this picture to see the details, here are a few of the items that you will see: a lightbulb, a yawn, my family, trees, money, a flag, a gas pump, books.

Different

I discovered a new option/tool in Adobe Illustrator and I am enjoying it. It makes lovely swirls on things. So, I wanted to create something with swirls for this blog. I think it's fun, mostly because it's exciting to discover new tools to use in the art programs I use that make pictures look better or different.

Attacked by swallows

This isn't the normal sort of thing you'll find here but, I saw something really cool today. Sometimes, I find it necessary to take a quick walk around the building at work to clear my head. This afternoon I stopped in a corner by my building to look at the Jordan River for a minute. Only a couple of minutes passed when two swallows started dive bombing my head, really, it was scary. They swooped over and over about 6 inches from my head. It was pretty unnerving so I backed away inches at a time and slowly they stopped coming so close. It was about then that I spied the source of the trouble, a bird nest on the wall next to me with about 6 baby birds looking over the edge. I ran up stairs, got our camera, a co-worker who was interested, and took these pictures. I nearly lost my eyes due to bird attack so enjoy them. The nest is especially interesting as I've not seen too many nests built out of mud. CLICK ON THE IMAGES to see detail.

The way it is

This is a view from I-80 heading up through Parley's Canyon in Utah. I've noticed this spot several times on mini road trips with my husband and always liked the solitary look a particular tree next to a slightly winding path. I'm fairly satisfied with this picture. It actually looks very similar to the image I have in my mind, this doesn't always happen so when it does it's exciting.

The state of things

This morning I saw a picture of a woman standing still, behind her, there were colors rushing past. There was a feeling in the image that she was standing still as the world flew past. It didn't feel like she was standing still and letting life pass her by, more that as the world progressed in it's chaotic rushed fashion, she was not being dragged along with it, she was at peace. I loved the feeling of this image and wanted to create something of my own like it. This is what I came up with. In the end, I think this piece is interesting. As I sit and ponder this picture, I'm hopeful that I can see the world in this fashion, to be at peace with the state of the world; yet, at the same time, I want to contribute in some way, make the wrongs and the negatives less. Here's to hoping.

Pink and Blue

When I draw, I don't normally start with they eyes, I did that here. Traditionally, the way to draw something is to draw general shapes all over the drawing, make a generalized map if you will, and then work in details all over slowly, this way, things are laid out in a way that makes sense and everything ends up relating to everything else nicely. For example, if you start with the eyes and put in a lot of detail, you'll often be sorry when you discover that you have lovely eyes but they are in the wrong place. So, that in mind, I created this drawing wrong, but I was having such a lovely time drawing the eyes that I kept drawing them til the were finished. This made the rest of the drawing trickier, but I think that in the end I like what I have. I did have to start mostly over half way through, (I did save the eyes, nose and mouth) but the drawing finally worked out in the end. I really like all the white spaces and the soft way colors blend into each other. If you click on the image, you'll find a surprise (hint: give it a minute, you'll see it).

Animate this - CLICK PETE to make his eyes blink

I'm working on animating some images for work and am finally to a point where I really like where things are going. It's gotten me really excited so I wanted to animate something small to put up here. I decided to make Pete's eyes from a picture I posted a week or so ago blink. It's such fun to create something that actually moves, even though this is really such a small animation. You must CLICK on PETE to make his eyes blink. Long live the thrill of new creations and making things finally work, in this case, Pete blinking on a flat surface.

*I created this animation by taking my "Pete" drawing that I created in Adobe Photoshop and adding more layers. I created a layer for each phase of eye blink, more black on each layer, until I could see Pete blink by turning on and off several layers. I saved my document (as a psd) and then opened it in Adobe ImageReady. I made enough cells to match the number of Photoshop layers I had. For the first cell I turned on the main Pete picture, full eyes open. For the next cell I left the main layer on and turned on the next layer as well, that layer showed black for his eyes to be closing just a little. For the next cell I left the main layer on, layer 2 and turned on the third layer which showed more black so his eyes would look just a little more closed. I continued this way until i had the full blink laid out in separate cells. Then I hit the "play" button. I then adjusted the time for each cell (you can adjust this by clicking under a cell and selecting a different time to have that cell run) and saved the whole thing as an "optimized gif." Nice!

Iris

This iris has been sitting here unfinished for a few weeks on my computer. It finally got finished today because I wanted to go back to drawing things for fun, skip all this trying to make things more "fine art" somehow. In trying to create something more fine art, I ended up creating the semi-awful pears in my last post. What's the point of that? What's "fine art" anyway? That question has been going around since someone first picked up writing implement and created an image. Fine art is what you decide it is. As for this picture, I like it fairly well. The blue sky and clouds were added just before I finished this drawing and I think they add a lot. Instead of a flower that felt fairly stationary, I have something growing outside in the fresh air, where we should all be.