Born free,

 as free as the wind blows
As free as the grass grows

Born free to follow your heart

~John Barry-Born Free~

Elsa  Kathryn Hansen 5x8 (c)2014

Elsa was a bit of a challenge for me, and I felt I was all over the place with her. At times I wanted to quit, whining in my head that it was too hard, but I pushed along slowly and in the end I am extremely content with her! She will be one of two possible pieces I will be entering in the Pencil Art Societies International Art Exhibit this summer. I still need to draw the other one tho!! But I do have till June, so I'm not too worried about it.

~up next~

Baboi, the cat who won my contest over on Facebook at the beginning of this month. I started him last week but I wasn't pleased with it...he needed to be cropped in so his dazzling eyes were more prominent. So, I started over and now I'm just trying to figure all that fur! 

Elsa's story

Just as the sun was peeking over the horizon we saw 4 moms and a little over half a dozen chubby cubs high up on a rocky ledge, gazing out over the land. They were very active, getting in some playtime before the heat set in. We sat and watched their activity for well over an hour.

Elsa is inspired by the magnificent lions we saw that day in Samburu while on safari in 2010. 

I am loving the challenge of drawing Elsa, and as I nail each difficult section I feel a little triumphant, knowing I am expanding my skill level a bit more! As a high contrast drawer, and lover of black and white images, the eventual black background will be very dramatic with the lighting on her face! Can hardly wait to finish her!

After days of rain and a finished portrait

There is nothing like Southern California after 4 days of rain...crisp and clean! We should  get a breathtaking crop of wildflowers in the mountains this spring because of it! SO exciting to think how beautiful it will be!

I finished Fred just as the Oscars concluded last night!

Fred  (c)2014 8x10 Kathryn Hansen

Now on the drawing board: 

Elsa, a new lion that I've been dying to get started for the past 6 months. I am keeping it small, 5x8 because if it turns out well I'll be entering it in the Pencil Art Society's first International Exhibition. I have sent a few commissioned pieces overseas, but I have never sent framed artwork internationally, I have only entered shows that I can drive my work to, so if I do get in it will be intriguing to pack it all up and ship it out! 

Percy will be back on my board as well! He needs to be done by the end of March as I want to enter him in the Birds in Art Show in Wausau Wisconsin.

AND

I am holding a cat contest over on my Facebook business page. If you would like to enter, the winner receives a matted print of their beloved kitty! Just send me up to two photos at kh@kathrynhansen.com. Best of luck!!

Sunday!

A Sunday well-spent brings a week of content. ~Proverb quote~ signed, numbered and dated 50 scotty prints for most of the morning! shortie tried helping but his idea of help was knocking everything on the floor...which is really not helping at all in my opinion!  had a lookie loo to my left out and about mid-afternoon in my home town for my next commission...i thought the flintridge stables with JPL and the mountains in the background would represent the area well. still giving it thought tho. worked late afternoon and into the evening on fred. sammy thought it was time to quit and go to bed even tho talking dead had only just started. he's not into zombies like i am!

a day at the fair!

on sunday my boyfriend and i were off early to palm springs, a relatively fast two hour drive east of us. we spent the day there for his birthday and to attend the palm springs fine art fair. my friend and fellow artist, katherine kean was showing her amazing atmospheric paintings thru the izen miller gallery, seen behind us in this blurry photo! 

the internet does not do her work justice, but that can probably be said for most of us! if i were somehow lucky enough to win the lottery, i'd be immediately knocking on her door to buy her work, that's how much i love it!

Marc Sijan sculpture with Katherine Kean work behind

the fair had a very similar feel to the la art show, but in my opinion, at least this year, i could related to much of the artwork and found soo many pieces of beautiful work that i was swooning over!!

lori fields was definitely one of the artist i fell madly in love with, and spent a lot of time talking to the gallery owner about.  you absolutely have to see her work in person, as with it being encaustic you miss all the awesome details lost here on the internet.

we saw even more art at an outdoor art fair along palm springs main drag. all of this had my brain reeling last night and today! so i am feeling a bit restless, wondering about my own work and where i want to take it. at least for my "gallery" work, not my commission work. this year i wanted to experiment way more with different techniques such as silver leaf (which i did start in december) graphite power and different surfaces, but now i feel i want to push that even farther after all the incredible inspiration of yesterday. as today is super quiet here at my day job because of the holiday, i can sit quietly with it and be inspired by all the possibilities!

looking at the world

“Drawing makes you look at the world more closely. It helps you see what you’re looking at more clearly.” 

~David Almond, Skellig~

 off the drawing board:

Soaring Scotty by Kathryn Hansen (c) 2014 9x12

almost off the drawing board, still needs some tweaking:

Cantik

new commission, Fred:

new small (5x7) drawing, Sonni:

still plugging away at Percy, as he doesn't need to be finished until April 1:

 i am finally feeling healthy again (yay!), and back at work trying to make up for lost drawing time! lots of hours now spent drawing (or playing with kittens)!!

“Dogs do speak, but only to those who know how to listen.” 

~Orhan Pamuk, My Name is Red~

Lily Marie by Kathryn Hansen 5x7 (c) 2014

Bella, aka Tuna Breath by Kathryn Hansen 5x7 (c) 2014

these two cuties are from the dog contest i held over a month ago on my facebook business page. winning first place was Lily Marie, an adorable pug Cathy H entered. the runner up was Bella, or as i liked to call her, Tuna Breath! Janice W. entered her. I thank them SOOO much for their entries! they will each receive a matted print of their beloved pets!

the next contest up will be in a few weeks, again on my facebook page. this time i'll be calling for cats...so if you have a favorite photo of your cat, please think about entering them, you may win a high quality matted print of your awesome pet!!