The Circle of Life – Karen’s Spread Ink and Coloured Pencil
I have finished my part of Anna Warren’s book in the second collaboration that I am part of. The theme for Anna’s book was the circle of life and, as I am in a vegetable moment, I went for the life cycle of the pumpkin.
The Circle of Life – Cover
Anna’s book is beautifully crafted , you can see that she has printed the cover and her attention to detail is fabulous, it must be all that miniature work that she does. I wanted to snatch my book back from her so I could finish it better, but for better or worse mine is on its journeys and I won’t see it back until it is full of fabulous drawings from the others.
The Circle of Life – First Page
This is the first shared page on which I have scattered pumpkin seeds and then followed it with the image of the pumpkin flower. Aren’t pumpkin flowers just fabulous, the colour and the shape, plus the fact they are so fragile, when they grow into such big sturdy fruit.
The last page has the pumpkin of course and although I have been buying all these weird shaped pumpkins, I went for the traditional ones. This is taken from some I bought on the weekend which have the most wonderful pumpkin shape, but are really only tiny about 8cm tall. I scanned the image but Anna’s delicate pencil drawing has not come up well. See the link at the bottom of the page to her blog to get some lovely images of her work.
The Circle of Life – Shared spread
This book will now wing its way across to Cathe in the states, as I await Gales to arrive here. For those of you who want to see what the others have been doing here is the links to their posts on their blogs.
Anna Warren’s Book – Circle of Life
Gale Everett Stahlke’s Book – Water
Cathe Jacobi’s Book – Collections
Karen Bailey’s Book – Patterns in Nature – Forest
I cannot tell you how much we are all enjoying this and being able to share the process with each other and our blogging friends.
Karen
Karen Bailey Studio 
Great work Karen. Its a delight to see your drawings.
Thank you so much, I am pleased you liked my work, this is such a fun project. Karen
Very lovely and so well done. Your pages are amazing! The pumpkin seeds are a nice touch. From seed to big squash …
So pleased you liked what I added to Anna’s book. The circle of life theme made it easy to pick what to do for each page. Karen
Karen I love seeing what you have added to Anna’s book. Your seeds to pumpkin are beautiful drawings. I love how your colored pencil pops off the page! Your color palette holds together so nicely from page to page! I can’t wait to see all of this with my very own eyes and to hold these beautiful books in my hands!
Thanks Cathe, it is one of the best parts to finally see each other’s work in real life. You just don’t get the subtlety of Anna’s work until you see it, just beautiful delicate work. It will be heading your way soon. Karen
These books just get lovelier and lovelier. Wouldn’t it be great if all of them could be exhibited in a gallery or museum space together? I think this one is actually my favourite so far.
I agree Julie, it would be great to see them all together. They may need to do another round so we can each see them finished. Karen
Wonderful drawings!
Thanks Mary, it is a joy to work with such talented artists, it makes you dig deeper. Karen
Nice work, Karen. It’s always gratifying to see one’s work in print!
Thanks Richard it was good to get back to the coloured pencils.
Karen – I just LOVE what you have done! The wonderful twirls and shapes of the pumpkin flower and the rich colours of the seeds and complete pumpkin … what more can I say. You have such a great sense of colour and design. It would be good to have them all together at some stage, we have to work out a way!
So pleased you liked what I did in your book! Such a great theme it was easy to know what I wanted to do. I have sent your book off to Cathe now for her to work her magic. Karen
I am drooling at your yellow flower colored pencil piece….seriously wow! Is it a pumpkin flower or a zucchini bloom…or something different…but oh my, love it!!!!
Thanks Rebecca, it is a pumpkin flower. I am glad you like it. I was trying really hard to make sure it was a decent drawing as it was going into such a special book. No second chances in a book. Karen
Karen, Anna’s book arrived today! Wowza, what a gem it is. Both you and Anna created the most stunning work that plays perfectly together. I’m going to just gaze at it for some time, letting it guide me!
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