Sunday, June 30, 2013

Mousetrap

8x5.5 watercolor on Strathmore Visual Journal mixed media paper, drawn with Pigma Micron 03 pen today while getting my hair styled.  I actually did two more sketches while waiting, so who says that's a waste of time...I can't wait until my mom sees this one as she has a phobia of mice.Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Laundry Basket Cat

6x8.5 watercolor of this colorful tabby squeezing into a wicker basket as cats are wont to do any time they see a box.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Friday, June 28, 2013

Turtle on the Rocks

8.5x11 watercolor and ink of a large turtle on the rocks imaginary scene complete with water, grasses, and lilypads.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

Nosy Dog

6x6 watercolor over Pigma Micron 01 ink drawing on paper, another one of my new dog pet portrait works being featured on new Tumblr blog, http://bowwowsandmeows.tumblr.com so do check it out.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Quaint Country Patterns

15x22 watercolor, painted wet in wet, from a still life using fresh flowers (sunflowers and hydrangeas) in old pots.  They're sitting on antique tablecloth popular in the 50s, along with a fresh garden tomato.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

More New Check Advantage Designs - Longhorns

More new personal check designs are now live online with Check Advantage, a Wisconsin company who does artistic images on address labels and check covers also. This Texas longhorn original watercolor, Stock Market, depicted here is SOLD. To see other designs visit this link:
http://new.checkadvantage.com/kay-smith-checks
All my artistic check designs are copyright Kay Smith 2013.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Ropin' Calves

11x8.5 watercolor over ink on paper in this western rodeo scene.  I sanded colored pencil into the wet paint as can be seen here, for texture indicating dust.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Monday, June 24, 2013

Birds of a Feather - Cockatoos

22x15 watercolor of three yellow crested cockatoos amongst vivid orchid-looking tropical flowers, an imaginary scene.  I love to paint white birds and each endeavor is a challenge to sneak enough color into their wings to have proper value scale.  This one was done a few years ago wet in wet on 140 lb cold press paper.  I've used some negative painting shapes here and there.
Image is COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2010.

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Kitty Litter

15x22 watercolor of a litter of 5 kittens, some playing, some watching, and others staying inside their blue cat carrier.
This image is SOLD. 
Copyright 2008/2013 Kay Smith.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Ruby Red Dog

12x9 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper, drawn and painted recently for a weekend drawing event on WetCanvas; photo courtesy of Gail Bowers.  Ruby is Gail's dog.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Friday, June 21, 2013

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Cheeky Chihuahua

11x8.5 mixed media (watercolor, Caran D'Ache crayons, ink) on paper.  This fellow reminds me of a tiny Chihuahua I had growing up, a registered dog weighing less than 2 lbs, named Peanut.  After catching him peeing on my Barbie dollhouse, he found a new home with a neighbor, and I switched to cats.  This painting is featured on our new Tumblr blog, http://bowwowsandmeows.tumblr.com/ that Vernita Bridges Hoyt and I started recently, so check it out!
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Gotcha! kitten

4.5x6.5 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper, an orange and white tabby kitten reaching out to grab you!
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Check Advantage new checks are live!

My new personal check designs are now live and are online with Check Advantage, a Wisconsin company who does awesome artistic images on address labels, check covers, checks, etc.  These donkeys depicted here were in a pasture close to our family farm, and the background is imaginary southwest scene.  To see more within the Donkeys designs or just to see what is available, visit this link:
http://new.checkadvantage.com/kay-smith-checks
Images are COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

Old Milk Can

5x3.5 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper of an old rusty milk can sitting in the grass and flowers by a country fence.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Monday, June 17, 2013

Happy Hydrangeas

16x28 watercolor, a floral from one of my first pink hydrangeas, drawn from life and painted quickly.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Sunday, June 16, 2013

All Wound Up kitty

5.75x8.75 watercolor on color sketch paper drawn yesterday and painted today, a small painting of Jezebel when she was a young kitten, playing until she wore out and crashed.
Image is COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2013.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Poppy Panache

16x28 watercolor on Langton 140 lb cold press paper, drawn from imagination and excitement over painting poppies again.  Some of the blooms are fragmented, upside down, windblown or curvy, but each has its own panache in this loose, splashy floral.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Friday, June 14, 2013

Kool Kat

6x6 watercolor over Pigma Micron 01 ink line, a simple cat design of a very cool kitty in his red shades.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Horsin' Around

6x6 watercolor over Pigma 01 pen drawing of two horses just horsin' around, painted last week from an old photo that I had taken which included some sorrels, but I cropped them out.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith

Additional CHECK Designs Soon!

Next week, Check Advantage company will be offering more of my designs! Here is one of the Horses group of 4 images, detail from a painting my cousin Rich White owns. Of the 12 new group sets, the horses are but one exciting and unique versions of fine art on checks, address labels, etc.  The company will feature print orders from our originals that you may frame and display, hopefully a little later on in the year.
I'll post again when the new ones are online and available soon.  Image is COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2010.

http://new.checkadvantage.com/kay-smith-checks To order yours, click the link!

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Sweet Bell Pepper

6x6 watercolor over Pigma Micron 03 line drawing, done from life, from a fresh green bell pepper.  I cut a side of it so its inner abstract parts could be seen and painted.
Image COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

Curious Kitten

6.25 x 5 watercolor on 300 lb Saunders cold press paper, a curious fellow checking out the trash bin, backlit by the sun.  This is today's daily work.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Monday, June 10, 2013

Splash In

15x11 watercolor on Fabriano 140 lb rough paper, done a couple of days ago for the weekend drawing event on WetCanvas! Photo ref courtesy Gail Bowers who hosted the event where you choose an image out of 16 given, then draw and/or paint it within 2 hours.  I also painted her dog Ruby, which will post later.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Sunday, June 9, 2013

Chefs' Surprise

10.75x16 watercolor over India ink drawing of a busy kitchen, done yesterday during the weekend drawing event on WetCanvas. This was drawn with no pencil, ink only, and painted under 2 hours.  Ref courtesy Gail Bowers.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Saturday, June 8, 2013

Timeless Brilliance

12x9 watercolor garden statue scene that is part imagination and part fantasy.  I've included tall hollyhocks to go with the figure for a dreamy timeless brilliance.
COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Splash 14 Light & Color

North Light Books newest Splash series book is out this month! My white cat painting is featured in it.  You can pre-order by visiting this link http://www.northlightshop.com/splash-14-best-of-watercolor-w7951  that should have "Sinatra" reclining on his antique store furniture.  Inside the book cannot be seen electronically unless you place an order.

Here is the blue eyed boy himself as I painted him in August 2011.  This work was sold to a collector in Bangkok, Thailand.  Size is 15x22 watercolor, COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2011.

Friday, June 7, 2013

Zebra - negatively painted

6x6 image of a young zebra which was done without any pencil sketch beforehand; his stripes were filled in using only black ink to create the shape.  This style of working is called negative painting.
COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Thursday, June 6, 2013

Hawkeye

9x12 Tombow black brush pen with watercolor on Bristol board 300 series, painted last weekend during WetCanvas' Weekend Drawing Event.  In that challenge, an artist must choose a subject and draw and paint within a 2 hour time limit, or if not done, photograph their progress at the 2 hour mark.  With this cropped version of the raptor, I only intended to do a value study with the Tombow initially, then decided to add watercolor for a glimpse into the hawk's environment.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Pear Tree

6x6 watercolor over Pigma Micron 01 drawing on paper, painted a few days ago from some old pear tree photos.  Painting fruit is so much fun as you can exaggerate the colors, texture, and values.
Image COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Tuesday, June 4, 2013

Hunter Cat

9x7.5 Tombow brush pen, black, to do a value study on Bristol 300 series paper, then I added watercolor to that.  This kitty's name is Buffy and belongs to a customer/friend nurse in Houston.  I like to mix a realistic subject with an abstract background.
Image COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Monday, June 3, 2013

Crow on Fence

6x6 watercolor painted last week of an imaginary lone crow perched on a white picket fence.  Pigma Micron 01 pen and Daniel Smith watercolors were used in this ink and line wash.  I love to paint crows and they are great sellers.
Image COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Sunday, June 2, 2013

Tyson Farms Hens and Rooster

20x16 watercolor of a rooster and his hens by their chicken coop; this work is SOLD.  I used one of many poultry photos taken at my friend David's country farm.  They look so scared, initially its title was "Terror at Tyson Farms" as they might have been hearing they were taking a trip to market.
COPYRIGHT image 2013 Kay Smith.

Saturday, June 1, 2013

Little Bulldog

6x4 watercolor pet portrait drawn in pencil last week and redrawn today on 140 lb hot press paper; painted with Daniel Smith paints.
Image COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.  This fellow will be featured on our new pet portrait blog on Tumblr, called Bowwows and Meows.

Dry Desert Icons

30x22 watercolor on Kilimanjaro 140 lb cold press paper painted earlier in the month. I have painted this southwest landscape mission more ...