Wednesday, April 30, 2014

Utah Barn

15x11 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper drawn and painted yesterday for a weekend drawing event; photo courtesy WetCanvas! host Patrice.  This old useless ramshackle barn is falling down along with the old wooden fences and corrals of bygone ranching days.  I used a b&w print and ignoring local color, made up my own, with foreboding dark skies, distant hills, middle and foreground weeds and foliage.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Sex Symbols and Cellulite

5.5x8 watercolor with Micron 01 and Sharpie black inks on Strathmore Visual Journey for watercolor paper drawn and painted yesterday.  Another in my women gone wild series you may see familiar faces or even your own.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Monday, April 28, 2014

Birds and Blooms

15x22 watercolor on 140 lb cold press, an older still life I set up in studio of fresh flowers, antique birds, and my faux stained glass windows.  This work has been SOLD.
Image is COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Sophie Yorkie No. 2

6x6 watercolor and ink with Pigma Micron 01 pen, drawn today and painted in a loose manner on Masters paper.
This little Yorkie (Yorkshire terrier) belongs to Chery Carter Joy and is the second painting of Sophie from my iPhone photo.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Saturday, April 26, 2014

Sue Ann's Susans

15x8 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper/Daniel Smith paints done today.  Based upon an older blackeyed susans (rudbeckia) composition, this new floral is a commission for my cousin Sue Ann. Sure hope she likes it! This work is SOLD.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Friday, April 25, 2014

Sexpots and Sirens

7x10 gouache and ink (Pigma Micron 01 and Sharpie felt tip) on Canson mixed media paper drawn and painted this afternoon, the second in my new women series.  On the left we have the brunettes and blondes on the right for a total of 5 femme fatales.  I did not intend to separate them.  I like the Latina lower bottom left as she is the prettiest.  The blonde in blue short jumpsuit is a sexpot for sure.  Total fun!
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Girls Just Wanna Have Fun

5.75 x 8.5 gouache and ink (Pigma 01 and medium fine tip Sharpie pens) on Color Sketch buff colored paper done today.  An imaginary group of hussies and floozies decorate the fun composition, just a mishmash of mamas getting ready to party.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Wednesday, April 23, 2014

Pear No. 2 - torn paper collage


9x6 torn paper collage on matboard drawn and begun yesterday then finished up a few hours ago.  Since it is only my second pear collage and I stuck the numeral 2 in its midsection, it had to have that designation.  A furniture leg is its stem and I really like the sneaky way a tater tot appeared below the numeral, food is food, right? I've posted the first pear below here.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Here is Happy Pear 8.5x7 torn paper collage on matboard done in October 2012 that is now gone to a collector.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2012 Kay Smith.







Tuesday, April 22, 2014

Wild Cat Eyes

6x18 watercolor on 140 lb cold press Arches paper of a wild leopard's piercing eyes.  This work is SOLD.
Image is COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2014.

Monday, April 21, 2014

Sophie - Yorkie Puppy

5.5x8 watercolor with Micron 01 pen sketch on Strathmore Visual Journal for watercolor 140 lb cold press. I drew this Yorkshire terrier puppy of Cheryl Joy's yesterday while we drove to Midland, then painted her today quickly.  When I photographed her, she tilted her head back and I thought it was a cute pose.  She is the main watchdog at the Heritage Museum in Big Spring, TX.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Sunday, April 20, 2014

Shy Thai Girl

8.5x5.75 gouache, ink, Caran D'Ache on Color Sketch paper done yesterday as part of a weekend drawing event on WetCanvas.com.  Host Joel Loren provided 16 photo references to use and we had only 2 hours to select, draw and paint our choice then post it on the All Media Art Events forum there.  Joel is from the Phillipines and took many photos from a trip to Thailand.  This little girl was trying to hide behind ribbon streamers during a church event.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

Two Apples

12x9 watercolor with colored pencil color sanded into the wet washes, a simple still life of fruit I wanted to paint before they got too ripe.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Friday, April 18, 2014

Pink Anemones Windflowers

9x12 watercolor drawn with my brush (no pencil) of fresh anemone blooms, commonly known as windflowers.  This grouping was painted with Daniel Smith pigments on 140 lb Canson cold press paper and finished yesterday.  A new color, Blue Bice, by American Journey and sold by Cheap Joe's Art Stuff, is the soft turquoise seen in the background of this imaginary garden scene.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Thursday, April 17, 2014

Mr. Stripes kitty

6x6 watercolor and ink line wash on Masters paper painted last week while in the mountains.  Mr. Stripes had the Siamese blue eyes but the alley cat's lined fur, a really handsome fellow, always ready for mischief.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Wednesday, April 16, 2014

Seagull - First Art Abandonment

 4 x 5.25 mixed media collage on matboard done yesterday in preparation for abandoning it today.  Media used:  Watercolor, gouache, oil pastels, cocktail napkins, acrylic white paint on tissue, India ink and drawn with Pigma Micron 01 pen.  After reading The Art Abandonment Project (NorthLight Books) by Michael deMeng this past week, I just had to join the hundreds of thousands of artists who make an item then leave it in a public place, photograph it, and hope the artwork will cheer some soul.  Just after leaving the seagull in clear plastic ziplock bag in this Big Spring store, I saw one of the cashiers whom I recognized from our country club's kitchen.  She said she had to take a second job as the club cut her hours.  So I'm hoping she walks to the back chip section and sees the tag saying A Gift for You and opens the little present from me.  See below. Also known as "guerilla art", this project is worldwide, even in Antarctica, and has its own Facebook page of same name, Art Abandonment.  Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Rabbit Watch - Happy Easter!

6x6 watercolor and ink on Masters paper done a few days ago while in the mountains of New Mexico.  This bunny is saying to all of you "Happy Easter!"
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Monday, April 14, 2014

Pansies, Violas and Spade

5x7.5 watercolor floral still life vignette featuring a tiny clay pot of violas and/or pansies and an old gardening standby tool, the spade.  I painted this a few days ago while in the mountains on my Moleskine wc book, wishing warmer weather and rain would come for planting.  My old spade has seen brighter days but still gives its all while repotting or dividing plants.  The new plastic coated spade is just not the same.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Sunday, April 13, 2014

Daffodils

5.5x8 watercolor of fresh spring daffodils painted yesterday while in the mountains of New Mexico.  The bottom leaves are negatively painted by first applying a light value wash, letting dry, then using darker values, paint around stems and leaf shapes.  This was a challenge on WetCanvas.com for the Weekend Drawing Event.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Toucan

30x22 watercolor of a large toucan bird happily sitting on his tree branch, painted on 140 lb cold press paper.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith

Friday, April 11, 2014

Juicy Pears

15x22.5 watercolor on Lanaquarelle 140 lb hot press paper painted without any references in a loose, colorful, splashy style, three pears lined up, ripe for eating or cooking.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Thursday, April 10, 2014

Feline Friends Feasting

6x6 watercolor and ink of two long haired tabby Maine coons, two friends eating catfood side by side till it is all gone.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014

April Anemones

12x18 watercolor on Strathmore 140 lb cold press paper of multicolored imaginary anemones swaying in the April breeze. I completed this new work yesterday after starting as a Monday class demo.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Moovie Stars cows

30x22 acrylic, ink, Caran d'Ache watersoluble crayon, and wax crayon on 140 lb cold press paper, one of my reworked ones from a pink floral now morphed into Holstein cows.  This work won an award at Southwestern Watercolor Society show a few years ago for creativity, and is now SOLD.
Image is COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Monday, April 7, 2014

The Deep - koi watercolor in Ponds & Water Gardens

15x22 watercolor painted earlier in a negative manner with no predrawing, just splashing paint on and seeing koi fish shapes, then developing them.  This painting is featured in Ponds & Water Gardens Volume 18, 2015 annual edition magazine I just got today. The editor did an article on koi art and included mine and Laurie Justus Pace's work among others.  I did mention Big Spring in the article!It's a beautiful issue and now I want a koi pond! This image is SOLD.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2010 Kay Smith.

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Orange Twist Daffodils still life

22x15 watercolor still life floral done today with colored pencils sanded into wet washes and oil pastels accents, an imaginary scene featuring two types daffodils, pears, bird figurine, cup and plate.  I was attempting to paint in the Shirley Trevena style, an English artist I greatly admire who ignores the rules and has a much looser style.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Saturday, April 5, 2014

Signs of Spring (oil)

18x24 oil on canvas of pink geraniums in white wicker chair, a simple porch floral still life scene set up which I also did in watercolor, a recent post.  The silk flowers were placed into a heavy pale blue basket and morning sun gave nice colorful cast shadows on the chair back.  I still have the chair but it is spray painted lilac.  This work is SOLD.
Image is COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Friday, April 4, 2014

Palm Breezes

30x10 watercolor of the very top side of a Florida palm tree completed today. I was going thru all my tree, Florida, Bermuda, and Nassau photos, and selected one to do a detail of instead of the entire trunk and all those fronds. Since Mollie Jones and I are going to be in Indian Rocks Beach in August teaching watercolor, this one got me into the tropical mood. It was a chilly day here and a sandstorm yesterday, so why not dream of the beach and its charms?! Daniel Smith paints:  Quinacridone burnt orange, magenta and gold, Undersea Green, Gamboge, UB, Manganese, arylide, Prussian blue on 140 lb Canson paper cold press.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Thursday, April 3, 2014

Gardening

18.5x14.75 watercolor and colored pencils on 140 lb cold press Arches paper, a very old totally imaginary work dated 1996.  Colors were splashed on for an underpainting, let dry, then negative shapes carved out first for a female figure, then picket fence posts, pots and flowers.  There's no rhyme or reason here as I did not know design/composition.  I had it on consignment with Ellen Barefoot in a downtown Big Spring antique store; they closed years ago and she forgot it until recently and returned it.
Image is COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Wednesday, April 2, 2014

Leaves

4.5x4.5 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper/Daniel Smith paints, a small square work I began to show students how to do negative painting of leaves, stems, and twigs.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Tuesday, April 1, 2014

Bunny Mojo

7.5x5 watercolor on Moleskine, drawn and painted yesterday of an imaginary Easter bunny exercising his mojo.  He's wanting Easter to hurry up and that's no April fool!
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

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 ...