Greek Church

8x5.5 watercolor on Strathmore Visual Journal mixed media with Micron 01 pen drawn and painted today.  Ref courtesy Maureen on WetCanvas who is hosting this weekend's drawing event in the All Media Art Events forum.  I changed the photo somewhat by extending its edges and elongating the foreground buildings of the old church.  I really like its colorful green rooftops, golden yellow flag, and 3 crosses.  The bluish/purple detail trim I also made up.
Image COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Geranium Pots

15x22 watercolor on Fabriano Artistico 140 lb rough paper, done yesterday and today, drawing from life.  The central and right pots were made with broken china years ago during my mosaic phase.  The left pot is commercially made and this along with the white metal railing are at my studio front steps; mosaic pots arrangement is imaginary with an extra step.  The fuchsia colored geranium is my favorite.  Although this one is watermarked copyright, I've hidden my signature within the composition which I'll try to do from now on.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Jersey Heifer cow

6x6 watercolor over inksketch, an outline drawn back in March but never completed of this fresh faced sweet Jersey heifer.
Image COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

The Ones That Got Away - male collage figures

30x22 torn paper collage over gouache and watercolor, a design composition I've gone back into.  Initially, this one was watermedia and drawn in charcoal and it didn't work, so I used torn paper and collaged the central guy with a cigarette.  Still it was off, so this weekend past with 3 days off, I tackled it again, applying more torn magazine pieces adhered with acrylic matte medium to the two side men.  Some areas around the main guy's white shirt were refined.  Each guy represents those hunks that 'got away', so I was laughing and reminiscing.  Phrases such as Snake Charmer, Control Freak, Grow a Pair, honeymoon, the ones that got away, etc., can be seen incorporated into various areas.
Image COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Great Dane Dolly

5.5x8 watercolor and Pigma Micron 01 ink pen drawing on Strathmore Visual journal for mixed media, painted this weekend.  Sharron on WetCanvas is Dolly's owner, and she featured the huge dog on our current Weekend Drawing Event.  This work was done in under 2 hours per the rules.  I did run out of room for her very long front legs!
Image is copyright 2013 Kay Smith.

Delicious Apples

6x6 watercolor and Pigma Micron 01 pen of a group of imaginary red and green apples, painted a few days ago.  I have been busy doing 1-2 drawings a day then painting them later.  This was fun as I did splattering when dry using contrasting paint.  Some varieties are Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Red Delicious, McIntosh, etc.

Wild Goldfish

6x6 watercolor over Pigma Micron 01 ink sketch I painted a few days ago in my hotel room in Gilbert, Arizona.  Painting time was very quick using no color reference, just pure artistic impulse or intuition.  For over a month now you may have noticed watermark placements on each image posted, and this is now a necessity, as my images are being lifted (stolen) and sold unauthorized.  This is copyright infringement and is protected by Copyscape on this blog.  Sharing or posting via Facebook or Pinterest is acceptable, but downloading for private or commercial use is prohibited.

Buttercup a cat portrait

16x20 watercolor of a relaxing sleepy garden cat with his head on a brick.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Irish Setter dog pet portrait

10x8 watercolor dog pet portrait of a customer's Irish setter lounging on his bed.  This work is SOLD.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Watermelon Slice

6x6 watercolor of a cool watermelon slice drawn yesterday and painted today on Masters paper sketchbook.
Image copyright 2013 Kay Smith.

Lookout Cat

12x9 watercolor of a black and white cat looking out the door window, painted today on Canson Montval paper, ref courtesy WetCanvas RIL.  Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Taco Belle cat ink sketch

8.5x11 Pigma Micron 01 ink sketch on Masters paper, a cat pet portrait finished yesterday, of our longhaired friend Taco Belle.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Parrot Blend tulips

30x22 watercolor on Lanaquarelle 140 lb hot press paper done this afternoon.  After painting so many pet portraits lately I thought it was time for a spring floral!  My ref photo was taken in the Netherlands by my friend Barbara and I used only the large parrot tulip upper right.  The others are all imaginary as to colors and shapes.
Image COPYRIGHT 2013 KAY SMITH.

Expressionistic Spaniel

6x8.5 watercolor on blue tinted paper/Daniel Smith paints. I drew this Cavalier King Charles spaniel in about 10 minutes yesterday then spent about 35 minutes painting in an Expressionistic style today.  To me, she appears very happy chewing her bone so I used vivid brights and not local color.  Karmela belongs to Thaesha in California, this weekend's drawing event host on WetCanvas in the All Media Art Events forum.  She set two challenges for us and I chose to paint in this style rather than my usual realism.  I hope she likes how happy I've made her pet portrait! It was a fun one to do.  Thanks, Thaesha!

Bell Peppers

6x6 watercolor on paper, done today of bell peppers on the vine, back when we got rain and could grow vegetables.  (Temp was 106 F. today)  I started doing a contour line drawing with Pigma Micron 01 pen then decided to color it in with complementary hues of greens and reds.

Graffiti Cat

8x5.5 watercolor, Caran D'Ache crayons over Pigma Micron 01 ink drawing on Strathmore Visual Journal done today.  At first I just put in watercolor and it looked so blah boring! So the crayons were added for a little graffiti touch.  Now I like this cat and tail!
COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith

Tomato Time

5.5x8 watercolor drawn from life yesterday using Pigma Micron 03 pen on Strathmore Visual Journal paper.  I had bought a couple of vine tomatoes so drew those two then added the other three at random as if they all had joined stems.

Cat Eyes

6x6 watercolor and Pigma Micron 03 ink on paper of one of my tuxedo cats who is no longer with us.  He always liked to hide and think he was invisible.  I have painted his pet portrait many times as have other artists.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.  Do NOT copy!

Tropical Buildings

6x6 watercolor over Pigma Micron 01 pen sketch; some tropical setting buildings I photographed in Florida and Puerto Rico. I enjoyed the warm coral and cool turquoise colors of these coastal hotels.
Copyright 2013 Kay Smith.

Klimt Kritters

4.25 x 6.25 drawn yesterday with Pigma Micron 01 pen on 140 lb watercolor paper in the Gustav Klimt genre.  A chicken and a border collie have nothng in common except Klimt!Copyright 2013 Kay Smith/Do NOT copy.

French Windows

5.5 x 8 watercolor and Pigma Micron 01 pen painted today.  This is a close crop of a larger building featured on WetCanvas Weekend Drawing Event, ref courtesy of Kat, who lives in France.  The original photo did not have a red geranium in a clay pot in its upper story window; that was added by me for a touch of hot red.
Image COPYRIGHT 2013 KAY SMITH; Do Not Copy. 

Calico Corner - pet portrait

9x12 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper, drawn yesterday and painted today.  I did do a previous ink sketch using my grey tabby for a model, then changed to a calico for a little more pizzazz.  The background is left loose and abstract garden shapes morph in mixed greens and blues.
Image is Copyright Kay Smith 2013.

Baby Snow Leopard

5x4 watercolor over Pigma Micron 03 ink drawing on 140 lb cold press Arches paper; Daniel Smith paints used.  I love how this little fellow's tongue sticks out!  Ref courtesy of Jilly on WetCanvas.

Mane Event

22x30 watercolor done today from a previous small horse with flowing mane.  This one is on Italia Acquerello 140 lb soft press paper and I worked wet on dry, but wet areas with large flat brush first before laying in paint.  I was trying to make this fellow a dappled grey, so just let colors run and spread of mixed palette neutral pigments.  Background was left white of the paper.
*Image copyright 2013 Kay Smith.

Curious Cow

9x10 watercolor of a very curious Holstein cow, an imaginary scene done today on Canson 140 lb paper.
Image is copyright 2013 Kay Smith.

Bike Shadows

12x9 watercolor done this afternoon on Canson 140 lb cold press paper, using my ink sketch as seen below this image.  Using no photo reference, only the sketch, I quickly laid in a background wash of primaries arylide yellow, ultramarine blue, and permanent rose.  When dry, I used dry brush technique to put in flowers (parrot tulips mostly) and do details on this blue bike.  Its shadows were very important so that area painted with a mix of alizarin crimson and ultramarine blue.  The blue bike's color is cobalt.  Happy National Bike month!


Inksketch, 11x8.5, Pigma Micron 01 pen
All images Copyright 2013 Kay Smith

Chief Horsefeather - Indian figure

24x18 watercolor on Aquabord, drawn today with a brush dipped in watercolor onto the clay surface.  I had not really explored using this product although it is made here in Texas, and was given this large piece I'd started a failed portrait on.  Using the ink sketch (below) from a recent drawing, I had no photo reference, only an imagination.  Lifting most of the paint then blotting with a paper towel seemed to work fine as it could look quite heavy.
Images copyright 2013 Kay Smith.

6x6 Pigma Micron 03 ink sketch.

Cruisin' cycle

9x12 watercolor on Daler Rowney Langton 140 lb cold press paper, drawn and painted today, an imaginary sunny street scene.  May is National Bicycle month so this one is quite appropriate with its fresh hydrangeas spilling out of a handlebar basket.

Timeworn Truck

10x15 watercolor, 10 minutes to draw (no pencil) in black India ink then 1 hour approximately to paint an old truck and shack scene in graphic style (bold line, atmospheric, comic book, flat, etc.).  Dark clouds moving in on the scene were laid in first with raw umber violet, raw umber, prussian blue and sap green over lighter underpainting of cobalt ultramarine green.  I kept adding paint to wet washes and hoped for no mud as this was thin Canson paper 140 lb.  Ref featured on this weekend's drawing event on WetCanvas, courtesy Li Newton.

Cowskull - mixed media collage

18x12 mixed watermedia collage on matboard, begun yesterday and finished today.  I will post the steps below to show how this one was set up; it is based on an ink sketch and follows no photo reference.  I used pages from an old western paperback novel, colored tissue wrap, toilet bowl covers, and paper napkins.  All were adhered with matte medium and some areas manually removed for texture. Some of the novel's text talks about a ranch, an old bull, and cowboys which I've let show through the acrylic glazes.

My original idea sketched out on 6x6 sketchbook, Pigma Micron 01 pen, about 20 minutes.

A vertical matboard scrap serves as the support for this unplanned collage; here you can see the torn pages, papers, and possibilities. Some areas are left blank.  Now I'm going with the flow of the southwest theme despite collage papers design and/or colors.  Next the skull will be drawn.

Drawing outline with fine line Micron pen loosely over the rough surface which I've decided should be or could be a rug or blanket behind the skull.

This view shows middle area and top painted with Liquitex artists acrylic and Derivan Matisse background acrylic ground paints.  The skull itself has white gouache and titanium white acrylic thinly applied to allow some collage to show, but not all.  Eye sockets are a mixed black of midnight blue/quinacridone burnt orange watercolors.  At this stage, I have no clue how the painting will evolve or if it is headed for the trash bin. 

Here in step 4 the background is now blocked in with Matisse colors to mimic the hues of southwestern lands:  Clays, raw umbers, ochres, siennas, etc.  Next I will add color to the blanket or rug sections, edges, and fringe trim trying not to get too symmetrical or predictable that you can now see in the finished and final image first post.  I took the Micron pen again and added a few circular shapes for ball fringe and here and there to emphasize areas.  Hope you all like it!

All images Copyright 2013 Kay Smith.

Consider the Lilies of the Field

30x22 watercolor of red daylilies with an abstract background.  This was painted wet in wet and is SOLD.
Image is copyright 2013 Kay Smith.