Sudderth Drive

12x9 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper painted last Monday, the first day of our Florida workshop at Indian Rocks Beach Art Center.  This is from my photo of our last trip to Ruidoso, New Mexico.  Sudderth is the main street of the village and I was excited about the women shoppers and the red pickup truck in the composition for this townscape.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Tropical Trees - negative painting

12x9 watercolor on 140 lb cold press Canson paper, a negative painting exercise I began to demo last week at the Florida workshop. First lay in light value wash of varied colors, let dry, then take the next value and paint behind in between spaces to form tree shapes, going darker each time.  No pencil drawing was done.  With this imaginary scene, I've put the setting sun on bottom left with water.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Tiger

11x15 watercolor and India ink on 140 lb cold press paper, done last week in Florida workshop; photo courtesy Stephie Butler. She taught us how to cut a drinking straw at an angle, dip in ink, then apply to black areas.  When dry, apply paint to dry paper.
Image COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

White Cosmos finished

12x9 watercolor of white cosmos finished today by adding stems, leaves and background to a WIP.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

White Cosmos WIP

12x9 watercolor work in progress or WIP, on 140 lb cold press paper, a new support I bought last week in Florida at Michael's arts and crafts store.  These three freehanded cosmos blooms are from my own studio flowerbeds that were so lovely before the drought.  Now all that I can get are a few roses and hollyhocks.  The fun in rendering white subjects is all the unexplored color nuances within each shape that the artist can hunt for then paint.  Stay tuned for the finish!
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Portrait Little Girl in Plaid Shirt

15x11 watercolor from last Tuesday's portrait workshop as instructed by Stephie Butler; photo ref courtesy PMP.  We were to put down clean water first on dry paper then add light values of cerulean blue, permanent rose, and aureolin, let dry, then go around the little girl's face then hair.  Mixes of the primaries created the mauve tones and other secondary colors as seen throughout in this vignette.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Everybody Loves Geraniums

15x22 watercolor of clay pots of geraniums, which was my demo last Thursday teaching at the Indian Rocks Beach Art Center in Florida.  It is a variation of garden still life I've done a couple of times, and was trying to finish it in 1 hour and think actual time was 1.5 due to late start and answering questions.  Color sanding was done into wet areas with watersoluble colored pencil and fine grit sandpaper for textural effects.  This work is SOLD.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Lion

9x12 watercolor and ink on Canson 140 lb cold press paper painted today, using the techniques taught to us last week during our Splash workshop in Florida (photo courtesy Stephie Butler).
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Indian Rocks Beach

8.5x5.5 watercolor and ink, using Micron 01 pen on Masters paper, a beach scene adapted from a local brochure painted last week.
Image is (C) Kay Smith 2014.

Main Chef

11x11 watercolor of a chef smiling I drew from life from a small kitchen figure.  Painted in a direct manner this fellow will cheer up anyone.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Marina

15x22 watercolor wet in wet of a marina scene complete with boats, fishermen, docks and bait houses.
Image is COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Dragonfly with Poppies

13.5x16.25 mixed watermedia on matboard, a large dragonfly superimposed upon mature red poppy image with smaller blooms below.  Its wings were done with silver spray webbing available in fabric stores; image is on matboard that was gessoed.
Image is COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2010.

Burst of Flowers

18x11.5 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper, another experiment of different techniques:  Wet in wet on upper loose flowers with stamping of real leaves when dry, then dark pink cosmos with lace stencil lower right overlapping top part.  White paper is left blocked. This would make a great greeting card design.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Strawberry Jam Time

15x22 watercolor still life of fresh strawberries spilling out of bucket and containers, a wet in wet demo done awhile ago for one of my all day Saturday workshops.
Image is COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Chickadee - torn paper collage

10x13.25 collage of torn paper on acid free matboard begun last Thursday and finished Friday before leaving on my Florida trip.  This chickadee was a demo for a private art lesson and will be yet another in my series of those sweet birds.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Coconuts Crazy - redone

20x22 watercolor of bunch of coconuts in lovely palm which was way too high key when I painted it a couple years ago...took it out of its frame and repainted the background, several of the nuts and part of the trunk.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Red Barns Scene - ACEO

2.5x3.5 watercolor done a few days ago on cold press paper of a farm with red barn and buildings from one of my old photos.  Wish our grass was this green! This miniature art can also be an artist trading card or ACEO (art cards editions & originals).
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Sweetheart of a Cat - 1st Zentangle WIP finished

6x8.5 watercolor and ink (Micron 01 pen) on blue tinted Color Sketch paper work in progress finished.  All I added on this WIP to complete it were earth colors:  Raw umber, sepia, quin burnt orange, raw sienna, painting wet on dry with 1/2" flat brush.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Sweetheart of a Cat - 1st Zentangle WIP

6x8.5 ink on blue tinted Color Sketch paper done today of a cat, my first zentangle attempt.  She is modeled after my stray rescue Taco Belle, a Maine coon.  Her beard is patterned zentangle as is the heart at the top of her head.  With this work in progress, tomorrow will add watercolor for her fur, keeping the patterns as is.  Pen used was Pigma Micron 01 by Sakura.
COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Chickadee Trio

6.5x4.5 watercolor on Langton 140 lb cold press paper done today.  I was in a mood to continue with another imaginary blackcapped chickadee painting in my series.  Right now I have too many series going on! The cows, the chefs, the wild women, the food, you name it.  Besides, I've not done any chickadees in awhile.  Tomorrow the plan is to start one of the little birds in a torn paper collage and probably finish that later.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Ripe Cherries - ACEO

2.5x3.5 watercolor on 140 lb cold press Langton paper, done yesterday with brush only, no pencil drawing first.  These luscious cherries are just waiting for you! Miniatures such as this one are also called artist trading cards or Artist Cards Editions & Originals.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Contemporary Cow

20x22 watercolor and gouache on Lanaquarelle 140 lb hot press paper, a colorful contemporary version of a common cow patterned after one mass produced seen in a gift catalogue.  I first drew in pencil on the hot press paper then painted the background with Periwinkle Blue (American Journey), ultramarine blue plus white gouache and small amounts of Blue Bice (AJ).  Stamping done when dry using old strawberry plastic box as a stencil and Grumbacher true red paint.

Bluebird and Daisies

22x10 watercolor painted today, a nature scene with manmade old wooden picket fence posts and cheerful daisies.  I love to paint these garden imaginary set ups.  The bluebird is surveying his surroundings as he starts his summer day.  Support used is Lanaquarelle 140 lb hot press paper.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Wild Mare - ACEO

2.5x3.5 watercolor on Langton 140 lb cold press paper done today, a miniature in size but large and powerful as only wild mares can be.  Also known as artist trading cards they are called Artist Cards Editions & Originals.  You can mat these and frame them in a wider format; I've seen some with very big outside edges that make stunning displays on a wall.  Visit my Daily Painters gallery (link on right sidebar) to purchase via PayPal.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Calico Curiousity

9x12 watercolor done today in about 1 hour for WetCanvas weekend drawing event.  Painted on Canson 140 lb cold press paper I used Daniel Smith/American Journey paints. Photo ref courtesy Dewi/reference image library WetCanvas.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Texas Cow - a reworked watercolor on Yupo

 

AFTER

20.5x20 watercolor on Yupo, a reworked piece today from the image below which I flipped upside down then drew in pencil the cow's outline.  Since the red, white, and blue are Texas flag colors I decided to play up the dark indigo or navy blue and have larger amounts of white with touches of red.  The callas below were cut about 5-6 inches and that image was featured on yesterday's blog as a horizontal almost abstract design.  The cow image was inspired by one seen in a gift catalog that was mass produced, so stay tuned for more.  Yupo is medium weight.  I thought the white calla curl at upper left seen below would make a nice nostril. Many of the pigments were opaques to get them to adhere to the support; in other areas I simply lifted all the paint.  Pattern areas were made using a plastic strawberry basket.  Size of callas below was 26x20.

 

BEFORE

Geo Callas

5.5x20 watercolor on Yupo medium weight synthetic paper done today from a larger composition.  I took fake calla lilies and drew them then painted geometric lines over the background for an abstract look with a realistic subject.
Image is COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Baby Elephants

6x12 watercolor and India ink on Strathmore 140 lb cold press paper done this afternoon.  Using only mixed leftover palette paint to make a grey or neutral, I first put in an underpainting over the pencil drawing (same baby ellie repeated 3 times).  Next I did a bit of modeling of values using other mixes such as quinacridone violet and green gold with UB.  I rewet their backs then drew black ink across to resemble their baby hair.  Lastly, when dry, splattering with a brush loaded with quin gold and quin burnt orange finished them.  Image courtesy Lin/WetCanvas for August Animal & Wildlife forum challenge.
Image is COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2014.

Free Rides at County Fair

6x8.5 watercolor and ink on Color Sketch paper done today.  Photo courtesy Andrew of WetCanvas, featured on August Watermedia monthly challenge, which he took at the Iowa Clay County fair.  I've omitted much of the carnival background detail and clutter as well as the foreground.  Pen used is Pigma Micron 01 by Sakura.  This work is now SOLD.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Ray's Woman

22x15 watercolor of an imaginary nude from the back I painted awhile ago for a friend's husband's bathroom.
This work is SOLD.
Image is COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Luscious Lilies

11x15 watercolor on Kilimanjaro 140 lb cold press paper drawn and painted for today's work, another floral from my never ending supply.  The pink is actually several colors side by side, what we call analogous colors:  Permanent rose, quinacridone violet, magenta, pink, coral; alizarin crimson, Grumbacher red, transparent pyrrol orange, Halloween orange, thioindigo violet.  Mixed greens are UB, Prussian, indigo, green gold along with quin gold, arylide, raw sienna, new gamboge.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Baby Kitten - ACEO

3.5x2.5 watercolor on Langton 140 lb cold press paper of a baby kitten, an art card or ACEO (Artist Cards Editions & Originals).  From the old photo of this sweet bundle of fur it is easy to see she is flexing her front paws as she settles into the old blanket.  Painting this one yesterday I was reminded of Taco Belle who looked exactly like this as a kitten.
Image COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.