Dewi's Bunny - Almost Easter!

9x12 watercolor done Sunday as part of a 2 hour WetCanvas timed exercise in the All Media Art Events forum. I was able to draw and paint host Dewi's bunny in less than a half hour.  A limited palette was used on dry Canson 140 lb cold press paper.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Quiet Cardinal 4 - torn paper collage

6x8.5 watercolor, Uniball pen ink and torn paper collage on blue tinted Color-Sketch paper drawn Friday and done today, the fourth cardinal in a series of four birds. I was answering a free lesson #sketchbookskool #art4all in which you look at a subject and draw it by not looking at it. With this final exercise they must've felt sorry for participants and allowed 10 quick glances plus an extra bonus of 2 more minutes for details in the initial drawing.  Total time today about 2 hours.  From his polkadot tail feathers to golden polkadot beak and cultured pearl for an eye, this red guy is singing.  An umbrella is serving as his top wing feathers.  This was a fun little series of drawing the same object then making art with each so different.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Quiet Cardinal 3

6x8.5 watercolor, Uniball pen ink, and Caran D'Ache watersoluble wax pastels on pink tinted Color-Sketch paper drawn Friday and done today, the third in a series of four birds. I was answering a free lesson #sketchbookskool #art4all in which you look at a subject and draw it by not looking at it. With this, they cut you some slack and allowed 5 quick glances. Mid-tone underpainting done first with
acrylics then followed by multiple pastels.  It is now possible to go in with a small brush and blend the very vivid pastels since they literally melt once water touches them.  I like this look so it stays for now.  This third cardinal was fatter than the first two.  Tomorrow will be the last bird and will be on blue tinted paper.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Quiet Cardinal 2

6x8.5 watercolor, Uniball pen ink, and Caran D'Ache watersoluble wax pencil on pink tinted Color-Sketch paper drawn yesterday and done today, the second in a series of four birds.  I was answering a free lesson #sketchbookskool #art4all in which you look at a subject and draw it by not looking at it.  With this, they cut you some slack and allowed 3 quick glances.  Mid-tone underpainting done first with arylide yellow, Prussian blue, and permanent rose. Colors were more pink-dominant with strong magenta and violet along with permanent rose.  Yesterday's cardinal had more reds.  Background colors applied very wet with constant dropping in of different ones and drips encouraged.  Not many branches this time.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Quiet Cardinal 1

6x8.5 watercolor and ink (Uniball elite pen) on pink tinted Color-Sketch paper drawn yesterday and painted today.  Sketchbook Skool sent an email with instructions to play.  You select an object and first draw it without looking at your paper.  I used a photo of one of our backyard male cardinals.  I got his back too high where it hits his crown and right foot is unattached to his body.  Background is made up abstract forms and colors.  We were asked to post our results on social media afterwards.  Second bird will be done almost identically but you're allowed three quick glances.  Third bird gets five quick glances.  Fourth bird you can have ten quick glances and are given two more minutes on details (that one is on blue tinted paper as I ran out of pink).  A fun exercise! I'm pretty sure my favorite will be this one as it was sketched so much looser.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Proud Peacock

4.25x5.5 mixed media (Tombow black brush pen, watercolor, and Caran D'Ache watersoluble wax crayons) done yesterday on another magazine card.  Yes, another bird.  I can't stop.  A cardinal series begins tomorrow which will be interesting for all of you bird watchers out there.
Image COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2015.

Spring Hummingbird

6x9 mixed media (watercolor, acrylic, ink, colored pencils) on 140 lb cold press paper done a few days ago.  Using two fern leaves from my kitchen hanging basket, I carefully drew their shapes over paint marks made with acrylics and watercolor.  Those looked lonely without a bird so I put in a hummer half hidden and looking towards the letters spelling Spring.
Image COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

It's Not Yet Easter, Bunny

11x8.5 watercolor and ink line done this past weekend in my Strathmore Journal for mixed media; painted wet on dry with large round brush and colors allowed to mix and run.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Condo Pine and Crow - plein air

11x8.5 watercolor and ink line on Strathmore journal for mixed media, 90 lb.  Sketched with Micron 01 pen on Saturday late afternoon on upper deck of condo in the New Mexico mountains.  Crows were out flying with their loud caw-caw cries as it was warming up in this plein air piece.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Earrings Sketches

5.5x8 ballpoint pen ink on Strathmore Visual Journal for mixed media done at end of February during Sketchbook Skool assignment.  The instructions were to draw with a pen a collection you have and I do have lots of different earrings.  I drew them life size.  The bottom left wooden one has a giraffe handpainted on and was brought to me as a souvenir from South Africa.  The owl is the newest and Brighton scalloped hoop one of my oldest as is the heart bottom center.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Sleepy Calico kitty

4x6 watercolor on a magazine insert card done recently of a sweet calico asleep on her blue blanket.  I tried to use transparent orange and turquoise blue as these are the colors seen most often in New Mexico.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Lookout Gull

12x6 watercolor done last week, brush only, so no pencil drawing or sketch first.  This fellow was from one of my Indian Rocks Beach photos taken in August last year.  I used a fairly limited palette of raw umber, UB, Coastal Fog, and indigo.  Support used:  Strathmore 140 lb cold press paper.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Nesting Hummingbirds

4.25x7 watercolor on paper done today, an imaginary set of three hummers in their nest looking for signs of Spring.  This is painted on a magazine insert card for Birds & Blooms.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Yellow Warbler

5x7.5 watercolor on Moleskine sketchbook for watercolor done today.  I have been seeing these small songbirds and hearing their sounds in our backyard trees and suppose they are searching for bugs.  Hopefully more bird varieties will come when my new feeder is put out.  Only 2 days till Spring!
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Pink Bicycle and Hydrangeas

5x7.5 watercolor over pencil drawing on Moleskine sketchbook for watercolor done today.  I had a very short time for art and it rained all day so this small size gets us ready for Spring on Friday.  Modeled after garden bikes seen in Houston I painted this one pink and made up the blue, pink, and lavender hydrangeas in its basket.  Splattering was done when dry.  The hot orange tiny colored bits are floating petals as Nature is singing.  I did put a hummingbird in but he was lost with so much else going on so he was taken out.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Spring Thaw

8x5.5 watercolor pencils and watercolor on Strathmore Visual Journal for mixed media drawn and painted today.  For our Facebook 20 Birds in 20 Days challenge I added 3 birds in the still cold sky in this small landscape.  This scene is featured on WetCanvas currently as adapted from trees and shadows courtesy Angie.  Bare trees with their skinny shadows crisscross and zigzag along melting snow and emerging green grass for Spring is but a few days away.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.
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Lin's Parrot

11x15 watercolor done today; this is Lin Goodwin's parrot.  Drawn with watercolor pencils on Canson 140 lb cold press paper this fellow was fun and so colorful.  This military macaw is featured on Animal & Wildlife forum on WetCanvas this month and we will reveal our work on Friday.  I'll also put it on Facebook in the 20 Birds in 20 Days challenge.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Bird Neighborhood

15x11 watercolor, brush only, on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done today, another total imaginary scene.  The faded pink birdhouse is from one of my travels as are the goldfinch, hummingbird, and blackcapped chickadee inside.  Foliage and picket fence also are made up so hope the bird neighborhood is believable.  I do think my hummer is too large but it will have to do for now.  These three birds are anticipating Spring!
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Pig-Hunting Dogs

6x8.5 Tombow brush pens in black and burnt sienna plus watercolor; black nib tip used to sketch entire scene on ColorSketch pale pink paper. All done today using no pencil first.  Photo ref courtesy Angie in Georgia who is this weekend's host on WetCanvas.  We had 2 hours to select a subject and paint or draw to completion. These dogs love to hunt wild pigs.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Greek Fisherman

8.5x6 ink contour line drawing on Color Sketch tinted paper done last month, another Greek-themed work.  With this WetCanvas challenge photo courtesy of Athena, we were to do a continuous contour line, which means you start at a spot and never lift up your pen.  I used Micron 01 by Sakura.  This old man of the sea's name is George and he owns a fish restaurant there where the catch of the day is the special.  I had planned to add color but several other artists talked me out of it.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

The Cross

5x7.5 watercolor pencils and watercolor on Moleskine sketchbook for watercolor done today.  Photo featured on current WetCanvas Weekend Drawing Event in the AMAE forum, courtesy Oty.  She lives in Zakynthos, Greece and the cross overlooking the village she said is 10 meters tall (32.80 feet).  Some may recall one of the Aegean islands is where John wrote the book of Revelation.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Spring Sparrows - demo

11.75x15.5 acrylics demo on gessoed matboard done today for Midland Palette Club; photo courtesy Mike Beckett/WetCanvas!
Mike featured the photo and we had 2 hours to paint.  But this morning I had about that much time and didn't get through.  This afternoon I worked on it again.  We are so ready for Spring! It was a nice sunny day in the Permian Basin.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Cheery Chickadee

8.5x5.5 watercolor and ink line with Micron 01 pen on Masters paper done today, a cheery little blackcapped chickadee fellow anticipating Spring.  For the background I mixed white gouache with transparent watercolor for a more opaque design.  He will go into the Facebook 20 Birds in 20 Days challenge.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Yellow-headed Blackbird

14.5x9.25 acrylics on matboard over pencil drawing finished today and featured on WetCanvas Weekend Drawing Event.  Host Mike Beckett posted photos for us the weekend before last in which we had 2 hours to make a selection and do a painting.  But this method of painting took longer as I am used to the quick washes of watercolor and its transparency.  I did enjoy studying the yellow-headed blackbird.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Backseat Driver dog

5.5x8.5 watercolor and ink on Masters paper done recently of a brown and white dog I saw out riding around.  He was in a dull colored vehicle and I've put him instead into a red sports car.  This one makes the fourth dog in a car I've painted and two have been purchased.  It is time again to send new works to Check.Advantage for printing onto checks and address labels.  I'll also send four of cat capers, one of which is driving a car.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Florida Sunset

11x15 watercolor on 140 lb cold press Canson paper done recently, storm clouds over the water.  Taken from photos shot while in Florida last August one can imagine the beauty and quietness.  The reflections add drama to the landscape or seascape.  Brush only, no pre-drawing with pencil.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Sophisto-cat

12x9 watercolor painted today of a much more sophisticated cat than yesterday's kitty on a card.  So this one's title is Sophisto-cat.  Support used is Canson 140 lb cold press paper.  I'll put such a pretty stray in the last of the 30 Cats in 30 Days challenge.  I love to paint white animal hair and fur, and black, too, to show all the shades and hues within such neutral colors.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Purrsonal Hygiene kitty

4x6 watercolor over pencil drawing orange and white cat cleaning its paws, a regular bathing routine all kitties enjoy endlessly.  Another cat image on a magazine insert card in my series and for the Facebook 30 Cats in 30 Days challenge that ends soon.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Kitchen Color still life

11x8.5 watercolor, India ink, and Tombow brush pen in burnt sienna on new Strathmore mixed media art journal done this afternoon. Yesterday I drew the Italian ceramic pitcher, a fake lime and lemon from life on my hand-painted studio table.  The colors all together mix well for a kitchen still life.  The Tombow was used to draw the composition.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Red Winged Blackbird

15x22 watercolor wildlife painting on Kilimanjaro 140 lb cold press paper.  I photographed this lovely bird year before last in a cattail marsh on Warrior road in Ruidoso, NM.  Blending in with the environment, they frequent roadside brushy areas and dwell within the reeds and cattails.  I've entered it in a major bird exhibit on the West Coast coming up.  So for now it is not for sale.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Studio Coffee Break

9x10.25 watercolor done today as part of Sketchbook Skool homework assignment.  We were to sketch in watercolor pencil an object with pattern.  As I didn't have any delicate bone china cups I used an art deco Doulton design then added two jars of brushes and pencils behind.  Those items were not drawn with colored pencil, just brush only.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.