Climbing White Roses

22x15 watercolor on 140 lb cold press Saunders Waterford that I finished yesterday.  These climbing white roses were by our front steps and I snapped several photos when they were blooming at their peak then painted them.  Not happy with the mid section it was reworked and more negative leaves, stems, and thorns added.  My favorite part is the rosebud upper right.  It was painted wet in wet.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Icy Onset of Winter

8x4.5 watercolor and white wax crayon on Saunders 300 lb paper done today when all was icy outside.  This imaginary scene shows frosty trees along a riverbank with snow visible in the middle ground and foreground.  Colors used:  Periwinkle, raw and burnt umber, sepia, Mint Julep, indigo, burnt sienna.Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Freezing Female Cardinal

9x6 watercolor done today from female cardinal outside our windows.  The red birds were visible in the icy snowy conditions, seeming to shiver although they were not.  I keep food for them and frequently they are seen on our patio feeding off the ground.  This work is on 140 lb hot press paper.  Two opaques by American Journey were used:  Mint Julep and Periwinkle in the background area.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Smiling Pug

8.5x5.5 watercolor and ink (Faber-Castell black Pitt pen) on Masters sketchbook paper drawn yesterday and painted today.  This smiling pug belongs to Li Newton (WetCanvas) who is hosting this weekend's drawing event online.  Participants have 2 hours to choose and finish a painting.  I liked her pug's crooked nose and cute grin.
*Check out Pugs Home you can see HERE
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Lilies and Tulips

15x22 watercolor on cold press paper with rice paper on top for a different softer look.  This composition was drawn from life and I featured it on this month's Florals & Botanicals forum on WetCanvas! where the subject was lilies.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Pigeon Shadows ~ Happy Thanksgiving & 20th Anniversary Brushworks!

9x12 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper drawn and painted today, just a common pigeon with his orange feet exploring downtown.  I liked the long shadow and the tree shadows.  Twenty years ago on Thanksgiving day 1995 I opened my studio at 100 Main and named it Brushworks.  My DH stated at the time that art would never go over in this small town so I have proved him wrong.
Happy Thanksgiving to all friends, family, and customers and happy anniversary, Brushworks Studio Gallery! We are giving thanks to everyone who has supported me through the years. 
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Lunchtime Sunflower and Bird

7x4.25 watercolor and ink line, sketched with Micron 01 pen, another magazine card featuring a bird, a woodpecker, eating sunflower seeds.  I used gouache in a few spots and repositioned the bird's left leg at a better angle.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Vintage Vealmoor TX Mailbox

15x11 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper finished today.  From my photo taken where Vealmoor, Texas highway intersects with caliche road to my mother's, this rusty rural route holder of mail now houses only birdnests.  Three or more other mailboxes in better condition are to its right.  Precariously bolted to wood on top of metal piping, this vintage victim of time and weather is full of interesting texture.  As this weekend's drawing event host on WetCanvas, I posted the photograph along with 15 others, and so far I'm the only one who painted it.  Across the highway looking east is pasture for cattle grazing and cotton farming.  To the south the highway connects to US 87 to Big Spring, the crossroads of west Texas.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Chicken Pen

22x15 watercolor on Saunders Waterford 300 lb cold press paper painted wet in wet.  These two chickens I photographed while visiting Luckenbach, a Texas town south of here.  Remember Waylon Jennings made famous his country western hit named after the place. It is an older work that is SOLD.
Image is COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Caleb in Striped Shirt

8.5x6 watercolor on ColorSketch paper drawn yesterday and painted today; he is my youngest nephew's son and just celebrated his third birthday.  In my photo he was eating and had crumbs on his lips so I omitted those.  Reference photo included in this weekend's drawing event on WetCanvas! and took me the full 2 hours allotted time.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Love Stands Alone poppies

22x15 watercolor on Kilimanjaro 140 lb cold press paper done last week, a commission of red poppies for a couple's anniversary.  I added the lone white bloom to signify marriage between a man and a woman and/or bridal purity.  Several of my poppy photo refs were used but the picket fence that denotes the home is imaginary.  Every analogous red, orange, and pink on my palette was used. 
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.  This work is SOLD.

Flying Heron Nest Builder

9x12 watercolor on 140 cold press paper begun yesterday and completed today.  This was for the Animal & Wildlife monthly challenge on WetCanvas; photo courtesy fellow artist Robert Rongier of France.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

White Petunias

6x8 watercolor on 140 lb paper, an older floral drawn from life using a hanging basket of white petunias.  The background was painted a salmon orange and it seemed to complement and compliment the green foliage.  This work is SOLD.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Horse HaHa

12x9 watercolor and ink line drawing (Micron 01) on wc paper I did today.  I had made marks on it to test new acrylic markers and had put the sheet under smaller works.  The dark blue on the halter lead is part of the marker tests and has white gel pen marks as I was testing those also.  Splattering was done when almost dry on the horse's head for the dappled coat.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Arizona Landscape

4x5.5 watercolor and ink on paper, a magazine card from Southwest Art, that was begging me to paint a scene.  So I used one of my many cactus, yucca, sagebrush, and other desert photos taken in Arizona around Tucson and Phoenix.  Pen used was Pigma Micron 01 and some opaque watercolors and gouache were also put to use today on the saguaros.  A white gel pen used for depicting old, dead branches in foreground.  It is a sunset scence hence the deep shadows and orange glow to the land and its inhabitants, those icons of lore.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Dobermans

11x15 watercolor on 140 lb cold press Canson paper done today as part of WetCanvas! Weekend Drawing Event.  Participants have 2 hours to choose and develop a painting.  Reference courtesy Joanne Nemeth.  Her photo had only two dogs and the head of a third one but no body, so I drew the far left Doberman in reverse.  The middle dog is a reddish brown color; they remind me of the ones we had thru the years of my first marriage to John Bumpers.  On the far right Doberman I cast his left eye downward.  Now there are 3 happy fellows cavorting along the water's edge.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Perfect Pink Hollyhocks

22x15 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper of tall pale pink hollyhocks from my yard.  A lot of negative painting was done in the background.  I love to paint hollyhocks, those old fashioned heirloom guardians of the garden.  This work is SOLD.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Taco Belle kitty

 8.5x11 watercolor and ink on paper done yesterday.  Initial ink sketch below was with Pigma Micron 01 pen started awhile back but left unfinished.  Taco Belle was rescued by us years ago from Carlos restaurant parking lot.  With her Maine Coon markings of wide black stripes mixed with tabby long hair she was quite gorgeous.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith

Ink sketch on Masters sketchbook.

Canyon Moon

12x9 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper, a layering effect with abstract qualities to indicate a southwest landscape.
Image is imaginary using no reference.
COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Silvereye Bird

5.75x9 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done a few days ago as part of our monthly Watermedia forum challenge on WetCanvas as hosted by Sonia.  I added more leaves and vivid background using opaques Blue Bice and Periwinklw (American Journey paints).
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Coral Red Poppies

9x12 watercolor of coral poppies done today using 3 of my photos taken across the street from our church, different blooms and colors into a new composition.  I used Daniel Smith quinacridone coral, a lovely hue I had decided was too pink so virtually had stopped using it as a stand alone color.  All my reds and oranges, even arylide yellow, were put to use.  Tomorrow I'll be working on a larger design of the fragile flowers and those will be vivid reds.  Support used:  Canson 140 lb cold press paper.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Budapest Buildings

8.5x5.5 watercolor and ink on sketchbook done last week.  What started as a cropped sketch using Pigma Micron 01 pen on some of our cruise ship brochures, ended up as a colored piece and an imaginary sky.  I had saved the intriguing European spires and roof buildings because of the amazing architecture to study later.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Reworked White Callas Floral Watercolor

24x18 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper reworked yesterday after seeing it in my floral painting pile, looking forlorn and needing attention.  The background was darkened using carbazole violet, quin burnt orange, UB, quin violet, and indigo.  Each lily was enhanced and dew or water drops added about.  Shadows were glazed again and overall colors were pushed to the max.  I do think I like it much better now than in the original work below from January 2013 that you can read about HERE.
Image is COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2015.

Mad Cow

10.25x9 mixed media on paper done today, another in my weird cow series. Media used: Watercolor, Staedtler Calligraph Duo 3.5mm pen, white gelly roll ink pen, black India ink, light blue Montana acrylic marker (background), and white gouache.Working from black and white photocopy all color is imaginary for this Hereford.   I tried to keep the values correct and put small bursts of colors here and there such as ultramarine blue and cadmium orange for this whimsical farm animal.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Woven Studio Hollyhocks

15x22 watercolor on cold press 140 lb paper, made from weaving two almost identical images together into one piece.  These red and pink hollyhocks grow at my studio.  The first painting just did not work to my liking so another was done.  Cutting one into vertical strips and the other into horizontal strips, I carefull wove them.  This work is SOLD.
Image COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Indian Warrior

20x16 acrylics on canvas/palette knife (no brush) of an Indian in full ceremonial dress.  I painted him in 1994 and recently saw and studied the photo and wanted to share with those studying acrylics with me.  It helps that today at work we had Native American Heritage program in their honor and got to see three dancers and learn more about their customs.  Thanks to all the VA employees who helped put it together.  I'll be painting the dancers at a later date.  I had attended a powwow prior to painting this image; note the tiny running horses within the composition.  This work is SOLD.
Image COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2015.

Roping Horses

11x15 watercolor and India ink on Fabriano 140 lb hot press paper done this afternoon.  The photo I used was a full body view of the cowboy's horse so I cropped into it quite a bit and edited out background and foreground clutter, then added an extra horse.  Splattering was done on the main horse when paint was drying so some spots are blended while others such as the black ink, are not.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Woman in White Dress at Beach

11x15 watercolor imaginary scene done today using no references so hope the clouds and woman look proportional and in scale.  A light pencil drawing of the woman was first but no drawing done for clouds or ocean.  I did forget to put some seagulls flying overhead but can add them later.  This one will accompany my December Living magazine article our local newspaper, the Big Spring Herald, publishes.  You can make up your own story for this seascape.  What is she looking at, thinking of, or about to do? Meet a lover? Pray? Sunbathe? Watching a storm develop?
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

American Brittany Spaniel Millie

5.5x7.5 watercolor on Fabriano 140 lb hot press paper done today; this is Billy's pup Millie, an American Brittany spaniel.  His dogs were featured on current WetCanvas! Weekend Drawing Event in which participants have 2 hours to choose from 16 photos and do a painting.  This one took about 25-30 minutes and I did it in a vignette format.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Abandoned Barn

9x12 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper/Daniel Smith paints done this weekend from one of stack of old barn photos collected over the years.  It was painted while in the New Mexico mountains yesterday.  The day before our skies looked stormy as shown.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.