Old Texas Vehicle

5.5x8 watercolor and ink on Strathmore Visual Journal for watercolor sketched yesterday and painted today.  I used Micron 01 pen in this 50s era vehicle from an old photo the year my parents married.  Fallen leaves scatter across the road with white picket fence in the distance in this rural scene.  There was another digit in the license plate that I left off.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Party Pigeon - a reworked watercolor

8.5x11 mixed watermedia of a pigeon looking to party over his rooftop for New Year's Eve.  This is the AFTER version.  Below is shown this work in progress where I sketched the bird with black felt tip pen on top of the failed disaster watercolor.  The couple was not real.  Now I think it is a much more interesting painting.  Gouache and Montana acrylic markers were used on top of the old watercolor. Support is Italia 140 lb cold press paper.  It has been awhile since I reworked any existing paintings.  Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Work in progress with this middle view showing a lot of the pigeon's body painted.  I knew it would be difficult to cover the man's black hair with gouache, watercolor, or pastel, so opted to use acrylic markers.

BEFORE version 11x8.5 titled Be My Valentine.  As ugly as he is, I'd not want to be his sweetheart and she is no prize either.

Cow Moose

15x11 watercolor on 140 lb Arches cold press paper, another recent moose wildlife with an imaginary landscape.  In this one, I placed a cow moose in foreground in front of a vast lake with western mountains in distant background.  A cloudy sky hovers over the land.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Snowy Cabin

12x10.5 watercolor on 140 lb Kilimanjaro cold press paper done last week or so in the series of lodge and wildlife art.  An imaginary cozy cabin in the snow, you can see the sky is trying to clear and the birds are out flying or seeking food.  A set of tire tracks marks the foreground and that with the birds marks the only signs of life in this winter landscape.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Moose Moment

18x12 watercolor done last week on 140 lb cold press paper, an imaginary winter woodland scene complete with a bull moose and snowy evergreen trees.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

December Pigeon

12x9 watercolor done today in about 45 minutes, a quick pencil drawing followed by loose wc. I grabbed seldom used in years paint such as Payne's Gray, cobalt violet and blue, then made sure lots of water was in a large round brush. It is done on 140 lb cold press Canson paper.  Splattering was done when paint dried.  He's featured on current Weekend Drawing Event on WetCanvas! as hosted by Susan.
Image COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Little Snowbird

7.25x5.25 watercolor on paper of a little fat bird decked out in his Christmas wool toboggan mufflers.  Note his various colored legs and feet.  This work is SOLD.
Image is COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2015.

Snowman in Turquoise Cap

5.5x8 watercolor on paper (Strathmore Visual Journal) done a few days ago, an imaginary snowman holding his red Christmas ornament ball.  Merry Christmas tomorrow everyone!  This work is SOLD.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Artistic Santa

10.25x9 watercolor and ink on paper.  The sketch was done last December for a larger watercolor titled Santa's Workshop but didn't paint this initial work till now.  One of my brushes was used as a model for this imaginary figurative scene.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Praying Snowman

5.5x8 watercolor on Strathmore Visual Journal for watercolor done a few days ago.  This fellow has about fallen over and looks as if he is praying for more snow.  This work is SOLD.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Wine O'Clock

15x11 mixed media on Arches 140 lb cold press wc paper done today.  It is currently featured on WetCanvas in the Weekend Drawing Event hosted by Christine in Australia.  I used charcoal pencil to sketch over a poured watercolor primary colored background.  My intention was to paint poinsettias but saw the wine bottle, glasses, plants, and chair and thought the still life set up was more interesting.  Caran D'Ache NeoColor II wax crayons used for accent colors at the end.  Some realism, abstraction, and imagination here.  The mosaic table's broken tiles were outlined around sections of paint already there from the underpainting, then enhanced.  Now they might resemble cheese wedges.  Not a great painting but a fun one.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Mountain Moose in Velvet

11x15 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper done earlier in the month along with other wildlife and woodland scenes for hunting lodge art.  It comes in handy to have a passion for animals and an imagination for different landscape settings along with wildlife refs.  As I don't feel I do scenes well it helps to combine landscapes with animals.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Frosty Morning Cabin

12x9 watercolor that is today's work.  All the trees and end of log cabin are imaginary and were drawn yesterday then I put in pale washes diagonally across the sky using Prussian blue.  Background trees had to be softer and out of focus. Aspens and other foreground trees painted last as was the frozen water in immediate foreground.  By trial and error I did stumble upon a neat trick to painting masses of leaves that works better than anything.  Just lay your rigger (script liner) brush fully loaded across damp or dry paper and twist it; don't use its pointed tip.  It will be horizontal, almost flat.  I have been doing more lodge and mountain themed works so stay tuned for wildlife coming soon.  This is painted on Canson 140 lb cold press paper.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Bean's World

10.25x9 watercolor and ink on paper, an on location sketch done last Friday when I was off and decided to eat there.  Bean's World at 100 Main Street boxcar, was my first studio opened on Thanksgiving 1995.  Entrance door is to the left that isn't visible; green wall is the back kitchen area.  The coffee shop cafe serves delicious food, has an outdoor deck plus another boxcar and a yellow caboose.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Bold Bird

4x6 mixed media on paper done today, a quick ink sketch with Lamy Safari pen and grey Noodler's ink.  I had less than 30 minutes to do it so applied watercolor first followed by Montana acrylic marker on the background.  The bird is imaginary as are its bold colors.
I used a card insert from Lakeside Collection gift catalog.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Santa Kitty

6x6 watercolor and ink on paper of an imaginary orange tabby cat wearing his Santa hat, anticipating Christmas next week.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Old Mangerton Shed

11x14 watercolor of an old shed, photo courtesy WetCanvas RIL.  It is painted on 140 lb cold press paper.
Image COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Frozen Pinecone

5x7.5 watercolor and ink on Moleskine for watercolor sketchbook done weekend before last and featured on WetCanvas.  With their weekend drawing events each participant has 2 hours to select from 16 photos and then do a painting.  Snow shadows were a nice abstract pattern over the background; limited palette of quinacridone burnt sienna/gold and ultramarine blue.  Image courtesy Li Newton/WetCanvas.  Pigma Micron 01 pen used to sketch cone and needles.
COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Pompous Pigeon

9x12 mixed media on paper, another common pigeon most people overlook.  I sketched him using Staedtler Calligraphic duo pen, then used watercolor, Caran D'Ache NeoColor II metallic crayons, and Montana acrylic markers.  Paper is Canson and is a sheet I put behind other works thus all the little marks.  When dry I spelled the bird's name by ink stamping background and foreground.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Snowbank

12x6 watercolor and white wax crayon on Strathmore 140 lb cold press paper done last week.  I made random vertical lines with the crayon then added different neutral colors greyed down for trees.  Negative painting was done for branches and other tree branch shapes.  Reflections in the frozen ice foreground was a happy accident I didn't intend on having but I liked its effects.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Cockingham Poppy

15x22 watercolor of a very large open poppy photographed when visiting England in 2010.  Later that year I painted one of the photos. The blooms were at least 12 inches across, pale mauve, and just stunning.
Image COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Mums and Daisy

22x15 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper I painted awhile back from some greenhouse nursery photos I took in Midland, TX. This work is SOLD.
Image COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Red Mailbox

9x12 watercolor painted over last weekend, a mailbox in red with Christmas holly, evergreens and pinecones with a bit of snow.
Image COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Party Puss

8x5 mixed media (watercolor, acrylic marker, Uniball ink) on paper done today.  Cats in Christmas costumes are popular and they look so miserable and not joyful for the Christmas season.  This one was featured on one of the catfood TV commercials.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Mighty Mushroom

5.5x8 watercolor and ink (Micron 01 pen) done this weekend on Strathmore Visual Journal for mixed media.  I featured the mushroom online for our monthly Watermedia challenge on WetCanvas.  Lots of detail that I love not only in the background but underneath the exaggerated fungus plant, just a myriad of multiple mazes.  It is so fun to explore these microcosms; so much going on at the tiny level most people don't care to see or examine.  There are pine needles with their three prongs scattered about here, leaves, twigs, and parts of other botanicals and even a small insect underneath its umbrella.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Stag in Snow

12x9 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper.  I've made the trees and snow background up but saw plenty of male deer or stags since going to the mountains last week, plus lots of elk.  I will attempt to paint more elk.  A very large herd can be seen off Hull road in Ruidoso, NM.  This buck had quite a large rack.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith

Reindeer with Bird's Nest

8x5.5 watercolor and ink on Strathmore Visual Journal for mixed media, a quick sketch of a happy reindeer parading around with a bird's nest on his antlers.  On the paper I had put wet teabags so you can see some areas with teabag imprints. Black India ink was used when dry to add line and emphasis on this whimsical piece.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Blue and White China with Roses

22x15 watercolor on 140 lb hot press paper, a still life set up of gold vases and blue and white china.  Fresh roses set this one off so it is a sunny more cheerful piece than the snow scenes of late.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Snowman Profile

7.5x5.5 watercolor painted recently for a special artist friend Bonnie in Apopka, Florida.  I hope she likes this cute fellow for her Christmas card.  This work is SOLD.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Snowy Street

9x12 watercolor which is today's work on Canson 140 lb cold press paper.  Using a brush only in this winter snowy street scene, I began with the house dark areas then on to the trees.  Midtone shadows were last.  This will be featured on the Landscape forum on WetCanvas; reference library photo that I cropped foreground and some trees from both sides for a closer view of the house.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Don't Dodge Christmas!

8x5.5 watercolor and ink (Micron 01 pen) done today on Strathmore Visual Journal for mixed media.  This pale green Dodge truck is loaded down with gifts, snow, and a wreath on its front grill headed your way for Christmas!
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.