Union Street House

12x9 watercolor and ink (Pigma Micron 01 pen) done today on accounting paper, a sketch done for Sketchbook Skool, on location for Polishing course.  This old white stucco house is on Union Street here in town and has been abandoned many years.  I love the old crumbling roof shingles above the rusty screen door.  From boarded up windows to its sagging front the only life now to be seen are passing birds and an occasional car.  The old accounting book or ledger paper or is actually from our union so it was most appropriate for this subject.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith

Bike Blooms

8.5x5.5 watercolor and ink on Bienfang for mixed media sketchbook painted today.  A few days ago I drew the bike, basket of hydrangeas, and tree for Sketchbook Skool for a negative spaces sketch assignment.  This imaginary scene was done by only drawing between shapes, not an easy feat.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Yellow Cosmos

9x11 watercolor loosely painted wet into wet several years ago that has been SOLD.
Image is COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Beach Attire

8.5x5.5 watercolor and ink (Micron 01 pen) on Masters sketchbook finished today.  We are still in Spring but here I am already planning for beaches, sun, and sand with these clothes.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Painted Pony

22x15 watercolor that is now SOLD.  It was painted over a white peony floral that I didn't like.  Look closely and you can see the flower centers.  After horse outline was sketched in I used mostly darks to fill in the background and some greys for shading values.
Image COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Figs in Wooden Bowl

20x16 watermedia on Arches 140 lb cold press paper finished today from a still life set up of green and purple figs in dark wooden bowl.  All that is watercolor and then black background was painted last with Golden Fluid Acrylics for a richer neutral.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Sweet Sparrow

7x4 watercolor on Canson 140 lb paper previously used underneath larger works to catch drips or run off colors.  Drawn with Micron 01 pen yesterday this sweet sparrow was sitting on the fence outside my studio kitchen window.  He appears to be sitting on a branch that's a blue line.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Funky Cow

11x14 mixed media over older failed mm/collage on matboard, drawn with black felt tip pen.  I used watercolor, acrylic, and ink. A lot of the background had other colors that I rubbed and lifted out.  I took a photo of a large, life size fake ceramic cow found in a flea market in Ruidoso and that's what this Holstein is drawn from.  There is some text stamping and handwritten words I did also in the background.  This was my effort today for WetCanvas weekend drawing event where I am the host.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Blissful Blooms and Berries

5.5x8.5 watercolor and ink line on Bienfang sketchbook for mixed media.  Seeing fresh tulips sparked the idea for this sketch then dreaming of chocolate covered strawberries and cheesecake made for a blissful spring moment.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

SophistoKitty

12x9 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper finished yesterday, one I'd been working on since Monday.  This kitten is imaginary.  I had painted an adult cat with identical markings and it has sold at Howard College at our Caboose show.  The title of it was SophistoCat.  Naturally I wanted to paint another mostly white kitty with black markings as those two neutrals are spot on for watercolor.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Pink Hollyhock Garden

15x11 watercolor painted wet into wet on Saunders 140 lb cold press paper, a very loose interpretation of my own pale pink hollyhocks.  With darks put in first, midtones were next, followed by lightest lights and/or white of the paper with this one application direct painting method.  Hollyhocks are one of my favorite flowering old fashioned plants. This work is SOLD.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Model in Pencil

11x8.5 graphite pencil on paper, drawn from a model in preparation of a larger work in mixed media.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith

Spring Cosmos

4x6 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper that is yesterday's work drawn from life.  Again I used a silk cosmos floral bouquet blooms of white, dark pink, pink, and maroon red.  Unlike the previous one Early Spring Cosmos, the background was painted first.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Early Spring Cosmos

6x4 watercolor on 140 lb cold press Canson paper painted yesterday.  Drawn from life using silk cosmos these blooms herald an early spring.  Shades of pinks, dark maroon, and white grace the fragile petals as they sway in an imaginary wind.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Ranch Relics

5.5x8.5 watercolor and ink line on Masters sketchbook done last weekend.  Distant rainstorm was added in far background and is appropriate for today's tornado watch, hail, and lightning skies.  An old hay wagon trailer sits in pieces in the foreground behind a rusty barbed wire fence, wheel, posts, and then telephone poles hold up lines in the middle ground.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Apple Buckets - completed

15x11 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper finished today from the work in progress.  Foreground is layered with midtones and darks, different values and strokes of grasses, leaves, and twigs.  More burnt sienna and quinacridone burnt orange added to shadow side of upright bucket with some splattering to indicate dings and dents.  Also I widened the apple tree trunk on the right side and glazed the bark with quin burnt orange.  Background leafy tree now has darker shadowed leaves on its left side.  Distant tree line on far right was put in for depth, distance and balance.  All in all am pleased with how this still life in a landscape turned out.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

WIP - Apple Buckets

15x11 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper begun yesterday.  So almost done, just need foreground shadows over the grass and it is such a pretty yellow-green I hate to ruin it as shadows are not my strong suit.  The buckets were brightly colored in the photo ref but here I have changed them to rusty metal.  When this work in progress is finished I will post it on WetCanvas in the All Media Art Events forum in the current or just last Saturday's weekend drawing event.  The view here is at the 2 hour mark, where artists are asked to stop and document their progress.  Stay tuned.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Duck Pond

22x15 watercolor on Saunders 300 lb cold press paper that is the reverse side of Cosmos Clouds posted yesterday.  It is an older simple view of a white duck and abstract foreground from one of my pond wildlife photos painted wet in wet.  So if someone purchases the duck they get the cosmos watercolor as a freebie.
Image COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Cosmos Clouds

15x22 watercolor on Saunders 300 lb cold press paper finished yesterday, one drawn from silk cosmos that I've used for floral still life before.  On the reverse side is a white duck swimming that I will post soon so whoever purchases the cosmos gets a freebie or vice versa.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Red Tulip Tree

9x12 watercolor vignette on 140 lb cold press Canson paper done this weekend.  Also known as saucer magnolias, the tulip tree mimics the flowering bulbs.  I've put ghost images behind the red blooms of other flowers in light washes using pale opaques such as Peachy Keen, Apricot, and Coastal Fog by American Journey paints.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Retriever

8.5x5.5 watercolor and ink (Micron 01 pen) on Masters sketchbook paper done yesterday.  I had been behind on pet portraits so here is a handsome golden retriever with a tennis ball in his mouth.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Happy Trails

11x15 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper painted a few years ago for a western show a friend and I did in Oklahoma.  This shows the back end of a white horse and a cowboy in a red shirt, an imaginary scene for the most part.
Image COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Bluebird Sketches in Inktense

6x6 Inktense and Micron 01 pen in Masters sketchbook done in 2013; top is with dry pencils adding color while bottom bird is with water added to show different effects that medium has.
Image COPYRIGHT 2013 Kay Smith.

Two Ducks ~ National Draw a Bird Day 8 April

5.5x8.5 watercolor and ink (Micron 01 pen) on Bienfang sketchbook for mixed media, done in honor of annual Draw a Bird Day for Friday, 8 April.  Photo courtesy WetCanvas! and will be featured there this month also in the animal and wildlife forum.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Kerrville Antiques

22x15 watercolor on Winsor Newton 140 lb cold press paper done awhile ago from an old antique store between Ingram and Kerrville, TX.  I used to take off a week each summer to the hill country and study with Ken Hosmer who taught me the secrets of watercolor at their arts foundation.  There are so many unique places to see and photograph and this stone house was begging to be painted.
Image COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Geranium Garden Chair

22X15 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper that is now SOLD.  I first did a version of this imaginary garden scene chair and plants featuring lilacs in a basket so naturally the next popular would be red geraniums.
Image COPYRIGHT 2009 Kay Smith.

Decorated Window

8.5x5.5 watercolor on Bienfang sketchbook for mixed media done today, a cropped view of a larger image in a townscape.  I drew it with Pigma Micron 01 pen then applied light washes.  I liked the blue shutters and entire window encased in decorative ironwork. This was featured on WetCanvas weekend drawing event hosted by Bonnie in Canada.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Palette Knife Roosters

12x12 oil on  gessobord completed today from Leslie Saeta's online tutorial.  I used watersoluble Winsor Newton paints and two palette knives to follow along her video instruction and photo.  There are many subjects to choose from on her website and for $35 you have access to the information to use when and how you wish.  I had most of the supplies and really enjoyed this opportunity to work in oils again.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Woven Country Icons

22x15 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper, two actual works cut into horizontal strips then verticals and woven together as one piece.
I had painted the first version that had fresh zinnias, grapes and lemons in the blue/white spongeware and didn't like it.  Then I painted it again as a demo for a workshop but still didn't like it.  Finally cutting it up was the only answer and I do like its appearance now woven together sitting on a kitchen table in front of a window.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Dark & Dressy Daffodils

11x15 watercolor on Kilimanjaro 140 lb cold press paper drawn yesterday and painted today partly wet in wet and wet on dry.  These white dressy beauties are blooming all over the place and with today's rain we may see more.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.