Wide Petals

4x6 alcohol inks on glossy photo paper just completed.  I actually had it upside down then flipped it to this view that was much better.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Dark Red Orchids

6x4 alcohol inks on glossy white photo paper done a few days ago, playing around with some of my darker red inks.  The blue background I began with was not working out so light green was added, then the red for orchid blooms.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Country Chat Roosters

5.5x8.5 watercolor and ink line (Micron 01 pen) on Masters sketchbook done over the last holiday, MLK day.  These two fellows are having a country chat.  Image courtesy WetCanvas.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Frangipani

15x11 watercolor on Masters 140 lb cold press paper done yesterday.  Frangipani, or plumeria as it is often called, is a flowering bush with a sweet fragrance, and the flower was the subject of another online challenge. Since the images there were not exciting to me I designed my own floral and gave it an abstract background. Lots of negative painting was done.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Mane Event

22x30 watercolor done previously from an imaginary small horse with a flowing mane.  It is on Italia Acquerello 140 lb soft press paper and I worked wet on dry, but wet areas with large flat brush first before laying in paint.  I was trying to make this fellow a dappled grey, so just let colors run and spread of mixed palette neutral pigments.  The background was left the white of the paper.
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Satisfied Woman

4.25x6 alcohol inks, India ink, and collage on book text scrap done today, another in my woman series  Yesterday I did a pulled print with the page from an alcohol ink work having too much ink on it.  This gave a nice blue and gray abstract background.  She has her eyes closed thinking of something very satisfying.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Terrific Tiger Lily

7x5 watercolor on Yupo synthetic paper sketched today with a rigger/script liner #1 brush then painted.  As a part of a timed online WetCanvas challenge our images were courtesy of Beth in the weekend drawing event.  We have 2 hours to complete our art and mine was done in 45 minutes.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Spring Tree

14x10 watercolor on Stonehenge 140 lb hot press paper done over last weekend, thinking of Spring and counting the days.  With a predominantly blue abstract leaves background the tree slowly comes to life.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Cycling

4x6 alcohol ink and India ink abstraction begun yesterday then finished today.  I started with the alcohol ink in Mantilla black then used the other ink for drops and splatters on this glossy photo paper.  This black and white work reminded me of bicycles hence its title.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Cosmos and Coneflowers

10x30 watercolor floral on Arches 140 lb cold press paper. I had taken this collection of Spring coneflowers and cosmos from my multiple garden photos to design it in this horizontal format. It  is done wet on dry method with Daniel Smith paints.  A soft background underpainting shows yellows and pale peach colors.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

David in junk grunge journal

8.25x5.25 ink on vintage book text done last fall using STA Lictin 0.1 pen in a fun sketch of Michelangelo's David statue.  I have painted David many times in many different media.  This was over partially gessoed paper in the old 1950s book.
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kay Smith

Pink Pumpkins

3x3 mixed media abstract (watercolor, gouache, ink) on watercolor paper done a few months ago around the holidays then did not post it.  As a miniature, you can see how it appears by its actual size below.

COPYRIGHT 2018 Kay Smith

Sparrow Charm

10x8 alcohol inks and black India ink on white deli freezer paper, shiny side, over this past weekend.  I had tried an experiment with the India ink and it worked fairly well by putting drops of alcohol ink on top of the dried black then lifting out with a Kleenex.  This gave it a stained glass appearance.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Yellow Butterfly

12x16 watercolor on wrapped canvas, a painted commission done last month, of an imaginary butterfly against a blue sky with clouds.  This work is SOLD.
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kay Smith

Playful Woman

9x6 India ink on old vintage book text done over last weekend, another imaginary figure in my woman series.  In this view, the fresh looking female appears to be playful, hence the title.  This was sketched with a wooden chopstick.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Farm Chickens

6x9 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done today, an imaginary farm scene with chickens and a rooster pecking about.  The fowl were sketched from memory and I made an abstract background/backdrop for them in this colorful country barnyard painting.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Flamboyant Flower

9.75x9.75 alcohol inks on paper done today using only two colors:  Eggplant and Lettuce.  The stem was made using a chopstick.  I like how the Eggplant splits into its different color hue makeup as you can see blues and pinks.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Puerto Rico Condo

19x12.5 watercolor on Italia 140 lb paper, American Journey paints. I took this photo of our condo on our first visit to Puerto Rico in 1995.  The sun splashed stucco building with blue sky and clouds really is what we all long to see on cloudy days like today.  I did this wet on dry painting dark values first.
COPYRIGHT Kay Smith

Wild Lily

9x12 watercolor painted very loosely on Canson 140 lb cold press paper over the weekend, a departure from my usual tight style, using brush only.  With an abstract background, the white and pink flower stands out.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Take a Seat

9x12 ink using black Tombow brush pen done today on Strathmore Bristol board 300 series, smooth, 100 lb. as part of another online WetCanvas challenge.  Photo courtesy Li Newton.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Roses Dance

6x4 alcohol inks on glossy professional photo paper done this afternoon, some imaginary red roses doing their garden dance.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Pronghorn Antelope

8.5x5.5 mixed media on paper.  These animals are seen dashing across the flat grassland between Plains, TX and Tatum, NM, as well as west Texas.  I sketched with Uniball Vision Elite ink pen first, then added watercolor, followed by Montana acrylic markers.  Lastly black India ink was applied to a few select linear spots for emphasis. Scientific name of Antilocapra americana translated is "American antelope goat" but the deer-like pronghorn is neither.  With its branched horns instead of antlers that it sheds (the only animal that does), it is the fastest, running in 20 foot bounds up to 60 miles per hour.  Unlike the cheetah, the pronghorn can run for hours and can spot predators up to 4 miles away with its keen eyesight.  Life expectancy is 9-10 years for this North American hoofed mammal.
COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Sunflower Bucket

18x12 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper.  This is a combination of more than one of my photos of fresh sunflowers and the use of old metal bucket.  The dark background and sunny splash of yellow on the bucket front was done on impulse to see if it worked.  I used a direct painting method wet on dry putting in darks first.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith.

Zebra Grazing

6x4 watercolor on Arches 140 lb cold press paper, painted from one of my wild animal park photos. In this miniature, the zebra seems oblivious to his surroundings.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Messy Woman

14x11 alcohol inks and black India ink on glossy paper completed today after getting an abstract background started over the weekend.  Another in my woman series, I used black ink for eyes, a suggestion of a nose and lip midline.  The underpainting can be seen below that was also a pulled print from my foamcore backing board.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Horse Farm

5.5x8.5 watercolor/ink line using Micron 03 pen today on Masters paper, photo courtesy Bonnie, current host in WetCanvas' weekend drawing event.  In this contest participants have 2 hours to choose a reference and paint it, and mine was done in under an hour.  I did leave off another horse in the background.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Disguised Woman

A disguised woman, sketched with Micron 01 pen on collaged dictionary page, then watercolor, gouache, and a bit of white gel pen. Size is 5x6 on Canson wc paper. Not easy! Just another in my woman series; photo courtesy WetCanvas.  I love her hat, white mask, red fan, and lacy dress.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Stormy Texas Skies

3.5x2.5 watercolor miniature of west Texas thunderstorm clouds building up, painted from my iPhone photo of the view outside my VA office window.  The building to the left is the engineering boiler plant and to the right are the east wings of the old hospital.  Actual size of this art card cityscape is seen below.

COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Mexico City Square

15x22 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper of an imaginary center of town in old Mexico. You see people going about their shopping and every day business beneath a hot sun.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Thirsty Cat

11x15 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper from one of many cat photos saved but not yet painted. I started sketching her yesterday then finished applying paint today.  It is hard to get cats to drink enough water but they will when a faucet is turned on very slow.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Winter Woman

22x15 India ink over collaged book text on Italia 140 lb paper completed today, my first painting of the new year.  It is another in my woman series using primarily ink and water for darks, midtones, and lights.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith