Poppy Pose

8x8 watercolor on Italia 140 lb cold press paper painted a couple of days ago, still trying out the new wc paper.  This was done wet in wet also and the colors still sink into the tooth too much.  Sorry yesterday's post was absent due to no Internet connection.  I'll be trying another floral wet on dry to see if the paper improves.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Badger Hiding

6x9 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done over this past weekend.  Painting a badger was one of the prompts on the Facebook page of Watercolor Animals.  After researching the wildlife online and getting an idea of face, head and ears, I sketched this guy hiding behind a large tree, then added colorful leaves and patterning throughout.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Midnight Hollyhocks

8x8 watercolor on Italia 140 lb. cold press paper done yesterday from some photos taken at one of the casinos in Ruidoso, NM, where the hollyhocks are still in bloom.  Love the black hollyhocks and thought they'd look super with a coral background, a permanent rose and orange mix.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Spirit of the Sea (Gulls)

22x30 latex acrylic on Kilimanjaro 140 lb cold press paper, painted in about 2 hours.  The photo ref was at a shopping mall featured on WetCanvas so I edited out the stores and placed these guys back on the beach where they belong.  Sketch was done with watersoluble colored pencil and 3 colors of Crayons, then paper wet both sides heavily, and acrylics added with a 1" sponge brush. I blended with my fingers and at the end splattered using dark brown mixed watercolor plus white acrylic.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Cat Smelling Flowers

6x6 ink sketch and watercolor using Micron 01 Pigma pen on Masters paper.  This white cat is seemingly in heaven sniffing the spring blossoms. 

COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith.

Hedge Hogs

7x9.5 watercolor and ink (Micron 01 pen) on Ecosystem sketchbook done a few days ago for another online challenge, a Facebook Watercolor Animals page, and this was the prompt.  Badgers are next so stay tuned.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith.

Milk Cow Blues

11x15 watercolor that is a past work of a Jersey cow saying hello and rubbing her head on old fence post.  I am trying to paint more landscapes and this farm image just happened to feature a milk cow.  Others are grazing on a sunny day in the distance.  Learning how to milk one of these lovely ladies was a real chore growing up.
COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2019.

Spanish Town

14x11 watercolor on Kilimanjaro 140 lb cold press completed today, another town or cityscape looser than the previous one.  This has more shadows and just rained in this imaginary scene as seen in the street reflections.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Siamese Eyes

11x15 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper, a cat pet portrait of the handsome Ari.  Ari belonged to fellow painter Robert in Arkansas and Ari had passed away in his sleep.  He was a dead ringer for my Siamese Jezebel.  May they both RIP.
COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Downtown Doors

10.25x9 watercolor and ink on paper done in 2016 from an older photograph I shot in downtown Big Spring.  Using Lamy Safari pen and grey Noodler's ink I got the two doors centered then added windows, wood trim, then bricks.  These doors face west and ground floor of the old building was an antique store with living quarters upstairs.  Walls were painted a pale warm beige unlike the painting showing reddish brown, and no flower pots or plants exist.  This same building houses the former Alberto's Crystal Cafe to its east side on 2nd Street.
COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Dancing Cosmos

7.25x5.25 watercolor done last week, sketching these cosmos blooms from life in pencil then adding paint on Strathmore 140 lb cold press paper.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

July Geraniums

6.25x7.5 alcohol inks on paper done last week, a mix of 3 colors to make and ink floral abstract design from memory.
COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2019

Orange Tabby Looking Back

10.25x9 watercolor over graphite pencil sketch completed today for another online challenge.  I love orange or ginger tabby cats and have not had one in many years.  This one is looking back and something, but what? Another animal, a human, some type of activity requiring his attention.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Resting Cow

5.5x8 watercolor on Strathmore Visual Journal for mixed media sketched in pencil and painted last night as part of an online challenge.  Ref courtesy WetCanvas.  This Brahman cow looks at peace with herself as she rests on the grass.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Sparrow on Fence with Hydrangeas

12x9 watercolor on Canson Montval 140 lb cold press paper/Daniel Smith paints. I worked from a black and white print and made up the lovely hydrangeas below the barbed wire fence he is on.  Background is nothing more than mixing the colors out on my palette into a grey mess, then applying with very wet 1" flat brush.
Copyright Kay Smith 2019.

Buffalo Skull

A buffalo skull done in Strathmore Visual Journal for mixed media 5.5x8 finished this afternoon. Beginning with very wet watercolors I laid in red and black first yesterday. On dry paper today sketched with Artist's Loft watercolor colored pencils then added water to blend those. A few regular colored pencils were added for accents, making this a partial vignette, not adding all the blanket patterns.  Photo courtesy Hud/WetCanvas.  The skull was a gift to Hud in Montana from his Nam buddy, a Lakota Sioux.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Doing Nothing Kitty vignette

12x18 watercolor on Strathmore 140 lb cold press paper, painted wet on dry in a direct manner.  This young kitty is lounging in the grass on his back, doing nothing but being lazy on a hot summer day in a vignette composition.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith.

Fishermen

9.5x7 colored pencils on paper done last weekend for a WetCanvas online challenge where artists have 2 hours to select an image then do a painting.  I chose colored pencils as I am taking Sketchbook Skool's online klass about using the pencils and lettering.  These guys seemed happy with their catch of the day.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Backlit Kitten

8.75 x 5.75 watercolor pet portrait on Strathmore 140 lb cold press paper; Daniel Smith paints, a daily painting completed earlier. I have taken lots of photos of cats in windows backlit by the morning sun.  No masking was used to highlight white hair or whiskers.
COPYRIGHT Kay Smith

Wild Purple Roses

8.5x5 mixed media on paper card begun with various alcohol inks.  No pattern excited me until I took out a white gel pen and began doing line work around the shapes to form rose blooms, stems, and leaves.  Some collage can be seen lower right in this fairly abstracted floral.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Blue Barn Hen

5.5x8.5 watercolor and ink line on Masters sketchbook done for another online event. I used Lictin .10 pen in black to sketch the hen and barn wood.  Ref courtesy Kay M/WetCanvas.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Border Town

14x10 watercolor on Stonehenge 140 lb hot press paper, an imaginary scene done Sunday while in the southwest on a brief trip. The hot sun is a major player in these border towns along with the dust and a lot of people out shopping.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Dalmations Playing Fetch

8.5x5.5 watercolor and Micron 01 pen on Masters sketchbook done yesterday, another in my playing dogs series.  These two have a stick and are running along in shallow beach water.  "Labs Playing Fetch" was the first one of similar composition and that one is sold a few years ago.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Woman in Sunglasses

10.25x9 watercolor pencils by Staedtler in sketchbook for another Sketchbook Skool exercise using colored pencils.  We were to use complementary colors in our work for the assignment and do it very quickly, so this was under 30 minutes from a model.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Lilies and Ribbons

4x6 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper done a few days ago of yellow and orange tiger lilies.  The ribbons were part of an earlier design that flopped.  A white background was left in place.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Lion Power

7x9.5 watercolor colored pencils in Ecosystem sketchbook done yesterday from an online ref for a WetCanvas challenge in watermedia.  I used Artist's Loft brand of pencils.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Red Sunflowers and Fruit

5x6 watercolor on 140 lb Strathmore paper cold press done today from several references.  Red, white and blue are present for 4th of July along with an old white metal pitcher and small fruit bowl.  The sunflowers were grown by me several years ago.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Bluebonnet Blitz

22x15 watercolor on Fabriano 140 lb cold press paper finished today from an earlier painting reference.  The Texas state flower can be seen in all its blue glory each spring along roadways, grasslands or pastures, and the rolling terrain of the hill country.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Crazy Pink Chihuahua

8.5x6 watercolor and Pigma Micron 01 pen of a crazy chihuahua, painted wildly one weekend on Color Sketch paper.  No reference used and a different color palette, not local color.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

French Bulldog in Sunglasses

8.5x5.5 watercolor on paper done yesterday of a black French bulldog out on a sunny day; the red sunglasses are providing him with a cool look.  Ref unknown.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith