May Poppies

5x7 alcohol inks on paper done yesterday; also used Sharpie markers on this imaginary poppy floral. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Floral Jumble

8.25 x 5.25 mixed media in junk journal done a few days ago using collaged tissue paper that had alcohol inks stenciled on plus watercolor and gouache. Flowers are all jumbled together in a canning jar in this imaginary floral abstract. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Yellow Canary

6 x 7.25 acrylics on gessoed watercolor paper done a few days ago for fun, a comical canary going about his business. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Connie's Sunflower

11x8.5 colored pencils and watercolor on Canson paper in sketchbook done last weekend. Ref courtesy of Connie, the artist who provided it in an online event. I used multi-lead pencils in three colors to sketch the flower first. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Aloe Vera Talavera

5.5x8.5 watercolor on paper done last weekend using White Nights paints, aloe vera plant and a Talavera pot; love that Mexico pottery. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Orange Succulent

5.5x5.5 watercolor on 110 lb cold press paper in Arteza sketchbook using White Nights paints done last weekend, a sketch from life using one of my small potted succulents. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Model

11x8.5 watercolor on Crescent sketchbook paper painted last week using White Nights paints. This is not a real woman but imaginary, focusing on putting in the darks only, no middle values, using Payne's Grey. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Poppy Shades

5.5x8.5 watercolor on Masters sketchbook paper done today. I first laid Abstract Rosette stencil by StencilGirl Products on the paper then colored in shades of yellows, flipped the stencil and put in gamboge and more orange. When dry, poppy flowers were sketched in pencil, colored centers and shadows, then the background added. A different approach for a change of pace. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Pitbull Playing

5.5x8.5 watercolor over pencil sketch in Masters sketchbook done last Tuesday on our trip and I don't recall where the photo ref was taken. The dog is having a fun day playing fetch with a stick or piece of driftwood, dashing in and about the water's edge of the beach. White Nights paints were used. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Roses in Indigo Vase

4.5x4 watercolor done on Canson 140 lb cold press paper. After painting winter snow scenes this is more in line with my character. Using brush only, shapes of various colored roses were put in then each hue from pink to dark pink to orange. An abstract background completes the simple miniature still life. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith

China Cabinet - a reworked still life

20x12.5 watercolor and gouache over a failed still life that was a floral in a red vase, a white pitcher, and onions on a white cloth and a blue and red table drape. I did not like the floral so turned it vertically and drew cups and saucers. Later I went back and added line to include Oriental fans, a pagoda, pink roses, etc. Then I reworked the bottom area by adding white gouache on cup and saucer, strengthening the reds and blues, then correcting compositional areas. My original still life that was drawn and painted from life has now been redone 3 times. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith

Indigo Iris

7x11 alcohol inks on Yupo medium weight synthetic paper done a few years ago when I was in an iris mood. They were blooming everywhere you look. With this floral abstraction I've used three colors of ink: Indigo, Eggplant, and Watermelon. Canned air was used to blow the ink from the bottom up and the white of the paper is its only background for simplicity. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Purple Wine Glass and Ruby

11x15 watercolor and gouache on 140 lb cold press Strathmore paper done last week featuring lovely neighbor Ruby. She modeled last month for our local art association and did a fantastic job. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

May Bouquet

6x4 acrylics on gessoed watercolor paper, an imaginary floral bouquet still life, painted last week using Liquitex paints. Love to paint flowers in old jars. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

White and Pink Hollyhocks

12x6 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done today using one of my studio hollyhock photos from a few years ago. These fragile thin petals of the white ones showed me many colors of pale pinks and lavender as well as blue. The darker value shadows as seen behind the blooms makes them all the more unique. An abstract background was put in rather than the old house next door shingles. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

May Iris

5.5x5.5 watercolor on 110 lb cold press paper in Arteza sketchbook using Daniel Smith paints. This purple iris grew outside my studio kitchen window along with other ones so I cut some and put them inside in a vase to last longer. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Morning Daisies

8x8 watercolor and gouache on Masters premium 140 lb cold press paper sketched and painted today using one of my daisy photos. Daisy blooms are shining bright white in the morning sun against an abstract cool palette background. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Cardinal Craze

6x6 acrylics on gessoed 140 lb cold press Saunders Waterford wc paper completed yesterday using a small resin cardinal figurine I've had for years. Love to paint these birds and lucky to see them every day flying about. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Bad Critter (Coon)

8x8 watercolor on Masters premium 140 lb cold press paper painted a few days ago, inspired by a student needing help painting a raccoon. These bad critters moved into our attic and nothing and no one except an experienced trapper could get them out. By then they had babies there and tore up insulation and anything else their little tiny hands could grab. With this painting I used lots of color and not necessarily local color. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Jenna's Sparrow

5.5x8.5 watercolor on Masters premium sketchbook paper done this past weekend as part of an online challenge. Photo ref courtesy Jenna Hestekin/WetCanvas. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Coneflower Cosmos Crazy

8.5 x 5.5 watercolor over pencil sketch of various sizes of coneflowers and cosmos, two of my favorite flowers to paint. No ref was used for this work done over the weekend. It is a sunny spring day of blooms. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Puffy Robin

5.5x8.5 watercolor on Masters paper in sketchbook done over the weekend for another timed WetCanvas event. I really rushed thru painting this in a record 35 minutes. The very young robin has its feathers fluffed up during a spring cold front. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Odessa Sunflower

15x22 watercolor on Kilimanjaro 140 lb cold press painted previously for the Odessa, Texas Art Association live demo program. I photographed the sunflower in 2003 in that town as Leada Wood and I were traveling for an art meeting; many other photos from that day have been painted but not this one. About 1.5 hours was the time limit. This is wet on dry using 1" flat sable brush and these pigments: Quinacridones burnt orange and gold, Prussian, ultramarine and Bice blues, arylide and cadmium yellows, and new gamboge. A very wet Blue Bice (American Journey) hue was the main background color. As an opaque, it had to be thinner. Note the two small lavender and brown shaded moths. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Sparrow Secrets

11x15 watercolor on Arches 140 lb cold press paper. A neutral background wash was applied after the bird was painted wet on dry. Weeds and grasses were done when background dried. Lastly splattering in foreground with two oranges, one transparent pyrrol and the other Halloween orange, an opaque was put on as a finishing touch for this nature scene of a white crowned sparrow. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Klimt Kritters

4.25x7.5 watercolor and ink line on Canson 140 lb cold press paper; two animals, a white hen and a black and white border collie pose amidst graphics reminiscent of Gustav Klimt and his decorative designs. This one was completed yesterday. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Southwest Orchid Cactus

6x9 watercolor and ink line on 140 lb cold press paper done today. The right side is part of an abstract that just didn't work. I took the cactus sketch and moved it around until it meshed with the other parts, then painted it in southwestern desert hues. Ink lines are done with STA Lictin .08 pen. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Blue Door Shutters and Bougainvillea

12x16 watercolor on Italia 140 lb cold press, over pencil sketch done today of this white stucco building with its vivid blue door and shutters. The potted pink bougainvillea in its copper pot sets it off perfectly. This was done for an online May challenge; ref courtesy pixabay, photographer not known. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Porky - a redone painting

22x15 acrylic and ink over a failed watercolor of watermelons that just did not work. This pig art is featured in Chris Unwin's book The Artistic Touch 5. I took some of the lemon shapes in the watermelon fruit still life and made pig rears as you can see in the background, and also did negative painting where needed. The hardest part was his large head as I wanted some of the watermelon to show yet needed basically one color in the shape. When we raised pigs and hogs on the farm they were often fed watermelons. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith

Chili Boy

7x5 with 4x3 watercolor artwork on Strathmore printing paper using watercolor with ink. In an Intaglio dry point process this cat outline was produced and printed (sketch courtesy Sue Roberson). I mixed several versions of black watercolor today to get the cat's values correct. Chili was my favorite rescue kitty of all time so this artwork is in his memory. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Anna's Hummingbird

9x7 watercolor and black Brusho on Canson 140 lb. cold press paper done today over a pencil sketch of my Anna's hummer photo. All areas of this work were spritzed with a small mister before applying color. Brusho was the perfect solution to the grey/black breast of this small bird, giving some detail but not a lot. With such very tiny legs and feet, the hummingbird cannot walk around as other birds do, but must fly. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Busy Crow

6x6 watercolor and ink with Micron 01 pen on Masters sketchbook paper sketched awhile back but color was added today to complete the bird art. This crow looks preoccupied with finding something on the ground. I used all the darks on my palette to create greys and blacks then put a dab of transparent pyrrol orange in the chest area. Splattering was done when dry to add texture to the ground. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith