Ring-necked Pheasant

4.75x5.25 watercolor bird art miniature painted last week, a quick study of a ring-necked pheasant. My photos of these birds were taken using not live pheasants, but taxidermy models. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Chief Broken Arrow

12x12 acrylics on wrapped canvas done earlier in the week, another in my imaginary native American Indian chief series. Look closely to see a broken arrow in his hair and tribal costume dress. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Green Foliage

10x4 watercolor on 200 lb wc paper cold press, an exercise in negative painting doing leaf shapes and shadows in a loose manner. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

A Flamingo Pool

9x6 colored pencils and watercolor pencils on paper, a quick sketch done last week in which water was added to the color and a small amount of watercolor White Nights paints. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Posies in Green Striped Vase

8x8 watercolor using White Nights paints on Canson 140 lb cold press painted last week. In this close crop floral still life I've focused on the bright pink imaginary anemone flower. Dark green horizontal stripes are a nice complement to the many warm pinks and reds. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Western Crowne Birds

6x9 watercolor using White Nights paints on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done last week. Ref courtesy WetCanvas/Pixabay. These odd birds are in the pigeon family and I love their coloring and crown feathers. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Chief Crow Foot

8x8 watercolor using White Nights paints on Italia Magnani 140 lb cold press paper done last week, another in my imaginary American Indian series. Most have been designed to be older men thus their chief titles. I enjoy designing their tribal headdresses and ceremonial attire. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Wild Redhat

8.25x5.25 watercolor in my junk journal done last week of one of the prairie coneflowers also known as Mexican redhats that grow wild here and in New Mexico. I've not painted in the old book journal for awhile and watercolor takes to it nicely. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Splash In

15x11 watercolor on Fabriano 140 lb rough paper, done awhile ago for the weekend drawing event on WetCanvas! Photo ref courtesy Gail Bowers who hosted the event where you choose an image out of 16 given, then draw and/or paint in 2 hours. This little girl was happy to jump and splash into the ocean on a hot summer day. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith

Electric Owl

8x8 colored India inks on Grumbacher 140 lb cold press paper painted on Monday this week, another owl in my owl series. In this loose rendition of a great horned owl I've explored using alternative colors rather than local color of its feathers. Water was applied at random to get ink to move and mix. To apply ink I used a wooden chopstick. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2022

Thai Boat

7.75x5 watercolor on Bristol board 300 series paper done over the past weekend as part of WetCanvas Weekend Drawing Event. Participants have 2 hours to choose an image and do a painting. Reference courtesy Dewi Saputra. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Saguaro Fire

7x5.25 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press painted a few days ago, expanding upon my series of saguaro cactus scenes. I this, the landscape can be seen as red hot desert land. Darks made with indigo and sepia and carbazole violet. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Kids at the Lake

7x9.5 gouache on paper in Ecosystem sketchbook done several days ago as part of my online Watermedia challenge on WetCanvas. As it has been so hot this summer I was thinking of the times spent as children sitting on a dock at a lake, most often Lake JB Thomas. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Old Bike Basket of Flowers

18.75x15 watercolor vignette on 140 lb Canson cold press paper painted last week over a period of about 3-4 days. Another in my bicycle basket flowers series, I used several of my photos of bikes with their adorning floral bouquets. The white fence is a nice country scene backdrop for this parked bike. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Wise Horned Owl

5.25x6.25 watercolor and Brusho wc crystals on 140 lb cold press Canson paper done last week, another owl for my owl series. This great horned owl looks wise as can be with his large yellow eyes. COYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

July Ruby-throated Hummer

3.5x5.5 watercolor and Brusho on 140 lb cold press Canson paper done a few days ago this week from my Ruidoso, NM, hummingbird photos. I really have a hard time there keeping the feeders above ground and/or intact. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Calla Shadows

7.5x5.5 watercolor and Brusho on 140 lb Canson cold press paper done a few days ago from my many calla lily photos. I love the dramatic contrasts of the dark background against the white of the paper. Brusho was used on the stamen. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Waxwing on a Branch

6.75x6.75 watercolor on 140 lb Saunders cold press paper, sketched in pencil on the scrap paper already colored. I ignored the lilac background and the left side marks and drew in branches for this waxwing. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Dreamy White Iris

9x6.5 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper painted last week using Daniel Smith pigments and Canson paper. My iris photos were used to select an image for a looser look. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Mystery of the Cat

8x8 mixed media on brown paper done last week using charcoals white and black, colored pencils, India ink, pencil, and Montana acrylic markers. Stencil Girl stencils were used for the background. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Garcia's Donkey II

14x10 watercolor with White Nights paints on Stonehenge Aqua 140 lb hot press paper painted last week. This is the second version of the donkey as the first one went to a new home last summer and I've had requests to repaint. The background is imaginary and indicates the desert southwest hues. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Youngster Kitten

8.5x5.5 watercolor on Masters Touch paper using White Nights paints, done last week from a collection of kitten photos. This little youngster looks so sweet and innocent. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Black Ameraucana Chicken

9x6 watercolor using White Nights paints on Canson 140 lb cold press paper,done last week for another online challenge. I left the background the white of the paper as I felt this did not need any color. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Modern Macaw

5.5x8.5 mixed media in Masters Touch sketchbook 70 lb paper done last Friday with a WetCanvas challenge. The instructions were to do your art without using brushes. Media used: colored pencils, watercolor pencils, oil pastels, markers, charcoal, black India ink. After using those items I did brush on watercolor over the sparse background. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Mama Bear and Cubs

8x8 watercolor using White Nights paints in this imaginary wildlife bear scene, done on Fabriano 140 lb hot press paper on first day of July. The lack of detail in the animals' features gives this work some energy. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Inquisitive Sparrow

5.5x8.5 watercolor using White Nights paints done on last day of June; ref courtesy WetCanvas online challenge. This bird was done over a graphite sketch. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Pear Group

6x9 ink and watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done during a previous #InkTober, a yearly challenge for artists to do one work per day in ink. My favorite pen is Pigma Micron 01 by Sakura that makes a very fine line. These pears were featured on WetCanvas. Works with watercolor and ink used to draw outlines is called ink and line wash work. COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith

Fourth of July Rose

12x9 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper, using Daniel Smith and DaVinci paints; a quickie demo to warm up prior to doing a reworked watercolor of garden pots. Still praying for rain for our flowers, plants, and trees. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Owl ~ torn paper collage

9x9 torn paper collage on paper using various magazines, brochures, my own decorated paper, toile tissue, paper doily, ephemera, etc. done a few days ago getting in practice to do an all day class July 9. I thought this wide eyed great horned owl would be perfect to create and to have fun. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Pearl on Shag Rug

7x5 watercolor on Grumbacher 140 lb cold press paper painted a few days ago of my new kitten, a white calico named Mini Pearl. She loves to nap and relax on a new deep shag rug in the studio. Her colors are white, grey, and orange very muted. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

An Apple Blossom

4.5x5.5 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper painted last weekend for an online monthly WetCanvas challenge. I've cropped the bottom of this miniature floral to better focus on its stamens and center. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith