Mighty Mushroom

5.5x8 watercolor and ink (Micron 01 pen) done on Strathmore Visual Journal for mixed media. I featured the mushroom online for a monthly online challenge. Lots of detail that I love not only in the background but underneath the exaggerated fungus plant, just a myriad of multiple mazes. It is so fun to explore these microcosms; so much going on at the tiny level most people don't care to see or examine. There are pine needles with their three prongs scattered about here, leaves, twigs, and parts of other botanicals and even a small insect underneath its umbrella. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Margaritas

12x9 watercolor (brush only) painted yesterday as a still life complete with limes and kosher salt on Canson 140 lb cold press paper. This imaginary scene could be any table top or bar anywhere. It was fun to paint the salt crystals and the lime in this still life. COPYRIGHT 2020 Kay Smith

Sleeping Midge

4x6 watercolor and Micron 01 pen on a magazine insert card done for an online cat challenge.This is Midget, who goes by Midge, all curled up in her kitty pet bed that is really brown in color. (She's a rescue kitty from our town's kill shelter in 2011). I used a card from F+W Publications' Drawing magazine that I subscribe to for this cat pet portrait. Whiskers were painted around and not masked. I did not plan for Drawing to be across her white fur, it is just how it worked out. COPYRIGHT 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.

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.

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.

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.

Bluebonnet Blitz

22x15 watercolor on Fabriano 140 lb cold press paper finished last Monday, sandwiched in between doing a valentine every day, just anxious to paint a floral for a change.  Next month will be traveling to Fredericksburg to do a demo but it will be too early to see these lovely Texas state flowers blooming wildly along roadsides and ranches.  Several years ago I painted a macro view of the lovely lupine and get email from those who have seen that painting asking if I have any more of them.  This one has prints available on my website www.kaysmith.artspan.com in every size, or the original.
Image COPYRIGHT 2017 Kay Smith.

Sleepy Boston Terrier

7x9.5 watercolor and black Tombow brush pen on Ecosystem sketchbook done today.  First I used a rocks and stones design stencil with opaque and transparent orange tones over the white paper.  When dry, I sketched the Boston terrier with the Tombow and filled in black areas.  My photo had a leopard print behind the dog and a white blanket in front; he had his head on top of a dog toy.  So I filled in the background with Blue Bice (Cheap Joe's American Journey) and Transparent Pyrrol Orange (Daniel Smith), ignoring the rocks and stones shapes.  All in all he made a cute sketch almost as if he is dreaming of being outside.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

#InkTober day 30 ~ Garden Glory/alcohol inks

6x9 alcohol inks on freezer paper, shiny side, begun yesterday as a demo for Colorado City artists, then completed today in time to post for our almost last #InkTober effort.  I began by dropping sapphire blue ink, then juniper green, follwerd by honeycomb then yellow. As colors mingled and formed their own abstract this one reminded me of a garden fading in the warm fall days.  The substrate, or support, freezer paper will be archivally attached to watercolor paper with gel medium and a brayer.  Only one more day of the month for #InkTober! The challenge has been fun and very informative as I was not using this medium last year during October.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

InkTober Starts Today ~ Li's Dog "Doc" in ink

9x12 Tombow black brush pen on Bristol 100 lb paper done today; Bristol is by Dick Blick.  Tombow pen is watersoluble ink and has a brush end and a smaller nib end.  I used a number 1 script liner brush to add water to dark areas to blend them and then make grey tones or middle values.  The initial ink sketch for #InkTober is below.  This dog's name is Doc, and belongs to Li Newton.  He is featured in the current weekend drawing event on WetCanvas dot com in the All Media Art Events forum.  Participants have 2 hours to select a subject and do it, and this one took me about an hour.  With InkTober, participants pledge to work in ink every day in October and post their works online on social media, blogs, or websites.

 

 

INITIAL INK SKETCH

Best Pals - Cat & Chihuahua Cover Art

6x6 watercolor and ink line on Masters sketchbook paper done almost 3 years ago, a pair of friends raised together who are best pals.  This piece was chosen by the Journal of American Veterinary Medical Association for their December 2016 cover art.  Their publication reaches 88,000 members across the country.  I still have the original and will add to my Animals gallery on ArtSpan website and enable for prints.  It is nice to be recognized in this manner for my pet portraits, and a big salute and thanks to all our hardworking veterinarians!
Image COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2013.

Calling all Calla Lilies

24x18 watercolor of white calla lilies grouped together.  I first painted this a few years ago then recently repainted the background to be a stronger dark to set off their pristine whites.  Look closely and you can see water drops on the petals.  These lilies are the most popular wedding flowers due to their elegance and beauty.  This work is SOLD.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Lupines Bluebonnets

8.5x5.5 watercolor and ink (Micron 01 pen) on Masters sketchbook paper done over the weekend.  As Texas state flower, the bluebonnet or lupine stands proud and tall in the state it calls home.  In various hues of blue-purple and red-purple, the multifaceted plant can be seen as a sea of blue across the mid-state hill country in the spring.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Downtown Doors

10.25x9 watercolor and ink on paper done today 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 Alberto's Crystal Cafe to its east side on 2nd Street.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Kitty Litter

15x22 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper painted a few years ago, a sweet litter of five kittens playing in and outside their cat carrier.  This work is SOLD.
Image COPYRIGHT 2009 Kay Smith.

Independence Day

15x11 watercolor depicting USA flag flying in a gentle mountain breeze.  I took the reference photo at Alto Lakes, New Mexico at the Century 21 office.  With a large pot of red geraniums this was painted in July 2010.  Happy birthday America! God bless the United States!
Image COPYRIGHT 2010 Kay Smith.

Country Church with Bluebonnets

11x44 acrylics on wood panel featuring a country church surrounded by bluebonnets along the roadside.  This was a commission so it is SOLD.  The panel came out of a real country church where the customer's grandparents were married.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith

Spring Sparrows

11.75x15.5 acrylics on gessoed matboard of two sparrows just won 2nd place in San Angelo TX Fiesta in Realism show in the Oil/Acrylic division.  This was painted last year and was a featured demonstration for the Midland Palette Club workshop I was teaching.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Mexican Redhat Blooms

5.5x2.75 watercolor and gouache with ink line (Pigma Micron 01 pen) on brown sketch paper done this week.  Another Mexican red hat wildflower, each bloom is different in color, form, and value.  Some have pale yellow petals while others are yellow orange or red.
Also known as the prairie coneflower, these inhabit dry areas and seed themselves along roadways and vacant lots.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.