Cosmos Petals

8x6 watercolor/ink on handmade rough 140 lb cold press paper done first week of the month. I used White Nights paints and Winsor Newton 0.1 black fine liner pen in this loose floral. For a series on cosmos flowers I'm sketching them from a faux bouquet in a vase. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2026

Imaginary Pansies

6x6 watercolor on sketchbook paper 80 lb done today, a quick warm up for today's art before tackling a larger painting. I used Rosa Gallery paints from Ukraine. Yesterday I laid the paper onto my wet palette colors in the large palette and let dry overnight. Turning it sideways the flower shapes became obvious so pansies they became. No reference used, no pencil sketch. Master's Touch sketchbook was used. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Hummer Buzz

8x8 watercolor with White Nights paints done last week while on a short trip. This is on 140 lb cold press Grumbacher paper. In the hummingbird scene one can wonder who will get the nectar first, the bee or the bird? COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Bloomsday

15x22 watercolor on Italia Acquerello 140 cold press paper of my old antique watering can surrounded by happy faces of the sherbet-hued pansies. Just waiting to be planted and watered, so I call this one "Bloomsday". Have a bright Spring everybody and thank the Lord for the rain. COPYRIGHT 2024 Kay Smith

Quick Cosmos

4.5x3 watercolor, pink acrylic, and tissue collage on 140 lb cold press Canson paper done last week, sketching from a silk cosmos from life. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

April Daffodil

4x12 acrylics on 140 lb Canson cold press done first of the month using leftover paint and paper, a spring time daffodil blooming just for us. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Strawberry and Cream Coneflowers

6x9 watercolor using White Nights paints on Canson 140 lb cold press paper begun earlier in the week and just finished. Inspired by a new spring nursery catalog I just had to sketch these coneflowers to get into a lighthearted mood for the upcoming season. Spring is next month! Only a #1 script liner rigger brush was used. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Daisy Petals

8.5x5.5 watercolor and ink line on Masters paper. Using one of my white daisies photos, several were sketched in with Micron 01 pen. These perennials are always such a joy to see come up with the warmth of a pre-Spring sun, through the still cool earth. Splattering of yellow orange (gamboge) was done when dry in this imaginary garden scene. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

Tulips on Fire

7x5 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done last week as a commission; this work is SOLD.

Daffodil Day

8x8 acrylic inks on Italia 140 lb cold press paper done a few days ago, wishing for a nice spring next year with lots of rain and sunny yellow daffodils in bloom.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Spring Geraniums

6x4 alcohol inks on glossy white photo paper done this afternoon using pinks and greens, blowing them around with a large straw.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Purple Parrot Tulips

3.5x3 watercolor on Langton 140 lb cold press paper done this evening, a miniature painted using brush only very quickly.  This pair of parrot tulips are imaginary and are a mix of ultramarine blue plus quinacridone red.
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kay Smith

Windblown Tulip

8.5x11 alcohol inks on photo paper done during our last windstorm day before yesterday in which everything blew and blew and it is not even March yet.  That is when our typical sandstorms happen before the seasons change.  An abstract background of pinks and yellows was put in first then the red blown with a straw and finally the green base and stem.
Image COPYRIGHT 2017 Kay Smith.

Purple Yellow Pansies

11x15 watercolor on Kilimanjaro 140 lb cold press pape begun yesterday and completed today.  Years ago I used this same photo and painted a much smaller version which quickly went into someone's home.  Also had prints made and only one is left, so I used that to draw the pansies again but in this larger format.  The background was done with light washes of Prussian blue and thalo green yesterday and today a dark wash mix of alizarin crimson with the other two colors overlaid that.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith

Cosmos Confetti

11x15 watercolor on Bienfang 140 lb cold press paper drawn yesterday starting with the cosmos centre and few greens, then finished today.  I used a #12 round Escoda brush from Cheap Joe's that is rapidly becoming a favorite.  It makes a very sharp line with its tip. These pink cosmos were part of my studio garden about 6 years ago and I took tons of photos to use later.  For this painting, three different images were combined.  I really like the withered bloom lower left and new one about to open on the right lower side.  Background is totally imaginary.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Time to Garden

15x11 watercolor done today, a partly imaginary garden scene featuring my old potting table that is really pale green, pots of geraniums, and red orange poppies.  I have all but the poppies; hydrangeas  haven't bloomed yet.  Larkspur and lilacs have already shown their faces.  This was sketched yesterday using brush only, no pencil, and is on Kilimanjaro 140 lb cold press paper.  I painted wet on dry for the most part, spritzing with a fine water mister for softening far background elements.  Time to garden!
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Pink Bicycle and Hydrangeas

5x7.5 watercolor over pencil drawing on Moleskine sketchbook for watercolor done today.  I had a very short time for art and it rained all day so this small size gets us ready for Spring on Friday.  Modeled after garden bikes seen in Houston I painted this one pink and made up the blue, pink, and lavender hydrangeas in its basket.  Splattering was done when dry.  The hot orange tiny colored bits are floating petals as Nature is singing.  I did put a hummingbird in but he was lost with so much else going on so he was taken out.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Poppy Thoughts WIP

11x15 watercolor begun yesterday with a loose pencil drawing on Canson 140 lb cold press support.  This paper lets Daniel Smith's quinacridone coral, indigo, and arylide yellow sit on top and really shout.  Working wet on dry I'm laying warm reds and pinks next to cool tones and mixing indigo with thalo blue and green for very cool foliage accents with green supporting red in a complementary manner.  It will probably look like all my poppy works, but it's a working method I prefer to photorealism! These lovelies were photographed in Wales, so stay tuned for the next work in progress or the final version.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

April Anemones

12x18 watercolor on Strathmore 140 lb cold press paper of multicolored imaginary anemones swaying in the April breeze. I completed this new work yesterday after starting as a Monday class demo.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Signs of Spring

16x20 watercolor of pink geraniums in my old white wicker chair, painted wet in wet on 140 lb paper/Daniel Smith and DaVinci paints.  Seeing geraniums each year for the first time always lets us know it is Spring. I also painted the same porch scene in oil and that version has been purchased by a private collector.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith