Autumn Leaves and Berries

6x6 watercolor on Masters Touch 80 lb sketchbook paper done recently, a mix of fall leaves in full color along with dark blue berries. This was my last page in the sketchbook that was started in April of this year. Lots of sketching and painting! COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Autumn Arrangement ~ first day of autumn

8x8 watercolor on Fabriano 140 lb hot press paper painted last week using White Nights paints. I used a silk arrangement for the model. Happy first day of fall! COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Juicy Fruit

Juicy Fruit 10x14 watercolor of fresh strawberries on a plate, waiting to be eaten. I enjoy these complementary color schemes and my favorite combo is red and green as the use of them side by side intensifies their hues in this simple still life. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

December Berries

9x12 watercolor completed today on Fluid 140 lb cold press paper, an imaginary nature scene I've been working on for two days.  Beginning with a light variegated wash of pale yellow, green, and blue that served as an underpainting, I then did multiple glazes and used every red, orange, and pink in the palette for berries.
They are not holly but a unique December red berry bush.
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kay Smith

Berry Bush

4x6 alcohol inks on glossy professional photo paper done last week, an abstract botanical done with only a couple of colors:  Currant and Willow.  Stem was made with the tip of a wooden chopstick that already had dried Mantilla Black and Lettuce colors.  I added a drop of 91% alcohol to it to draw the stem.  I do like this complementary color scheme of red and green using the different hues.
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kay Smith

Spring Waxwing

3x3 watercolor on Fabriano 140 lb cold press paper done a few days ago from my photos to showcase this berry-loving bird.

Actual miniature size shown below:

 COPYRIGHT 2018 Kay Smith

Blackberry Patch

5.5x8.5 watercolor and ink with Pigma Micron 01 pen on Master's Touch sketchbook paper done over the weekend.  It was featured in the current weekend drawing event on WetCanvas and photo ref was courtesy Valri Ary.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Juicy Fruit Strawberries

10x14 watercolor of fresh strawberries on a plate, waiting to be eaten.  I enjoy these complementary color schemes and my favorite combo is red and green as the use of them side by side intensifies their hues in this simple still life.

Woven Strawberry - watercolor weaving how to do it

15x11 watercolor of a very large strawberry painted twice on separate 140 lb cold press Kilimanjaro paper, then cut one into horizontal strips and the other into vertical strips to weave together.  I'll show the step progression from beginning to end so that you may get up the courage to try a weaving yourself.

 Two drawings side by side on large backing board

 Crowns in mixed greens but not totally identical - wet on dry

 Closer view of first one done and yellow green underneath

 Added a bead wash of transparent pyrrol orange + gamboge

 More paint:  Permanent red by DaVinci

 Continuing on down adding Grumbacher true red, permanent rose

 First berry finished with thalo yellow green at bottom

 Second berry at the crown with small amount quinacridone gold

 Adding pink and reds very wetly

 More permanent red, plus colors above

 Finished berry - water spritzed onto it and gamboge splatters

 Side by side views

 Background mix of UB, cobalt, permanent rose, arylide; one diagonal blue gingham square

 More squares with Prussian, cobalt teal blue, mixed purples

 Both strawberries completed! Close but not identical

Cut one into vertical strips then horizontal 3/4 to 1" in width, with slight wavy lines

 Weaving begun at top of vertical image

 Continuing on downwards


The left one is now the only one with 3 strips left over that I'll save in the collage bin!

Enjoy if you try this technique, just give it a go!  NOTE:  Update! See new post on weaving tulips for April/May 2015 here

 



Woven Watercolors: Two Become One

In this photo I've cut both half sheets, 22x15 inches into wavy strips.  One is vertical as on the left and the other horizontal as seen on the right.  The next step is to weave them into one.  That means probably at least 3 strips will be left out.  Since the watercolor on the right was the original one in which I messed up the foreground table, I'll remove that bottom horizontal strip.  So do stay tuned and I'll show you the finished result.

Got the Blues!

I thought I posted this watercolor here but I put it on Art Colony blog first. It is 15x21.75 and was painted on the backside of a failed acrylic that had wax crayon lines. If you look closely you can see these lines that I decided to include within the composition of these fresh blueberries. I used a paper doily as a background stencil for a suggestion of lace; this creates repetition of the round holes in the old colander/strainer.

Tap Water Painting

This is the painting below with as much paint scrubbed off under tap water in the sink as I could get yesterday.

First painted version from reference photo, courtesy Nusret. Size: 15x22 painted fairly close to the actual hues and design wet in wet watercolor. When almost dry, I scrubbed off all the pigment I could with a sponge and let dry to determine my final design. (See above)

15x22 Poppies and Berries, finished version with lots of layered negative painting of leaves, berries, and flowers ala wild woodlands, after washing off all pigment from first painting.