A Terrible Tuna

A Terrible Tuna 22x15 acrylic collage on 140 lb hot press paper, a reworked image that is now included in out fall Caboose Watercolor Society show opening Sept. 17, 2022 at Heritage museum in Big Spring TX. Our show runs to Oct. 29, so mark your calendars and plan on seeing it. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Hooked ~ Grayling Fish

5.5x5.5 watercolor and Brusho in Arteza sketchbook of a type of salmon fish, done for an online challenge, All Animals Watercolor. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Wild Goldfish

6x6 watercolor over Pigma Micron 01 ink sketch I painted before while in Arizona.  Painting time was very quick using no color reference, just pure artistic impulse or intuition.
COPYRIGHT Kay Smith

Koi Kraze

8x8 watercolor on Masters 140 lb cold press done today from my koi pond photos taken in Midland at Alldredge Gardens recently.  The white koi were the largest I'd ever seen and so neat with their speckled bodies.  Colors used to paint the water were sepia and indigo blue with cerulean blue first in the tiny swirl areas.
COPYRIGHT 2020 Kay Smith

Blue Koi

12x9 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper begun this weekend then finished today.  As part of a WetCanvas event, artists have 2 hours to choose an image then paint it so I chose this blue fish (courtesy Li Newton).  It was first drawn in ink in my sketchbook then traced onto the wc paper which had various marks on its surface from other works.  Touches of white gouache were used. A lot of work but a lot of fun!
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Clownfish

8.5x5.5 Montana acrylic markers and Uniball Vision Elite pen on Bienfang sketchbook done today as a timed exercise on WetCanvas.  There were two clownfish in the ref Connie provided but I eliminated one due to space, and did not sketch in all the coral noodles.
Image COPYRIGHT 2017 Kay Smith.

Koi Fish Chimes

8.5x5.5 watercolor and ink on paper done last week on vacation.  These colorful ceramic fish chime when the sea breezes move them.  In the distance you can see an imaginary ocean and beach.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Fish: Chicken of the Sea

15x22 watercolor on 300 lb cold press paper, drawn with Micron 01 pen in about 10 minutes, then painted in 1.5 hours.  I was on a previous 2 hour timed painting exercise for WetCanvas.  I laid strips of cotton gauze (the kind we used to have in surgery called 'Kling' wrap) on the ink line fish sketch then spritzed green, blue, and yellow dilute watercolor in spray bottles, let dry, pulled off, then mixed grays for the rest. Splattering was done at the end. This was a lot of fun using Daniel Smith watercolors.
Image COPYRIGHT Kay Smith.

The Deep - koi watercolor in Ponds & Water Gardens

15x22 watercolor painted earlier in a negative manner with no predrawing, just splashing paint on and seeing koi fish shapes, then developing them.  This painting is featured in Ponds & Water Gardens Volume 18, 2015 annual edition magazine I just got today. The editor did an article on koi art and included mine and Laurie Justus Pace's work among others.  I did mention Big Spring in the article!It's a beautiful issue and now I want a koi pond! This image is SOLD.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2010 Kay Smith.

Krazy Koi

6x15 watercolor on 140 lb cold press Italia paper, painted a few years ago in a loose, splashy direct manner which is my style.  I lay in the darkest dark hues first, then middle tones, then lights (including the white of the paper).  Now this sinister looking fellow remains one of my favorite fish paintings which do sell well.  This work has been SOLD.

Image is COPYRIGHT 2009 Kay Smith.

Wild Goldfish

6x6 watercolor over Pigma Micron 01 ink sketch I painted a few days ago in my hotel room in Gilbert, Arizona.  Painting time was very quick using no color reference, just pure artistic impulse or intuition.  For over a month now you may have noticed watermark placements on each image posted, and this is now a necessity, as my images are being lifted (stolen) and sold unauthorized.  This is copyright infringement and is protected by Copyscape on this blog.  Sharing or posting via Facebook or Pinterest is acceptable, but downloading for private or commercial use is prohibited.

Terrible Tuna

22x15 mixed watermedia collage on Lanaquarelle 140 lb hot press paper.  I first laid a Big Spring Herald newspaper sheet and adhered it to watercolor paper, rolling with a brayer, to remove air bubbles. When dry, I put long strips of masking tape over in a random pattern and pulled that off which removed some of the printed text. Then I sketched tuna fish with Caran D'Ache watersoluble wax crayons and painted inside of the fish. Using a 1" wet brush, I spread the colors.  Next I used various cool colors plus white gouache to go over the entire background. After all was dry, the tuna was too terrible and boring, so I outlined him in black India ink then began adding torn paper collage. I did leave a few areas untouched and think the fellow is ready to eat.

Fish Demo step 4

Now collage paper has been added to lower fin.  I chose a neutral paper with tinted pale pattern to mimic fin lines and will also add that to the lip area and to the larger upper purple fin area.  His eye needs to be toned down as well.  I've taken a sponge stamp and added bubbles in white above mouth and on up, and have carved out seaweed forms from existing lines in the original work, both under and over the grouper's body.

Fish Demo step 3

This is where it was this morning after adding gouache to the black 'nose' and lower fin; still not strong enough to obliterate it, so this calls for collage elements to be added, yay! I've gone over the water area again with more paint and have begun to shape his large grouper lips.

Fishing for Compliments

From a loose acrylics abstraction to a vertical goldfish, 13x10 on Crescent matboard. This took 10 minutes to do the abstract and a few minutes to draw in colored pencil, then an hour to paint its background water and seaweed in Liquitex paints.