Extreme Owl

9x5.75 watercolor and Brusho crystals on 140 lb cold press paper, begun at my last all day workshop then finished this week. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Secrets of Owls

6x6 watercolor and ink using STA Lictin 0.5 pen in Masters Touch sketchbook 80 lb paper, done last week. First I applied an orange hued random wash using transparent pyrrol orange and raw sienna over the paper. Let dry overnight. Then sketched the great horned owl with pen and applied local colors in this macro view. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2023

Patterned Owl

12.5x9 mixed media on handmade cotton paper from India made by Leather Village. Owl outline done with technical ink pen STA 0.5 and multi-lead colored pencils, Montana markers, acrylic ink markers, watercolor, and acrylics used in the bird. I used a paper doily as a stencil and black fluid acrylic for the breast markings. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Desert Owl

16x12 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper, my demo owl for last Saturday's workshop using southwest stencils along with paint in a new design. Black India ink was also used applied with a wooden chopstick. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Day Owl

6x6 watercolor on Masters Touch 80 lb paper in sketchbook done yesterday using many colors for this day time great horned owl. A mixed black was used for dark line work. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Wise Great Horned Owl

4x6 watercolor miniature on 140 lb cold press Canson paper done in May using some of my wild bird photos. First I placed the dry paper face down in wet palette paint, let it dry, then developed the owl likeness. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Grumpy Great Horned Owl

9x12 mixed media on Grumbacher 140 lb cold press paper recently finished. This was an exercise doing a blind contour portrait sketch using white oil pastel. Bleeding tissue was placed at random over that then spritzed with water mister, let run then air dry. Hair, eyes, and other features added with watercolor. Turning the face horizontally, I then pencil sketched the owl outlines then added Brusho and acrylics. Upper left is part of the portrait's pigtail braid. Most of the background was also the portrait colors. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Great Horned Owl Face

6x9 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done last week, a quick color study from one of my previous sketches. Watermedia lends itself to owl art such as this bird very well. COPYRIGHT 2022 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

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

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

Owl Wisdom

4x6 watercolor over abstract mixed media background, sketched in pencil, for a wise old owl painting of a great horned one. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Orange Owl Eyes

6.5x7.5 mixed media on wc paper done today as part of an online timed painting event on WetCanvas. Participants have 2 hours to choose an image then do it and I finished this orange-eyed owl in about an hour. Sketched in hard charcoal pencil over an orange acrylic ground, I used Liquitex acrylic gouache, Arteza gouache, and black India ink. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Winter Owl

10.5x10.5 mixed watermedia on cardboard done over the past weekend. After sketching with a technical pen, I used Crayola markers, watercolor, and some white gouache. When dry, black India ink was placed here and there along with splatters. COPYRIGHT 2020 Kay Smith

Owl and Yellow Leaves

9.5x7 watercolor and colored pencils in Ecosystem sketchbook done last weekend for another weekend drawing event online.  Participants have 2 hours to select an image and paint it.  I cropped an owl photo including only some branches and autumn leaves for a 35-40 minute endeavor.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

January Owl

7x3.5 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press done today on partially paint marked paper for a challenge on WetCanvas Miniatures forum (photo courtesy Penny).  When dry I splattered burnt sienna and sepia across with a large round brush.
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kay Smith   Email:   1971ks@att.net to purchase via PayPal or for more information.

Psychedelic Owl

12x9 watercolor of a great horned owl literally glowing with every color in my palette.  I have been working on him for 3 days, a different twist on a brown and white subject that previously had been sketched and painted in reverse.  He needed some jazzing up so this is the result, a departure from my usual realism.
Image COPYRIGHT 2017 Kay Smith.

Great Horned Owl

15x11 watercolor on Saunders 140 lb cold press paper, work in progress finished today. Here in this last step, I've added distant background water and foreground.  I might glaze again the foreground water but for the most part, he is done.  In the ref, he had a red brick building behind him, so I've taken artistic license and put him in a more natural setting of a lake with trees.

This is the third step showing distant horizon line of autumn colorful trees, plus tail feathers.  I dropped small amounts of water into an almost dry watercolor where it lost its shine, to give the illusion of fog.  Also I added a few reflections of trees and finishing touches to the tree branch the owl is perched upon.

Here is the completed great horned owl's body, step 2 of my WIP.  I'll lightly draw in a branch for him, then plan the background elements. (Owl photo reference courtesy WetCanvas)

Owl Sketch Work in Progress

11x8.5 ink sketch of great horned owl which will be used to develop a full watercolor wildlife landscape. This will be a work in progress, or WIP, that can be seen below in the beginning stages below on Saunders 140 lb cold press paper, 15x11 inches.