Jams and Jellies

7x9 watercolor on Canson 140 lb CP paper done yesterday over pencil sketch; ref courtesy Cindy, Wet/Canvas monthly challenge in Watercolor forum. Cindy canned these tasty delights herself and offered them as a fun kitchen still life. Daniel Smith paints were used. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2026

Egg Bowl

4.5x9 acrylic monochromatic still life using Pewter Grey color plus a small amount of white for this simple kitchen or food still life. Eggs easy to set up in a white bowl then focus only on the midtone and dark areas of shadow. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Garlic Pot ~ last painting of 2022

10x8 acrylics on canvas finished today, a three day or so effort of painting a white subject still life set up in my kitchen. As the last painting of 2022, maybe a little garlic flavor will usher in a new beginning and end the old year. A handmade ceramic backsplash is seen in the background while the little ceramic pot and lid sit on our chocolate brown granite countertop. The garlic pot was too small to hold the large bulb so cloves had to be pulled apart. Have a happy new year everyone! COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Summer Garlic

5.5x5.5 watercolor on Arteza 110 lb paper done over the past weekend, a kitchen still life that is fun to paint and to cook with, too. Ref courtesy WetCanvas. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Kitchen Window Still Life

9x12 watercolor on Bristol 300 series 100 lb paper sketched and painted today for a timed online event. Participants have 2 hours to do their choice of references. I love the old silver teapot or coffee pot with the bright fruit and blue glass ware. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Tea on a Cold Day

5.5x8.5 watercolor over pencil sketch in Masters sketchbook done yesterday; ref courtesy Miniature forum on WetCanvas (reference image library).  I loved the cool blues in the cup, the powdered sugar sweets and the crocheted doily.
COPYRIGHT 2020 Kay Smith

Coffee Grinder & Pear

7x5.5 watercolor over ink line with Micron 0.3 pen completed today.  The ink sketch was done yesterday for #InkTober2019 for the prompt word 'ancient' which the coffee grinder certainly is.  The red pear adds a nice modern day kitchen touch to this simple still life.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Silverware and Utensils still life

7.25 x 11 mixed media collage on matboard completed a few days ago.  Sketched in colored multilead pencils, collaged text is put in with ink lines, watercolor, and Derivan Matisse matte acrylic added in this kitchen still life.  Look closely and you can see china plates, pizza cutter, spatula, etc.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Freshly Baked

5.5x8.5 watercolor and ink line on Bienfang for mixed media sketchbook completed while out of town this weekend.  This cozy fresh bread and coffee kitchen still life reference is featured on a current WetCanvas challenge in the Pen & Ink forum.  The scene had to be drawn in ink first and you could add color if you wanted.  I love Mr. Coffee so here it is.
Image COPYRIGHT 2017 Kay Smith

Bronze Horse and Bamboo

5.5x8.5 watercolor and ink line (Micron 01 pen) on Masters sketchbook paper done the second weekend in the month in response to a WetCanvas! challenge.  In this still life I loved the quirky bronze horse nestled against a white ceramic vase of bamboo; both reminded me of Eastern influences.  The embroidered gold and white cloth they're setting on was a nice classy touch on a wooden table.  This was done in about an hour.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Soupbowl on Blue Gingham

5.5x8.5 watercolor and ink (Micron 01 pen) on Masters sketchbook paper done recently for our Watermedia monthly challenge on WetCanvas! where photos are posted and participants choose what they want to paint.  Choices are then posted throughout the month.  I love gingham as it reminds me of the country and simpler times.
(Photo courtesy Morguefile).
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Red Anjou and Yellow Bartlett Pears

16.5x20 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper of red and yellow pears that I set up and photographed last Sunday in a yellow and green ceramic compote.  Yellow is the one color you cannot darken so it is a really difficult task for the artist to manage getting values down to the levels they should be seen.  There is also nice bounce light into the pears shadows as well as the dish coming from the southeastern window sunlight.  Altogether the colors interplay well with primaries red, blue and yellow with cool greens in a small supportive role.  This work was done for Painting Friends October pears online challenge.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Old Phones sketch

Relics of the not-so-distant past, these rotary dial telephones sketched in ink remind us of how far technology has advanced.  Pencils and notepads are included as well in this simple nostalgic still life drawn with Faber Castell grey pens in Master's Touch sketchbook, 8.5x11.