Dairy Cow

Dairy Cow 6x6 watercolor on handmade rough 140 lb cold press paper, done last week from several dairy farm photos. Focusing on the Holstein's head I've also shown a portion of her hay feeding trough. COPYRIGHT 2025 Kay Smith

Bodacious Bovine

6x6 watercolor on Masters Touch 80 lb paper done last week, another imaginary contemporary cow painting focusing on colors not ordinarily seen in livestock cattle. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Curled up Calf

6x6 watercolor and ink using 0.5 STA Lictin pen on Masters Touch 80 lb paper done over the weekend for another WetCanvas weekend drawing event. We have 2 hour to select an image then paint it; image courtesy Kat. Her reference had two other cows so they were cropped out to focus on the youngest who was curled up by a bucket. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Got the Blues Holstein

6x6 mixed media using watercolor, ink, and Montana acrylic marker over a contour drawing on Masters Touch 80 lb paper. Done recently, I thought the Holstein cow looked rather sad hence the title about having the blues. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Cow Expression

4x6 mixed media collage on 140 lb cold press Grumbacher paper done last month in a series of comical cows. This particular cow I have painted about 3 times. Collage is with handmade and decorated paper fragments. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Hilarious Holstein

8x8 watercolor on gessoed Italia 140 lb cold press sketched in pencil then painted with Daniel Smith pigments. Some areas of the cow's black markings were sprinkled with salt for texture. Mostly I used a #1 rigger/script liner brush and had forgotten how fun it is to work on gessoed surfaces. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Holstein Market

8.25x5.25 gouache, watercolor, ink pen in junk journal done a few days ago as part of another challenge online. Ref courtesy Jenna Hestekin. This Holstein steer is ready for market. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Multicolored Cow

5.5x9 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper sketched and painted over the past few days, a vivid contemporary colored cow done in warm colors.  A couple of colors, ultramarine blue and Skip's green, are the only cool hues.  Background is a palette grey that resembles khaki green overall.
COPYRIGHT 2020 Kay Smith

Donald's Calf

6.5x4.5 mixed media (Tombow black and burnt sienna brush pens, Magic colored pencils, apricot paint marker on toned sketch paper done today for online WetCanvas challenge in Southwest/Western forum; photo ref courtesy Donald Smith.
COPYRIGHT 2020 Kay Smith

Charolais Cow

15x22 watercolor on Kilimanjaro 140 lb cold press paper completed today of same cow painted earlier and  reworked.  Lots of value challenges with this one!
COPYRIGHT 2020 Kay Smith

Holstein Heifer

8x8 watercolor on Italia 140 lb cold press paper done over Christmas holiday from one of my refs featured in WetCanvas December challenge.  I omitted several other cows and simplified the landscape to focus on the Holstein heifer.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Mad Cow

10.25x9 mixed media on paper, another in my weird cow series. Media used: Watercolor, Staedtler Calligraph Duo 3.5mm pen, white gelly roll ink pen, black India ink, light blue Montana acrylic marker (background), and white gouache.Working from black and white photocopy all color is imaginary for this Hereford.   I tried to keep the values correct and put small bursts of colors here and there such as ultramarine blue and cadmium orange for this whimsical farm animal.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith.

How Now Brown Cow ~ ACEO

2.5x3.5 watercolor and ink on collaged book paper done recently, an art card edition original of a brown milk cow lying down.  I used a STA Lictin 0.3 pigment liner/black ink to draw.  Actual miniature size is posted below.  (Ref courtesy Maria/WetCanvas)
COPYRIGHT 2018 Kay Smith.

Cow with One Horn

6x12 walnut ink on Strathmore 140 lb cold press paper done over the weekend as part of another WetCanvas challenge. Ref courtesy of host Penny this month.  I had not used walnut ink in awhile, which results in a monochromatic painting, and I do like its results here.  You just have to apply it multiple times to get a dark enough value.
Image COPYRIGHT 2017 Kay Smith.

Funky Cow

11x14 mixed media over older failed mm/collage on matboard, drawn with black felt tip pen.  I used watercolor, acrylic, and ink. A lot of the background had other colors that I rubbed and lifted out.  I took a photo of a large, life size fake ceramic cow found in a flea market in Ruidoso and that's what this Holstein is drawn from.  There is some text stamping and handwritten words I did also in the background.  This was my effort today for WetCanvas weekend drawing event where I am the host.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Mad Cow

10.25x9 mixed media on paper done today, another in my weird cow series. Media used: Watercolor, Staedtler Calligraph Duo 3.5mm pen, white gelly roll ink pen, black India ink, light blue Montana acrylic marker (background), and white gouache.Working from black and white photocopy all color is imaginary for this Hereford.   I tried to keep the values correct and put small bursts of colors here and there such as ultramarine blue and cadmium orange for this whimsical farm animal.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.