Gull Profile

6x9 watercolor, acrylic, and ink on paper done a few days ago on our mountain trip.  It is on a discarded book page and now most of the text is obliterated by paint.  I had been photographing sea gulls again here in town; they fly over my office windows at work, too. This one sat perched on the concrete ledge of the roof as if waiting for a handout, the cheeky character.  Since white gouache did not show up well on the paper I added white acrylic to bring out highlights.  I really do like how this turned out using an unconventional support.  Micron 01 pen used to sketch the bird.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Sandpiper

5.75x4.25 watercolor and ink on paper, another magazine insert card from the publication Sunset, done today.  This little shorebird was in the beach photos from last August's Florida trip.  When I run out I'll have to go back.  In this one I moved palm tree trunks closer and shaded with carbazole violet that was nicely paired with burnt sienna for a background sunset.  With black Tombow I used the brush end of the dual pen to draw then added water to blend darkest areas.  Some white gouache, quinacridone gold, Prussian and UB round out the pigments used.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.