Jay Bird

6×6 watercolor on 80 lb sketchbook page (Master's Touch) done last week for another WetCanvas weekend drawing event. With this ref, I cropped most of the jay bird's body to focus on its amazing head and feathers. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

No Fly Zone

15x22 watercolor on Lanaquarelle 140 lb hot press paper, drawn and painted on one of our famous 90 degrees F days, with no snow in sight. This was taken at my friend Carole's in east Texas and earned a point for me with the Western Federation of Watercolor Societies. These sparrows and one goldfinch were trying to keep warm and their frozen birdbath is behind them. I used Coastal Fog, Coffee with Cream, Brown Derby, Sepia, UB, QBO, permanent rose, and wet the back only. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Lesser Goldfinch

5.5x8.5 watercolor using White Nights paints in sketchbook (Master's Touch) 80 lb paper, done in later January. This small bird is such a delight to see and to paint. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Regent Bowerbird

9x3 watercolor done earlier in the month in WetCanvas online challenge; ref courtesy of Shane, fellow artist in Australia. This is painted on Fabriano 140 lb hot press paper using Daniel Smith paints. COPYRIGHT 2025 Kay Smith

Busy Spotted Towhee

6x6 watercolor on 80 lb sketch paper in Masters Touch book, done last week from one of my spotted towhee bird photos just outside the window in New Mexico. I used White Nights paints for this bird art. COPYRIGHT 2024 Kay Smith

Hungry Bird

4x6 watercolor of a young and hungry little bird who is surrounded by spring and/or summer. This work is SOLD and is painted on Canson 140 lb cold press paper/Daniel Smith paints. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Friday Bluebird

6x4 watercolor using brush only, no pencil sketch first, done last month. Using no reference this bird was quickly put in wet on dry with a loaded round brush. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Siskin Song

8x8 watercolor using White Nights paints on Masters Touch premium 140 lb cold press paper done last weekend at the end of my art tour in New Mexico. For this siskin, I used a #1 script liner or rigger brush on wet areas starting with the darks first. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Ring-necked Pheasant

4.75x5.25 watercolor bird art miniature painted last week, a quick study of a ring-necked pheasant. My photos of these birds were taken using not live pheasants, but taxidermy models. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Western Crowne Birds

6x9 watercolor using White Nights paints on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done last week. Ref courtesy WetCanvas/Pixabay. These odd birds are in the pigeon family and I love their coloring and crown feathers. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Waxwing on a Branch

6.75x6.75 watercolor on 140 lb Saunders cold press paper, sketched in pencil on the scrap paper already colored. I ignored the lilac background and the left side marks and drew in branches for this waxwing. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Winter Meadowlark

12x9 watercolor using White Nights paints on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done a few days ago from several old wildlife photos. I enjoyed the winter quiet solitude of the lone meadowlark and the wild grasses. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Thistle Bird

9x12 watercolor and Brusho wc crystals on Canson 138 lb cold press mixed media paper done over the previous weekend from an online WetCanvas challenge. The bird is a goldfinch. Ref courtesy Connie van Winssen. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Baby Swallows

6x9 watercolor and Brusho on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done last week as a reminder for the Great Backyard Bird Count. Dark brown and Grey Brusho was used for their mud nest. Unlike other global birding events, GBBC represents a chance to take a 4-day snapshot of bird populations around the world. Everyone who submits an eBird checklist or saves a bird with Merlin Bird ID from Feb 18-21 will be part of the global effort. Yesterday mine was submitted for the first time to ebird app. In the 15 minute time allotted I saw over 20 sandhill cranes, common grackles, and two cardinals. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Brambling Finch

5x7.5 watercolor and Brusho on moleskine paper in sketchbook, a variety of finches called brambling. With their brillant coloring they are said to be inhabitants all over. According to Audubon field guide it is "A common finch of Europe and Asia, the Brambling appears regularly in small numbers in Alaska during migration, straying the short distance across the Bering Sea. Some of those that stray across in autumn apparently then continue south on the American side, and there have been winter records for numerous states and provinces east to the Atlantic Coast and south to Colorado. Many of these vagrant Bramblings have been found visiting bird feeders." COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Cedar Waxwings in Spring

5.5x9 watercolor and moss green Brusho wc crystal powder on Grumbacher 140 lb cold press paper painted last week from old bird photos in an imaginary outdoor setting. The spring colors were too tantalizing to resist as I'm done with winter and it has barely started. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Cardinal in Aspen Tree

5.5x5.5 watercolor using White Nights paints on Arteza 110 lb paper done week before last, a combination using two separate references. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Steller's Bluejay in Winter

6x4 watercolor on 140 lb Grumbacher paper cold press done over the weekend from photos of this pretty blue jay with snow around him for an abstract background. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Bullfinch

5.5x5.5 watercolor on Arteza 110 lb CP paper last weekend for another online challenge hosted by WetCanvas. I had not painted a bullfinch before but was aware of the bird and its unusual color. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Extinct Owls

5.5x8.5 watercolor and ink line using STA Lictin 0.2 pen on Masters sketchbook; the ink sketch done last week for 'extinct' prompt on #InkTober2021. These owls obviously were very old in a museum when I saw them online. Here I added color using Brusho wc crystals as well as watercolor. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith