Lincoln County Donkey

12x9 watercolor using White Nights paints on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done July 3-5, a demo for the public who visited during the annual Lincoln County Art Loop. This is based on an earlier similar southwestern donkey scene. Sketch was done with Winsor Newton sepia 0.3 fine liner pen. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2026

High Noon Donkey

15x11 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done in January on a cold day. I've used one of my donkey frontal compositions and placed some imaginary saguaro cactus in hot desert dirt or sand for an unusual background. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2026

White Donkeys

11x15 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done last week; I featured these two white donkeys in an online WetCanvas challenge and couldn't resist their cute expressions. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Fenced in Donkey

15x11 watercolor using White Nights paints done last week of June on Grumbacher 140 lb cold press paper. As part of the Animals Wildlife forum on WetCanvas I featured the image with the June challenge and enjoyed the friendly donkey poking his nose through the fence wire. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Donkey Love

5.5x8.5 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper and White Nights paints done mid-month while in the mountains. With these two donkeys showing affection this image from WetCanvas was impossible to pass up. COPYRIGHT 2024 Kay Smith

Donkey Nose

6.5x9 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press done last week, another in my humorous donkey series. This fellow is vying for attention by putting his nose up and over the pen corner at his barn. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Donkey Profile

8.5x5.5 watercolor using White Nights paints done a couple weeks ago while on a trip. For this WetCanvas online challenge I used my Masters Touch sketchbook with 70 lb. paper that takes watermedia very well. I cropped the reference to focus on the donkey's head and neck. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Tanja's Donkeys

7x5 watercolor on 140 lb cold press Fabriano paper completed today over pencil sketch begun Friday. As part of a timed online art event the work had to be done within 2 hours. Ref courtesy Tanja/WetCanvas weekend drawing event. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Hot Afternoon Donkey II

15x11 watercolor on Fabriano 140 lb cold press rough paper done over the weekend, a repeat of an imaginary earlier version that had sold. I used Daniel Smith paints. This work is also SOLD. Copyright 2022 Kay Smith

Desert Donkey

22x30 watercolor painted yesterday on Fabriano 140 lb cold press paper.  This was one of the photos presented for a WetCanvas timed challenge for which I was the host.  Background was warmed up using burnt sienna and raw sienna to mimic a hot southwestern day.  Our temps are in the teens now so this one warmed me up.
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kay Smith

Sandee's Donkey

6x9 watercolor of a friend's donkey that is part of Big Spring Art Association's summer challenge.  A group of us shared ref photos to complete before we meet again in September, and so far I've only done two.
Image COPYRIGHT 2017 Kay Smith.

Docile Donkey

15x11 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper by Dick Blick; this donkey belongs to another artist on WetCanvas and the painting is shown for this month's challenge in the Animals forum there.
Image COPYRIGHT 2017 Kay Smith.

All Ears - Donkeys

15x22 watercolor on 140 lb cold press Arches rough paper of mother and young donkey.  The background is imaginary and I used two different photos of mine to come up with the composition.  The mother is plodding along in the hot southwestern sun while her offspring, called a jenny, looks at the viewer.  My paper choice lent itself to the stucco buildings and sandy dry dirt.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Drowsy Donkey

15x11 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper that is today's work.  Since doing the cactus yesterday and another recent donkey in a hot southwestern setting I am still in the mood. My photo was black and white so did not follow local color for the animal's markings which were dark, medium, light brown, white, touch of black.  Background of hay was eliminated, substituting an imaginary southwestern building with tile roof and a flat raw sienna color dirt for the middle ground.  Now the hot sun can be imagined baking all that sits underneath, making the pinto donkey drowsy.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Donkey Dreams

12x9 watercolor that was drawn with Pigma Micron 01 pen first on Canson 140 lb cold press paper.  I worked on it this weekend for our Watermedia forum challenge on WetCanvas! Photo courtesy of host Kara.  The background was eliminated and I put a very hot southwestern siesta type feel.  The donkey is dozing in the afternoon sun.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Dandy Donkey

5.5x4 watercolor and ink on a magazine card insert from People.  Drawn with black Tombow brush pen, I added more black ink inside his ears and blended with water.  Watercolors of quin burnt orange and ultramarine blue make up the browns while background is arylide yellow, green gold, and indigo blue.  When dry it was stamped using tiny bubble wrap scrap.  This fellow lives on a farm next to my mother's mailbox.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Desert Donkeys

15x11 watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done yesterday of two friends I put in a southwestern setting.  I used quinacridone gold as a mother color in this composition while employing other warms such as quinacridones magenta, violet, and burnt orange. Cool accent colors of blues manganese, indigo, prussian and ultramarine helped support a hot, dry, sunny day theme.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.