Butterfly Zinnia Garden

11x15 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper completed yesterday of summer annual zinnias with monarch butterfly, an imaginary scene from one of my photos. This was painted wet on dry using Daniel Smith and White Nights paints over a couple of days. Zinnia leaves are rough and scratchy. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Butterfly on Pink Zinnia

12x9 alcohol markers on Masters premium paper for markers done the day before the new year's eve. This was from a photo taken outside the studio classroom when I grew a bed of multicolored zinnias. A watercolor version of it was done previously in a half sheet 22x15 size. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

Ann's Garden Variety

15x22 watercolor on Saunders 140 lb cold press paper, a still life of white onions and ceramic pitcher with a red vase of fresh flowers we set up to draw and paint.  Flowers were carnations, mums, sunflowers, baby's breath, daisies, and zinnias.  This work SOLD.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

Sunkist still life

22x15 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper done from life in front of my kitchen Windows. Fresh fruits, zinnias, antique vase, Ball jar, leopard cloth all sit on old English oak hutch with beveled mirror.  This still life was painted wet in wet.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Zinnia and Butterfly

22x15 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper from one of my older photos of studio zinnias that I was lucky enough to have camera ready when the butterfly stopped by for a visit.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Christy's Zinnias

15x22 watercolor of my dear sister-in-law Christy Smith's zinnias, painted from photos awhile back.  I loved her vividly colored summer annuals and could not wait to draw and paint them in a much larger format.  She follows this blog so hope she will remember the flowers and the painting.

Chili with Pink Zinnia - a pet portrait

15x22 watercolor of my tuxedo kitty named Chili.  He is now 10 years old this month and I've painted him many times.  A few years back I set up a still life of fresh zinnias in a sunflower pitcher, an old quilt and napkin and he jumped on the table top and decided to be part of the not-so-still still life.  Although this painting was not done today I'm posting Chili's portrait in honor of his birthday.  It was painted wet in wet with no masking for his whiskers.  This set up was in my living room that has dark Hunter green walls...there appeared tiny marks in the paint so after it dried I added different pieces of color for an unusual pattern.

Woven Watercolor: Country Icons



Here it is! Two into one completed work, 22x15 inches that I will mount onto a support, mat, and frame.  Hopefully the viewer can make out what the still life is with lemons, grapes, zinnias and the blue and white pitchers and bowl.



Woven Watercolors: Two Become One

In this photo I've cut both half sheets, 22x15 inches into wavy strips.  One is vertical as on the left and the other horizontal as seen on the right.  The next step is to weave them into one.  That means probably at least 3 strips will be left out.  Since the watercolor on the right was the original one in which I messed up the foreground table, I'll remove that bottom horizontal strip.  So do stay tuned and I'll show you the finished result.

Country Scene still life

22x15 watercolor on 140 lb Saunders cold press paper of these country kitchen items. I first painted this scene as a class demo and love the blue and white spongeware pitchers and bowls holding grapes, lemons and zinnias from the garden. It was done wet in wet. My plan is to take the demo piece and cut it into strips vertically and this one cut horizontally then weave together as one painting.

Roses Still Life Demo-Trevena Style Class

Here's my 15x15 demo from today's class in the Shirley Trevena style. Of course my work can never compare to her masterpieces but was fun reading her 2 books, setting up still life, and having several artists come to paint all day. These roses were my own, posed in clear glass vases in front of my black lacquer French settee, on a little black coffee table with movie stars photos in it.

Drawn in colored pencil, a white candle was also used for making resist marks, while watercolor was put on dry paper partially coated with texture medium. The Indian pillows with their sequined patchwork help frame the roses and zinnias. Ignoring perspective is Shirley's hallmark style along with very vibrant hues. Colored pencils were sanded into wet paint for texture, and oil pastels added at the end for highlights and additional accents. The coffee table is upright while one vase comes off the page. My favorite part is the photo of Clark Gable upper right of the coffee table.

It was a difficult technique for most of us who are so accustomed to realism to paint a bit looser and not worry so much about the outcome.

Trying to Set up a Still Life & Look What Happens

Meet little tuxedo kitty Chili who demanded to be included in a still life of an old tablecloth, a plaid napkin, my sunflower pitcher of fresh zinnias on the buffet. This painting is about 2-3 years old and is 15x22 watercolor on cold press paper.