Aspen Winter

9x7 watercolor winter imaginary scene begun yesterday using Gansai Tambi graphite paints (Kuretake). This is in Master's Touch 80 lb paper sketchbook that is fun to paint on. Not used the graphite colors in awhile and interesting to see the pale green which they call yellow applied to the background. Negative painting of trees is in far background and I could keep going with them. Aspens are tall and stately holding their trunks and limbs high in this snowy landscape. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Hidden Wood

9x5 watercolor on Grumbacher 140 lb cold press paper, an imaginary snowy woods scene with a few bare branched trees standing out in front of the others. Painted wet on dry using Daniel Smith paints. COPYRIGHT 2024 Kay Smith

Pair of Autumn Aspens

12x9 watercolor and Brusho wc crystals on Grumbacher 140 lb cold press paper done week before last, another imaginary tree painting showing close up of their bark. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Thawing Creek

15x22 watercolor done last week, an imaginary winter scene on Fabriano 140 lb rough cold press paper. This thawing creek with its hints of sunlight filtering through the trees offers hope for the next season. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Aspens in Snow Drift

8x8 watercolor on Masters Touch 140 lb cold press paper done last week, another imaginary winter landscape featuring a few aspens in a snow drift. No sign of any wildlife except birds flying overhead in this quiet and cold scene. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Crows are Landing

6x6 watercolor on Masters Touch sketchbook done over the past weekend using only a loaded brush, no pre-drawing with pencil. Inspiration for these aspens and crows were the photos taken over the previous weekend while in the mountains. Crows are very plentiful and there was a murder of them in the backyard flying and landing. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

Aspens and Feathers

12x12 oil/cold wax on gessoed wood panel done last Saturday at a class on using cold wax plus oil. Primaries were mixed with a 3:1 ratio of wax and Galkyd gel, then layered on the support or substrate. Bowl scraper, palette knife, silicone brush, cut credit card edge, etc.,were all used to make pattern first on the transparent colors of alizarin crimson and phthalo blue. Next layer was opaques for this abstract desert themed imaginary piece. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

February Aspens

9x6 watercolor on Grumbacher 140 lb cold press paper sketched yesterday then finished today. This mountain winter landscape of aspens was prompted by some I saw last week in New Mexico and the other elements are from imagination. I've really pushed color with this tree scene. COPYRIGHT 2023 Kay Smith

End of November

6x9 watercolor and Brusho wc crystals on Masters 140 lb cold press paper done today using a spatula type palette knife along with matboard pieces to make lines and marks. In this imaginary scene, some of summer's colors remain in the landscape such as green, yellow, and yellow green while autumn's golden colors sneak into it. Brusho used at the base of the trees and brush for texture. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

ASPEN LANE

6x9 watercolor on Yupo synthetic paper done last week or so, an imaginary scene of aspen trees and shadows. No pencil used for this one. COPYRIGHT 2021 Kay Smith

September Aspens

8.5x5.5 watercolor on Masters sketchbook done on the last day of September, an imaginary fall tree scene with blue skies; love the bark on these tall stately forest inhabitants. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith

Mule Deer Sends Yuletide Greetings

9.75x7 watercolor on Fabriano Extra White 140 lb cold press paper done over this past weekend from one of many deer photos.  I like this backside view of the mule deer surveying its fall going into winter domain.  In the imaginary background I've added aspens and fall foliage including red and orange leaves.  There's a nice backdrop to the freshly fallen snow in the middle ground.  The cold sky is darkening with a pending threat of rain or more snow.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Flying South

5.5x8 watercolor on Strathmore Visual Journal 140 lb done a few days ago while out of town. A previous trip I had seen sandhill cranes flying so they were the inspiration for this simple landscape.  Note the repetition of the V-shaped birds with that of the trees.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Fall Aspen Color

12x6 watercolor on Strathmore 140 lb paper painted yesterday while in the mountains. In this imaginary scene the tall trees tell us that fall color is here to be savored and sampled until the first frost. Embrace autumn for nature's plentiful palette!

Image is COPYRIGHT 2014 Kay Smith.

Aspens Ashimmer - reworked watercolor

22x15 watercolor and gouache on 140 lb cold press paper, my demo for today's workshop class.  Our task was to take an old painting that just didn't look like we wanted, and remake it into something better.  For mine I choose a previous floral that had already been redone but still was lousy.  I turned it vertically and drew aspen outlines using black watersoluble Tombow brush pen, then with white gouache and watercolors, mostly opaques, I painted this scene.  Below you can see the old dog itself.

BEFORE version, titled Poppies and Berries, that had lots of negatively painted leaves and blooms...way too much detail as is my usual habit.

Autumn Aspens Wolf

20x16 watercolor on Arches 140 lb cold press paper, DaVinci/Daniel Smith/WN paints.  A friend gave me his wolf photos so using one of those, added aspen grove I photographed in New Mexico years ago plus imaginary rocks to make this fall landscape.

Stillness - wolf in snow

11x15 watercolor painted today on Kilimanjaro 140 lb cold press paper with Daniel Smith paints:  Ultramarine blue, alizarin crimson, raw sienna, burnt sienna, quinacridone burnt orange, sepia, carbazole violet, quinacridone gold. Background trees are all negatively painted. Total time 2 hours. I made up the snow and trees and the wolf photo is courtesy WetCanvas! Weekend Drawing Event Sept. 14-16, host Jean of Canada.  Her photo was a wolf in warmer weather so I changed the season.

Changing Seasons trees

12x9 watercolor on Langton 140 lb cold press paper, Daniel Smith paints, an imaginary scene drawn yesterday and painted today.  I had decided it would be a winter scene then today changed the season to autumn as it has more colors.

Backlit Aspens Demo

15x11 watercolor on Italia Acquerello 140 lb cold press paper finished yesterday. I will post each step here as a demo for this poured painting that was created with a brush only. NO PENCIL was used to draw any portion.

Aspen Gold

22x15 watercolor close up view of New Mexico aspens in full autumn color. This painting was purchased and hangs in Texas Senator Kel Seliger's office in Austin.