Retro Rooster collage

10 x 14.75 mixed media (watercolor, acrylics, newspaper, napkins, catalog pages, ink) I composed over a failed geranium watercolor. The rooster head and neck were from a former failed barnyard painting with him and 2 hens that did not quite work. The hens I cut out also and adhered to an old shack scene called "Chicken Ranch", that should still be on this blog. His purple legs just kill me; feathers in front are from newspaper photos of old wood. It is a conglomeration of elements with a whole lot of country style and was fun to make. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith

HenReeEtta

8x5.5 acrylics in junk journal, a book published in 1946, done last weekend. I sketched the hen over a page that I'd put red acrylic on to use up leftover paint. The ref was part of another weekend drawing event on WetCanvas. Lots of fun to crop the photo and add local colors. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

A Rowdy Rooster

6x6 acrylics and ink using STA 0.8 pen on Master's Touch 80 lb sketchbook paper done at end of August; ref courtesy another artist. COPYRIGHT 2024 Kay Smith

Another Cock of the Walk

7x9 watercolor using White Nights paints done last week while in the mountains. This is in my Master's Touch sketchbook, 80 lb paper. COPYRIGHT 2024 Kay Smith

Eye of the Rooster

9x6 watercolor on Winsor & Newton 140 lb cold press paper, done earlier in the month using one of many rooster and chicken photo references. With this fellow, I've cropped him closely to better focus on his eye and comb. COPYRIGHT 2024 Kay Smith

Fluffy Fowl

9.5x7 mixed media on Ecosystem sketchbook. Using a Uniball black Elite ink pen, I drew the chicken outline and feathers. With watercolor I put in light tan, gold, and its red comb and beak. Lastly I applied Montana acrylic markers to the background in light blue and orange. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

A Barred Plymouth Rock Hen

7x7 mixed media hen sketched in pencil yesterday during our paint in with other art association members. I used colored pencils, watercolor (White Nights), white gel pen on this bird art done on sketch paper. COPYRIGHT 2022 Kay Smith

Barred Rock Hen

4.5x5.25 watercolor and Brusho wc crystals on 140 lb cold press paper done yesterday.  First I wet the feathers area then dropped black Brusho into that, letting the crystals mix and mingle.  Red areas were watercolor using red and red orange.  Background was a mix of indigo and sepia.
COPYRIGHT 2020 Kay Smith

One Mad Hen

12x9 Brusho and watercolor on Canson 140 lb cold press paper painted last week for an animal challenge online.  This grumpy hen's face cannot be ignored and she looks ready to peck someone.
COPYRIGHT 2020 Kay Smith

Barnyard Hen

2.5x3.5 watercolor on Italia 140 lb cold press paper using White Nights paints done today from another chicken barnyard image.  The top view is the actual size and bottom just a bit larger in this miniature art card.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Randy Rooster

9.5x9 alcohol inks on deli white paper done day before yesterday using an older sketch that is one of my favorites of all the chickens.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Barnyard Queen

15x22 mixed watermedia:  acrylic, black India ink, and collage over failed red rose watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper.  This work was a demo for the Amarillo Art Institute.  As a vertical red rose painting it just did not work so redoing it was the only option.  Collage elements are torn white doily fragments in several pieces.  You can see a remnant of the rose top center and a rosebud still visible on lower right side margin.  I like the eggs floating about including one still in the hen.
COPYRIGHT 2019 Kay Smith

Mad Rooster

10.25x9 watercolor and ink (Uniball Vision Elite pen) on sketchbook, quickly sketched last night then painted today.  This mad rooster was one of the featured refs on WetCanvas in the All Media Art Events forum/Weekend Drawing Event.  Participants are given 2 hours to choose an image then render it.  My ink sketch in 20 minutes is shown below.

COPYRIGHT 2018 Kay Smith.

Big Red Rooster

12x12 torn paper collage on wrapped canvas done today that was my studio class demo.  This whimsical rooster was drawn with black felt tip marker onto clean white gessoed canvas, then various colors of torn paper were adhered with matte medium.  Tomorrow it will be finished with gloss medium varnish of several coats.  No photo references used.
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kay Smith           Email:   1971ks@att.net to purchase via PayPal           Cost:   $295

Barn Chicken

22x15 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper by Saunders with Daniel Smith/Da Vinci paints.  Done wet in wet quickly, this work is showing a curious hen looking back where she came from.  This work is SOLD.
COPYRIGHT 2017 Kay Smith.

#InkTober day 24 ~ Fowl Mood

12x9 India inks on Canson 140 lb cold press paper done today for the #InkTober challenge, a daily pledge participating artists do each year in October.  Lots of chickens and roosters I've painted and this one was taken from an earlier ink sketch and recreated with inks. Its neck area is more orange in real life and not as red as this photo is.
Image COPYRIGHT 2016 Kay Smith.

White Rooster

22x15 watercolor vignette on 140 lb cold press paper, an earlier work that is now SOLD.  This white rooster was named Snowball and belonged to friends who allowed me to shoot photos of him strutting around their place.
Image COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2016.

Buff Cochin Bantam Rooster plus an ink sketch for #InkTober

 9x12 watercolor done today on 140 lb cold press paper, as part of current monthly Watermedia challenge on WetCanvas.  Photo courtesy of Kara, the host, and this is her rooster.

Ink sketch of two pronghorn antelope seen out in west Texas using Pitt pens on sketchbook paper for #InkTober worldwide challenge in which artists must do a work in ink once a day for all of October.
Images COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

White Fat Rooster

6x4 watercolor and ink on paper, a barnyard farm scene that is now SOLD.

Also since 9-1-15, I've posted daily works on Leslie Saeta's #30paintingsin30days challenge she hosts annually on her blog Slices of Life you can see HERE.
Image is COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.

Cock of the Walk

9.5x7 watercolor on paper (Ecosystem sketchbook) done a few days ago of a regal rooster on white background.  Drawn with Uniball pen this rooster was largely a contour line piece with color accents mostly up at his head and was done very quickly.
Image COPYRIGHT 2015 Kay Smith.