Precious Prickly Pear

6x6 mixed media on 80 lb sketchbook paper done yesterday. Media used: multilead colored Magic pencils to sketch, watercolor with White Nights paints, acrylics, Caran D'Ache Neocolors watersoluble crayons, and black Sharpie ultra fine point. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Sunset Cactus in Pot

8.5x2.75 watercolor on Canson 117 lb cold press paper done in August, another vertical painting that is handy as a bookmark or framed as wall art. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Patchwork Pricklies

Patchwork Pricklies 12x12 acrylic on wc paper done last month, another remake or rework of a painting I was not too fond of, to create something new and exciting. The original as seen below was in an online abstract class. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025 BEFORE

Tall Cactus with Golden Background

8.5x2.75 watercolor done on Canson 117 lb cold press paper in August; this vertical art can be framed and matted as is or can be used as a fancy bookmark. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

August Cactus

9x3 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper done last month, a miniature imaginative cactus that could be framed or used as a bookmark. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Saguaro Song

9x12 acrylics over an older abstract done in 2020, another in my reworked series done the last of August. This is on 140 lb cold press paper. Stay tuned for more exciting cactus art desert scenes. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Cactus Floral Shapes

9x6 mixed media using mostly acrylic and colored pencil over an older watermedia made with stencils done in 2021. This redo or rework is fun after drawing cactus shapes in colored pencil over the original. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025 Original Floral Shapes is below for comparison.

Cactus Glory

8.5x5.5 mixed media of Winsor Newton grey fineliner 0.3 pen, watercolor, colored pencils done last month in mixed media sketchbook. Another imaginary desert cactus and foliage scene up close. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Sunday Prickly Pears

12x9 watercolor using a limited palette of Payne's Gray, Perylene Maroon, and Quinacridone Gold on Canson 120 lb for mixed media paper. With this palette, I'm still exploring color combinations on the imaginary landscape cactus. This one was done in July. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Monday Cactus Pears

8.5x5.5 watercolor on sketchbook for mixed media done last month. Using a limited palette for these imaginary cactus leaves and pears I used: Payne's Gray, Perylene maroon, and quinacridone gold. Also I used multilead colored pencils by Koh-I-Noor Magic pencils. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Hot July Prickly Pears

10x14 watercolor on Stonehenge aqua 140 lb hot press paper done last week using a limited palette. This was a class exercise learning to mix three primary color versions of Payne's gray, Perylene maroon, and quinacridone gold. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Neurographic Cactus

8.25x9 gouache and ink line using Micron 01 pen in sketchbook done last week with cactus pad leaves and prickly pears as the theme. I've let the line work dictate the way the cactus plant flows into itself and into the environment. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Black Brusho Cactus

5.5x8.5 watercolor and Brusho crystals in mixed media sketchbook done first of July, another imaginary cactus scene in a dry climate. I wanted to explore what the black Brusho would look like with these plants. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Purple Pad Cactus

6x6 watercolor with White Nights paints on 80 lb sketchbook paper done week before last while on our trip. Another imaginary desert cactus scene, I've focused on the purple colored cactus leaf pads seen sometimes growing wildly. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Cactus Tidbits

6x6 watercolor of imaginary prickly pear cactus patch, just a playful exercise of color and line. In this desert landscape flora or plant scene, one can think of finding a cactus with all these tidbits. This was painted last week or so. COPYRIGHT 2025 Kay Smith

Colored Cactus Pears

8.5x5.5 watercolor done in mixed media sketchbook last week, another imaginary cactus theme focusing on its edible pear fruit. This was painted quickly and loosely. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Rough Cactus Patch

8x6 watercolor on rough handmade paper done week before last using graphite paints by Gansai Tambi (Kuretake) and Rosa Gallery paints. In this imaginary southwestern desert landscape focusing on cactus plants, I've used the graphites for the rough texture and Rosa paints for their brilliant colors of the prickly pears. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

May Prickly Pears

6x8 watercolor using White Nights paints done last week, an imaginary cactus of prickly pears on handmade rough paper 140 lb cold press. I put in darks first followed by midtones then lights. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Red Prickly Pears Vignette

10x14 watercolor with White Nights paints done last week on Stonehenge Aqua 140 lb hot press paper; such a fun exercise from my earlier value study. In that study I used a black Tombow brush pen on Fabriano Bristol 100 lb paper for three values of dark, medium, and light with a #1 rigger brush to get a mid-tone. COPYRIGHT Kay Smith 2025

Red Cactus Pears

11x15 watercolor on 140 lb cold press paper done last week using one of my older cactus patch photos that was first done in a sketchbook in 2018. I've done more negative painting in the background of imaginary shapes and colors. COPYRIGHT 2025 Kay Smith