"Early Morning" - original oil landscape painting

 Something I almost never do - a landscape painting - but it was fun.  I'm not an early morning person at all, and it always amazes me to find all the life going on in the early hours.  I'm a big fan of nighttime, but it does my soul good, I think, to investigate the other parts of the day.  

This piece is painted, using water mixable oils, on 5 x 7" Ampersand Gessobord.  I've thought about using casein or egg tempera since they can also be used with water, but right now am hooked on this relatively new medium.  A word about water mixable oils here - I have used them off and on for several years and find them a pleasure to deal with.  There's no smell, the clean-up is so easy and they work just like regular oil paint.  The binder, usually linseed oil, is modified to mix with water.  After the paint is applied, the water will evaporate and then it dries just like regular oils. Of course you still have to follow fat over lean.  I continue to use regular oils but am getting to really love these paints.  And - no matter how careful I am, wearing an apron, washing my hands, etc - I always get some paint somewhere on my clothes and I find these goofs easier to remove using just soap and water.  If you haven't used water mixable oils yet, give them a try!

Thanks so much for stopping by Hackberry Street Studio!💖

Seated Model - oil pastel portrait

This young woman is the model I have used the most and she is also my eldest granddaughter.  She is just a natural model and never seemed unhappy with any of my "assignments".  All of my beautiful granddaughters are lovely models but Lexie is somehow the one who posed the most often.  She might not actually like this rendition of her, since it's really loose and hurried.  I used Sennelier oil pastels on a 7 x 5" Pastelbord. 

 I just ordered a 48 piece set of Caran D'Ache Neopastels from Ebay - they're lightly used and were lots cheaper than a new set, so I'm really pleased.  The good thing about Neopastels is they're not nearly as "lipsticky" as my beloved Senneliers, but I do like to change every now and then - just got several Holbeins as well as a set of CrayPas Specialists, too.  I'm kind of oil pastel obsessed I guess!

Thanks for stopping by Hackberry Street Studio! 

 

"What I'm Fooling with Today" - painting and drawing trials, experiments, etc

 Keeping the woman, changing the man - I think I'll really like it when I'm finished and will post it on here.  A total experiment.  The ink drawings behind the little painting are from a life drawing group.  I think maybe next to life drawings, I like to draw people at restaurants and BARS - always so delicious because bars are where people let their hair down.  I love to position myself - armed with pencil and paper - near the bar.  Folks are just friendlier and more engaged at the bar and I love to watch the goings on!

This painting, except possibly for the woman in blue, will be totally different. And also larger, and maybe done in oil pastel.  Working in oil pastel is where I actually live. 😊

Thanks for stopping by!

"Sketch of the Thursday Model" - original quick soft pastel portrait drawing

 I don't know what this says about me, but I cannot remember if I ever posted this one or not.  What I do know is that she was a great model and could really hold a pose.  Artists do remember those things for sure!  I love drawing portraits on dark green supports, especially when there's a lot of red involved.  Soft pastel is a wonderful medium - one of the reasons I don't use it more than I do is that I always think - even when the piece should be considered finished - that somehow a few more lines here or a bit more color there will make the work absolutely perfect.  And I always, always ruin it.  Messing around is a little more difficult with oil pastel, so I guess that's why I use it more often.  If I did my "rearranging" while the model was still sitting before me, it could work, but making changes when I'm back in my studio will most likely lead - as least for me - to failure.

Even though the time for the drawing was short, I was happy with the result.  More time would have been great, but oh well, I love shorter poses, too.  Thanks for stopping by!

"Sketch of Tammy" - original oil pastel portrait drawing

 I did this one from some drawings of a model from about a year ago.  Put a timer on myself, hoping not to kill it.  Was trying Canson Mi-Teintes Velvet for the first time and really like it.  Most of the oil pastel was Sennelier - all lipsticky and wonderful.  Actually, since I didn't have a model and I was anxious to try my new paper, I dug the drawings out of a drawer that's stuffed with all kinds of sketchs.  It was fun to experiment with the Velvet paper and just let what happens happen.  Thanks for stopping by!

"Beach Ready" - original ink figurative drawing

  For this drawing I used a fountain pen with Noodler's ink - and actually I think it's a Noodler's pen as well. When it comes to ink drawings, fountain pens are my favorite - there's a level of excitement when I'm working with one, or anticipation or maybe just plain fear😓 that an ink blob will show up and has to be somehow worked into the piece for a bit of "interest".  I'm happy it didn't happen this time! The lighter lines were made by turning the nib sideways.  Some of those lines are following a bit of shadow and some are gesture lines that sort of "feel" the pose.

The support I used is Canson mixed media paper about 8 x 5", 138 lb.  It has a tiny bit of tooth and it's great for all types of drawing tools.  Thanks for stopping by!

 

"Two Things I'm Working on Now" - One of these pieces is oil pastel and the other is in oil.

                                     Oil Pastel                                                          Oil

 Here are two TOTALLY unfinished 7 x 5" dancer paintings on panel thatI've been working on the last couple of days.  It's just amazing to me how much work it takes to do anything this small!  In relation to the one on the right, which is being painted in oil, here's a column from the Wall Street Journal on country style dancing - https://www.wsj.com/arts-culture/music/american-honky-tonk-line-dance-bars-new-york-city-nashville-chicago-54758256 - So much to think about and do in finishing these pieces, but I'm having a good time.  I'm hoping everyone is off to a good start on 2026 and I really appreciate y'all stopping by!

"A Few of My Recent Drawings" - mostly loose expressive ink drawings and a couple of charcoals

Always loving to draw the figure, I look for every opportunity to draw from life.  I'll bet I have thousands of drawings - well, maybe fewer now since I have only so much space and have been photographing them and then discarding.

All but two of these pieces are drawn from the live model. Most of the ink drawings are two-minute poses in which I held my Line Maker pen or my Noodler fountain pen far from the nib so that I had very little control. I also didn't spend much time looking at the surface as I was drawing - more interesting that way! 😀 The results are often pretty amusing, but much fun to do.  If you like to draw, it's worth a try!   Thanks for visiting Hackberry Street Studio!

"At the Rodeo Dance" - mixed media figurative painting

I glimpsed this couple as they danced by and drew what I remembered of them when I got back to my studio.  The surface is 8 x 6" Gessobord.   I first applied oil paint, then added a bit of Caran d'Ache Neocolor 1 and ended with a Koh-i-Noor Hardtmuth Triograph pencil #6 for a few more lines.  I love this pencil - my first encounter with it - with these fat leads and thick cedar triangular casings they're very easy to use.  These pencils are tough to find, so maybe they're not being stocked any longer, but I got mine from Ebay.

Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

"Tango Joy" - mixed media sketch of tango dancers

They are for sure having a lovely time dancing the tango.  Always watching and attempting to keep my skills in quick drawings sharp, I was so pleased to get the chance to sketch this couple. This is one that I did with Derwent Line Maker 0.3, General Pencil Company's Primo charcoal pencils and a bit of watercolor in a Strathmore Mixed Media sketchbook.

I was also happy to get their expressions so quickly - he with a tender look as he watched her almost complete abandon.  So much of such a quick drawing is actually done from memory since they've moved on to another step while I'm striving to record what I glimpsed mere moments ago. Lots of fun, though!  Thanks for visiting Hackberry Street Studio!

 

"Mavis in Sunlight" - original oil pastel portrait

It's pretty difficult to get anyone - even a friend - to hold a pose in light like it was that day, so that's where lots of time spent drawing fast comes in.  I did this one on 7 x 5" Ampersand Pastelbord (great stuff) using Sennelier oil pastels (more great stuff).  It's loose because I like things kind of raw and of course didn't have much time.  Was so happy with how it turned out, especially the hand.  It's sometimes the little things that can make one happy!😊 Thanks for stopping by!
 

"Sketch for a Tango Painting" - figurative sketch in ink and charcoal

I was copying a step that I saw a couple practicing.  They were really concentrating to get it all just right, and were working on foot placement.  Not as simple as it appears.  But of course when they actually did their show I'm sure they made it seem so easy.  Wish I could have been there to see it!  The charcoal pencil I was using and the oil pastel paper it's drawn on were supplies that I picked up while I was visiting Hungary a couple of weeks ago.  More on that great trip and all the wonderful beautiful art I was so lucky to see there!  
 

"The Monday Model" - original oil pastel drawing from life

 Once again, another happy drawing event for me - nothing like drawing from life! Great model with the very best poses - can't ask for anything more.  Her right leg was a little interesting to draw with all the foreshortening, but I think I did okay.  I love when artwork is left a little raw - and that's just mostly my way.  I always love seeing the hand of the artist.  One of my teachers said that she didn't always necessarily cover up a brushstroke that she later wanted to change because that way the viewer could see her original intent.  This 7 x 5" painting on Ampersand Pastelbord was done using a mix of Sennelier, Caran d'Ache and some Cray-Pas Specialists. Thanks for stopping by!

"Country Night" - original oil figurative painting of two-step dancers, cowboy, rodeo dance

Another of my paintings, 7 x 5" on Ampersand Gessobord, from the dance after the rodeo with lots of soulful country music and two-steppers.  I paint these in kind of a hurry to give them a feel of movement (plus it keeps me from killing them with overworking).  At least I think so😌.  I was listening to Gene Watson as I painted this one - true country music is what he does - give him a listen and thanks so much for stopping by!
 

"Sketch of the Thursday Model" - original mixed media sketch of the model in Geisha costume

 

The model arrived with a beautiful kimono and it was really great to draw her as if she were an actual geisha.  Not enough time, of course, but I did scribble a lot of loose sketches and loved it.  This is one of them - on Strathmore toned paper - the heavy kind which I love dearly, using General's Primo charcoal HB pencil, Derwent Chinese white pencil and some touches of oil pastel. Thanks for stopping by!

"Lovin' the Two-Step" - original figurative oil painting of two-step dancers

Relying on the Junction, Texas rodeo dance every year gives me so many 'models' to paint from and there's no dance on Earth as sweet as the two step!  I did this one on 7 x 5" Ampersand Gessobord - just about my favorite surface.  Thanks so much for stopping by - and if you haven't already, learn how to do the two-step - you will love it!
 

A Few Quick Figurative Drawings from Life - pen and ink drawings

I love doing these kind of drawings - maybe a minute or two.  They're fun and helpful in quickly 'estimating' where the different body parts are in relation to each other - plus they can be entertaining to look at.  The pens used were by Derwent and Itoya - such different creatures from each other but both great to draw with. The paper I drew on is actually white, but my photography skills. . . oh well.  😕

Thanks for stopping by!

"The Wednesday Model" - original oil pastel figurative sketch

 For this drawing I used Pastelmat paper, and mostly Sennelier oil pastels, with some Caran d'Ache and a few CrayPas Specialists.  I just didn't have time to finish her body so gave her a black dress. This is really a value drawing with not so much attention paid to local color, plus no "correcting".  You can probably tell that😀. And in my typically disorganized way, I didn't have my box of mostly portrait oil pastel colors, so I had to work a little harder.  One of my instructors often had me do my figure drawings with hues that one would never ever use for paintings of humans, but it always worked.

And now a bit about oil pastels.  You always hear that they cannot be blended.  Well, that's where fingers come in.  At least my fingers do from time to time, but you can also use blending tools such as pastel blenders which I find very useful.  In addition, I use Eye Tees which are actually for applying eye makeup, but they are helpful for working in tight areas as well.  I would say, however, when using the lipstick-like Senneliers, it's best sometimes not to pass any kind of blenders over the area and just to let it dry - or as much as oil pastel dries. 

Here's an example of blending when I wanted a particular color that I didn't have.  It was for a dress that needed to be darker than the light greenish-blue on the left, and lighter than the dark blue on the right, so I worked this darker, cooler blue over the lighter one and then vice versa and got a close match for the dress color.  It mostly involved mooshing the sticks over each other on the support until I achieved the color I was looking for.  The lighter color peeks through in different places and I like that a lot.  I didn't blend with my finger or a blending tool because one was a juicy Sennelier and the other a Caran d'Ache which is a little bit drier.  The two brands work fine together, but I didn't want to disturb them while they were setting.  After a few weeks and the painting was dry to touch, I sprayed it with fixative and one pass of varnish.

Recently I read a recommendation to spray four applications of oil pastel fixative and then four applications of varnish.  May give that a try.  

 If y'all have suggestions about oil pastels, I am very interested! Please let me know how you're doing these things because I'm always looking for better ways to work with this medium.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

"Dancehall Evening" - original figurative oil painting of two-steppers

This 7 x 5" oil painting on Ampersand Gessobord was a delight to paint.  There's nothing sweeter than a two-step and I think it's great that dancehalls are still going.  

I've somehow ended up with a bunch of 5 x 7" and a number of 6 x 6" panels so I've tasked myself with painting lots of these dancers, plus some tangos.  I guess I got a good buy on them. "Sale" is one of my very favorite words, so Hackberry Street Studio will be sporting a lot of these paintings!

Thanks for stopping by my blog!

 

"Life Drawing Sketches" - original charcoal drawings from life

I used Strathmore Toned Blue Mixed Media paper and General's Primo Euro pencils for these sketches.  They're timed poses so it's that great training again where you don't have enough time to "finish".  Such fun and so challenging! Re General's Primo Euro pencils, I'm really worried they'll be discontinued.  They have a smoothness that glides across the support which makes them a dream to draw with.  If you haven't used these fabulous pencils before, give them a try!  Thanks for stopping by!

 

 

"A Little Ink Drama" - original ink drawings from life with a bit of white chalk

 Here are a few drawings from a life drawing group that had a great model.  All of her poses were so good and she could hold the long ones as well as the short ones, too. 

 The thing about drawing from life using ink is that it's a great drawing teacher - the marks are there to stay and we can learn what we did wrong - well maybe not wrong, just not what we intended.  While they can't be changed (although marks can be modified in interesting ways with non-waterproof ink) I always learn something from my ink drawings.  Mainly, though, I love ink drawings because they show what you're thinking - or how you react to the model - at the moment you put pen to paper.

I used Itoya calligraphy pens and Derwent Line Makers on Strathmore Mixed Media paper and added a little Derwent Chinese White drawing pencil on the front figure because I thought I got the shadow under her neck a little dark.  Did I cheat a teensy bit? Artistic License😉.  Thanks for stopping by! 

"More Country Music" - original oil pastel portrait

This 5 x 7" oil pastel is one of two of this "pose".  The other is an oil on stretched canvas that's still in progress.  I really do love country music and am painting some of the views I've had while at rodeo dances.  Matter of fact, I also love rodeos and this past summer got some good sketches while at the rodeo in Junction, Texas.  Most of the work I did was of barrel racers, but also got some bronc rider sketches, as well.

This drawing is really kind of left "raw" and not as finished as it could be.  This approach is what I love about oil pastels.  It's such an immediate type of media and I love capturing "moments" with it and just going with my reaction to the model (whether posed or not). And when I'm through drawing, I have a piece that's loose and not overworked.  Overworking is something I tend to do.

"Country Music 2" was done on Ampersand Pastelbord with mostly Sennelier oil pastels, plus a few Neopastels and CrayPas Specialists providing assistance here and there. 

 I'm experimenting with framing these small oil pastels painted on Pastelbord using Econospace plastic spacers and deep rabbet frames.  (That's "rabbet" not "rabbit", 😄which refers to the depth of the frame.)  Finding a deep enough rabbet is difficult unless resorting to frames for canvas works, so that's what I'm doing

If you've never used Econospace, it's easy to use and I really like it, especially for smaller paintings and drawings.  Click here  to visit FrameTek to see Econospace.  The company also produces Framespace, which I think is good for larger pieces.

And thanks for stopping by!

 

"Experiments in Drawing" - drawings from life and a color experiment

Here are a few things from yesterday's drawing attempts.  The one at the top with all the colors was one I did using a Caran d'Ache set of Oliver Jeffers colored pencils from Jerry's Artarama.  There are 10 pencils in the set and they aren't really colors that I would necessarily associate with a portrait, but I decided to try using different colors than usual.  I LOVE the colors and I had such a good time with them even though I might have gone a bit over the edge.  

The ink drawings are two-minute life drawings and I don't really know what I was trying to do in the one on the left, but I look at it and smile.  I guess I was using too much water with the ink - my pen was an Itoya Calligraphy Doubleheader.  They are just great.  Not made anymore, I fear, because I have not been able to find them anywhere but Amazon, and they don't have many left, so I laid in a supply!  

For the rest of the art day, I painted two 7 x 5" two-stepper pieces in oil and left them alone until tomorrow to see if I still love them.  I guess so much for my watercolor Wednesday, but it will return one Wednesday soon.

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog!

 

"A Quick Painting from a Life Sketch" - Life Sketch and Painting

 I did this quick little painting from the charcoal sketch of the model.  Initially I was going to do the whole thing which would include the chair the model was sitting in etc etc, but I ran out of interest and became involved in doing ink drawings of cowboys playing cards.  And possibly leading to trouble. 👀  

The painting is on 6 x 8" Canson mixed media paper.  Am anxious, though, to use my acrylics on Gessobord because I think I'll be more pleased with the brushstrokes.  This was interesting to do - next time I'll make color notes about skin, eye and hair color.  As always. so grateful to the models.   Thanks for stopping by my blog.

"Motherhood" - small acrylic portrait

Well, a couple of days late for my watercolor piece, but this is sort of watercolor since it's acrylic.  Excuses, excuses. 😏 I have a few really small 4 x 4" Ampersand Gessobords and used one for this painting.  Reminds me of many nights with my little ones when they just couldn't get to sleep.  It's tough to paint any detail - for me, at least - on such a small surface, but I see artists who seem to do this very easily.  I actually had a good time with it but won't attempt it again for a few weeks, I think.  I'll probably be doing more two steppers, since I have a number of requests for those pieces. Thank you for stopping by my blog - have a great Saturday!
 

"First Weekly Mostly Watercolor Wednesdays" - Figurative watercolors

Here are two fun things I did while trying to learn to do watercolor.  Since it's such a challenge for me, I've decided to dedicate each Wednesday to watercolor - or mostly watercolor, because there's ink and even a bit of colored pencil in a couple of places.  Gotta remember just to let watercolor sit there and dry - don't fiddle with it - maybe requiring a bit of a personality change?  I do like the dance couple, especially her "pose" as if thinking 'how did I get into this'.  Will try to replicate these figures in oil - always tough because it's easy to lose the original feel of the pose, but I like this little piece so much that I'll keep working on it. 

Have been looking at watercolor how-tos on Craftsy and info on watercolor - transparency, lightfastness, granulation, etc.  really an interesting

medium, but I doubt I'll ever master it - just improvement is all I'm really seeking and the pleasure of learning something new.  And thanks so much for stopping by!

 

"Sleep" - original oil pastel portrait

Models often go to sleep on the job.  Just imagine how boring modeling can be.  A bit surprising, though, when it happens during a short pose.  This model was wearing a hugely fluffy garment and maybe got a bit warm.  Anyway, she snoozed a little.  I totally don't mind if a model takes a little nap when posing - I might well do the same if I were the model and completely still for 20 minutes with really quiet surroundings. This piece is done on Strathmore mixed media paper that I painted over with gray acrylic, then used oil pastels for the drawing.  It's about 5 x 4".  Thanks for stopping by!