A Couple of Baseball sketches - charcoal drawings

I have pages of these, but kinda liked these two - seemed to have the fire.  Keep hoping for the O's but alas - maybe next year.  Thanks for looking.

Nude on Grey #3 - original charcoal drawing of a nude model

I love drawing nudes - especially in charcoal which is such a responsive and forgiving medium.  Vine charcoal - soft and extra soft - are my favorites, although I find harder charcoal sticks useful, too, mainly when turned on the side for shapes and shading.  Just not compressed charcoal - that's a whole other thing, which I've been using recently for black and white landscapes. "Nude on Grey #3" is on Strathmore's Pastel Paper, which is no longer good for oil pastel, but very nice for charcoal and regular pastels.  Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

Workingman - original ink/acrylic figurative drawing

I couldn't seem to find this drawing on my blog and it's one of my favorites.  Did the piece a few - or maybe more - years ago.  This young man's wife was scheduled to pose for a drawing group I attended, but she couldn't make it, so he came in her place.  He was a great model, although I could tell he wouldn't be repeating the experience.  He was dressed for his job, and as soon as his stint was over, he made a beeline for work.  We were all very grateful that he spent a couple of hours with us.  I used a brush with ink and acrylic on greyish-white paper and loved drawing the plaid flannel shirt and the work boots.  Thanks for stopping by!

How I Rescued a Failure - original figurative pencil and oil pastel drawing

I bought the neatest daVinci set of pan watercolors and splurged on a new watercolor brush and some new watercolor instruction books - and have produced nothing but failures.  Arghhh - (rending of garments) - drives me crazy having to be so busy with the medium that I can't accomplish what I want.  So, I covered the part I didn't like with oil pastel and am well pleased with the result!  The rest of the piece is drawn with graphite pencil.  The conclusion here, I guess, is that things that don't work out can often be rescued and oil pastel is great at saving artworks gone wrong - I love it!  But I will still continue my journey into watercolor and maybe, just maybe, I'll find success.  This one is 12 x 9" on cold press watercolor paper.  Thanks for stopping by!
PS -  I really think I like this better with oil pastel anyway.  Maybe I'm just not choosing the right subjects to paint in watercolor.  Actually I did a couple of dancers in watercolor that really pleased me.  So I guess all isn't lost - but still watercolor is kind of tough.  If y'all have any suggestions, I would love to hear!!!

Cool Jive - original ink and crayon figurative drawing of jive dancers

I know, it looks kind of crazy, but sometimes my Itoya Doubleheader and my Sharpie get the best of me - and throw in a Crayola and who knows what can happen!  Well, here's the result - could have made it red, but thought that would have been too too, hence the "cool" in the title - lavender - one of my favorite cool colors instead.  Drawn on 5 x 17" Bristol.  Thanks for stopping by!

Model on a Sofa in Black and White - acrylic drawing of the model

A quick, kind of unconsidered drawing of the model - was looking for something I could use for a painting and think I've found it in this pose.  For this one, I used black acrylic on 9 x 12" cold press watercolor paper. (I had a couple of requests from readers to explain art terms, so cold press is kind of bumpy paper, not at all smooth.  Then there is hot press which is very smooth.  I love it, myself, but it's thought to be less forgiving.  And also there's a rough watercolor paper, which, you guessed it, is rough!)  Black lines on white paper.  Ahhhhh.  Thanks for looking!

Trying out some chalks - drawing of woman looking into light

I did this one on grey toned paper - Strathmore -working with some General's compressed pastels - black, white, sanguine, sepia - that I found while going through my supplies. (Oh, the stuff I haven't even uncovered yet!)   I really enjoyed sketching with them.  They will work beautifully on a more finished drawing, too, but I love leaving things a little raw.  Thanks for looking!

Nude on Blue-Grey Paper - charcoal life drawing with touches of white charcoal

For this nude drawing, I used vine and willow charcoal with bits of General's white charcoal - my fave - on some blue-grey Canson paper.  This one is about 9 x 10".  Thanks for stopping by.

Looking Around - mixed media figurative

I slathered acrylic paint on paper pretty thickly, then drew with a General's Peel & Sketch charcoal pencil, and worked over that with oil pastel.  Kind of a quick, frantic piece done from one of my old black and white drawings.  Oil pastel works so great over acrylic - really just glides over the surface.  On 9 x 12" Strathmore acrylic paper.  Thanks for stopping by!

Darling Roger - charcoal sketchbook drawing of my dog

My precious boy - and Able Assistant - is napping and therefore, a good subject.  He's getting old - maybe 14 or 15 - just an estimate since we got him from the pound, which I heartily recommend, but is in fairly good health with a few glitches here and there.  My husband and I spoil him a bit, and he deserves every bit of spoiling he gets!  This drawing is from my sketchbook, about 5 x 8" - maybe I got his spots and ears a little dark, but it still looks like my sweet fellow.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

A Nude Drawing - original pastel pencil drawing

Pastel pencils are so versatile and such fun to work with.  I tried to keep this drawing free of too many details.  It's on 12 x 9" Colourfix paper.  Thanks for looking!

Warm-Up - original oil pastel figurative drawing

These young girls - the three at the barre anyway - are warming up for their lesson.  I think the older girl was rehearsing in the adjacent studio.  This oil pastel is on Colourfix paper, 12 x 9".  Thanks for stopping by!

On The Platform - original mixed media figurative drawing

This was a scene on the subway platform - don't know what it means - just something I saw.  I used oil paint, charcoal and oil pastel on 8 x 10" panel.  Thanks for looking!

Piano Practice - acrylic figurative sketch

Okay, not perfect, but a fun drawing of an earnest piano student mastering Bach - I think it was.  I used a stick with acrylic on cold press watercolor paper and in some places, I used my finger and more water to smudge.  This drawing is about 9 x 9".  Thanks for looking!

On My Easel - Ballerina - original oil pastel drawing

This drawing is on Colourfix paper - the new smoother kind.  I thought I wouldn't like it, just bought it by accident, but I ended up loving it!  This drawing is about 9 x 9" - thanks for stopping by!

The Folksinger - original charcoal figurative drawing

Nothing like a musician to get the charcoal working.  Really good performance by this guy and I feel I really captured him.  This drawing is on mixed media paper, about 10 x 7".  Thanks for looking!

Rockabilly - original figurative water-soluble pencil drawing

Looking out the window of the restaurant, I saw this fellow as he listened to a friend.  I was ready with my sketchbook, water-soluble pencil and a brush with the water reservoir.  It's so quickly done, but I loved the gesture and his concentration.  This one is about 11 x 5".  Thanks for visiting!

Nudes Over Nudes - original mixed media drawings of nudes

As I was taking the photo for this post, I laid the oil pastel drawing on top of the ink drawing and realized - hey I like this! - and since I'm always looking for a way to have my line drawings along with paintings, I think I've found it!  One of life's little happy accidents.  The bottom drawing is brown Sharpie ultra fine on 9 x 12" watercolor paper and the top is oil pastel on 8 x 6" mixed media paper.  Can't wait to combine this technique on one canvas.  Do y'all love making discoveries in your art unintentionally like this?  I'll bet it's a pretty usual art experience for artists.  Thanks for looking!

Woman at a Restaurant - original ink figurative drawing

Another line drawing - just fooling around with ink, 12 x 9" on Borden and Riley Paris paper for pens.  Today I participated in a photogravure printmaking class sponsored by the McNay Art Museum in conjunction with their photogravure exhibit.  We went to Hare and Hound Press for instruction - I will never master the intricacies of printmaking, but today was interesting and fun. 

Here's my print - maybe a little over wiped, but not too bad, I think.

Thanks for stopping by!

Matisse Attempt - original ink drawing after Matisse

Today I went to the Matisse exhibit at the San Antonio Museum of Art and it was just so interesting.  Here is a (pathetic, I know) attempt at that kind of art.  Now that I look at it, I realize how far from Matisse it is.  His work is more difficult than one would think - MUCH more - but it's kind of fun to try.  I bought an exhibition catalogue (of course) and a print of Embroidered Dark Blouse, plus a few tiny prints, two French song CDs, and I was waiting to look at some other prints being unpacked, but I thought 'I have to get out of here before I spend any more money!' - I love shopping at museums - so many delicious things.  My husband would probably say that I love shopping anywhere.  I drew this on 140lb cold press watercolor paper - thanks for stopping by!