Another Coffee Break - original oil figurative painting

This painting is on 6 x 6" Gessobord.  Thanks for looking!

Sketch of a Girl Studying a Painting - original charcoal figurative drawing

Okay.  I know it's not colorful and the lines aren't in the right places and I just left original lines, rather than erase them.  But, the curve of her back was irresistible and I had to get it down right then and there.  This will become a painting in the coming weeks.  The girl was completely absorbed in what she was seeing - 17th century paintings, I think.  You know how it is when there's something before you that speaks to your soul.  This little drawing is charcoal pencil on 6 x 6" Bristol board.  Thanks for dropping by!

The Visitor - original oil figurative painting

This painting is still very wet, so it's a little softer looking than it will be when it's drier.  I think I must be a bit obsessed with the 'woman enters room - man is waiting in room' scenario, but I am always thinking of possible paintings like that.  There are many options and all of them are delicious to me.  Will do more of these, I know.  "The Visitor" is on 7 x 5" Gessobord.  Thanks so much for looking!  P.S., I know he's going to stand up when the lady gets into the room.  He is a gentleman, after all.

Favorite Table - original oil figurative painting

This painting is on 7 x 5" panel - thanks for looking!

Cozy - original oil figurative painting

This painting is on 8 x 8" Gessobord. It's still very, very wet, and I don't know if I'm really through with it, but anyway, this is what I did today. Thanks for looking! SOLD

A Little Snooze - original oil figurative painting

What's better than reading a good book, with little nap breaks?  This 8 x 10" is on Gessobord.  Thanks for stopping by!

Blue Teddy - original oil pastel figurative by Connie Chadwell

This oil pastel is one that I started weeks ago and then put aside.  It has so much oil pastel on it that I'm amazed I can lift it.  Sometimes it's just fun to work into the oil pastel - such a fun and versatile medium!
The model didn't want to pose nude, which was fine - hence, the blue teddy.  "Blue Teddy" is 7 x 5" on that wonderful surface - Pastelbord.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Cheryl on a Gold Sofa - original oil figurative painting by Connie Chadwell

Here's another one of the paintings with robe and fan.  It's still so wet that it's difficult to phtograph.  On Gessobord, it's 10 x 8".  The painting was done from a drawing from life - really just a quick little sketch.  I did a bunch of these and didn't want to drive the model completely crazy, so I drew many fast little gestures, then we went on quickly to other poses.  Much easier for her with the frequent changes of position.  Thanks so much for stopping by!  Sold

Orange Chair - original oil figurative painting by Connie Chadwell

Now that the weather is warming up, I have a tough time staying out of the yard.  There's so much I want to do - especially before the temperature reaches triple digits!  I decided, though, that the other three blueberry bushes will have to wait until tomorrow to get planted.  I just have to paint or draw every day - a bit of an obsession, probably -  and I'm so lucky to have the time to do it.  This 7 x 5" painting is oil on panel.  I've painted the orange chair many times.  It's always been here in this house and I've always loved it - great for curling up in with a good book!  Preferably a mystery.

The Thai Restaurant - original oil figurative painting by Connie Chadwell

I painted this from another drawing of my favorite Thai restaurant.  The painting is 10 x 8" on Fredrix archival canvas panel.  When I work on this support, I really like to paint fairly thickly so there's variety in the texture.   This panel has the best of both support worlds - canvas for its nice surface texture and panel for the rigidity that gives my brush something to react against.  I like it when the surface doesn't 'give' the way stretched canvas does.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

The Model Reclining - original oil pastel figurative by Connie Chadwell

This little painting is gooey with oil pastel, just the way I like it!  Much fun to do!  Can't beat those Senneliers when you need lots of pastel to pile on the support.   This was not the most comfortable pose for the model - which I originally did with charcoal - so she was able to stop frequently to rest. 
It's always said that oil pastel never dries and it doesn't dry the way oil does, but this afternoon I was going through some oil pastels that I did in 2009 - ones that were never posted on my blog - and they are dry, dry, dry.  Especially those on Pastelbord and Colourfix paper.  A few sprays with fixative and they had a nice finish to them.  Usually, I don't apply fixative to oil pastels until they're sold, but it just seemed like a good idea to spray them today.  
This painting is on Pastelbord and is 8 x 10".  Thanks so much for stopping by!
NOTE:  I know there are lots of sentence fragments in this post.  Ordinarily, I'm a stickler for things like that, but sometimes sentence fragments really work!

Waiting to Dance - original oil figurative painting by Connie Chadwell

This painting is oil on 12 x 12" gessoed panel. It is, as an artist friend referred to my work, another of my 'short stories'. Is she waiting for someone who will never show up, or will she be asked to dance? I don't know. I hate to stare, although being so addicted to drawing and painting figures, I'm sure I should be embarrassed at all the 'watching' (there's a nice word for it) that I do. Anyway, I'm not sure how this story ended. Happily, I hope.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog - I'm thrilled for you to stop by!

The Japanese Fan - original oil figurative painting by Connie Chadwell

I'm typing as fast as I can before my laptop shuts down - it has some weird things going on.  Technology - can't live with it, can't live without it!

The model was holding one of my Japanese fans and I couldn't resist doing a quick drawing and then painting from the drawing.  It's 10 x 8" on gessoed panel.

Did this in record time!  Thanks for visiting Hackberry Street Studio - always happy to see you here!

Sold

Evening at the Bistro - original oil figurative painting by Connie Chadwell

It always takes me several days to get back to normal - or what passes for normal - after the holidays.  Since I've been painting feverishly for a few days, that's a good sign.  Here's one of the results - an observation of a young couple in a little cafe. I had a tiny drawing that I worked from - done from life in a cafe with 'atmosphere', which I suppose translates to 'too dark to draw very accurately', but I really like to work from drawings that don't have a lot of detail.  This painting is 10 x 8" on gessoed board.
Hope everyone's staying warm, which is going to be tough for the next three days!  Thanks for stopping by!

Alone Again - original oil figurative painting by Connie Chadwell

While I love watching the guys and gals at the bar, seeing someone sitting alone always catches my eye. This is painted on 8 x 6" linen panel.

I'm sitting here at my keyboard, typing with one hand and throwing the ball for Roger, my assistant, with the other. It's a slow operation. We're all snug inside because we'll have some freezing weather tonight. I'm such a sissy about cold weather. Give me 105 degrees anytime, but br-r-r-r, I don't like the cold. Somehow I managed to adapt to all the years in Washington D.C. - even though it's not really cold there by northern standards - but I've gotten spoiled down here in the southwest and I love our sizzling summers.

But I guess they're gone for awhile, so I'd better go bring in my lemon tree, ficus, geraniums and probably a few more things. It'll be crowded in the kitchen tonight.

Thanks for stopping by! Sold

The Menu - original oil pastel figurative sketch by Connie Chadwell

The couple studied the menu for quite awhile. Very intent on getting just the right dish, I think. This 9 x 12" painting is on Art Spectrum Colourfix paper in black. It has this wonderfully gritty finish that is difficult to cover completely, so I don't try too hard to get it smooth. I really like the black bits peeking through, as well as the way the colors show up on the deep black surface. This sketch/painting is not very "finished", but I decided to leave it alone.

We're having such wonderful weather here in the Texas Hill Country now, that it's hard to stay inside and do art. I keep saying that I'll do some landscapes since the weather is so nice, but driven as I am to draw people, just never get around to it - so, off to the places where people hang out. Something to do, I guess, with my obsession with figures and faces.

Back in my studio to work some more on the piece, I listen to George Jones. Yeah, I know, I should be listening to Mozart, but I just love the "soul" in country music.

Thanks for stopping by Hackberry Street Studio!

The Daily Specials - original oil pastel figurative sketch by Connie Chadwell

I had such a good time doing this one, from life, in a small neighborhood restaurant, where they write the specials of the day on the blackboard. The initial parts of the sketch were done on-site and then filled in back at Hackberry Street Studio. The wonderful thing about oil pastel, for me anyway, is that it's very freeing. I just scribble away really fast (especially when working from life since people move around so much) and end up with a lot of oil pastel on the support; but since it's on Pastelbord, it will dry fairly quickly.

Maybe I'll paint a larger version in oil of this sketch and then again, this may be the only one, but I loved doing it. Painting is more enjoyable when it's done from actual models, I think. The waiter was a problem because he moved so quickly in and out of my vision, so he is less exact. Well, nobody in the painting is "exact", but he is definitely less so. It's 5 x 7". Thanks for looking!

Girl at the Bar II - original oil figurative painting by Connie Chadwell

This painting is on 12 x 12" Gessobord. Thanks so much for visiting my blog! SOLD

More Thai Food - original oil figurative/interior painting by Connie Chadwell

Yum! Vietnamese and Thai food is just about my favorite cuisine! There was a little Vietnamese restaurant in our neighborhood in Washington, D.C. and later, a Thai place, as well. When I first put the sauce (I didn't know then it was called fish sauce) on the first spring roll I ever tasted, I was hooked. I went home and experimented endlessly trying to figure out what the missing ingredient was. Lemon juice? No. Vinegar? No. I marched myself over to the Vietnamese grocery store and they told me it was fish sauce. Mostly fermented anchovies, to be exact. That gave me pause, I can tell you, but not for long. Fish sauce, or nuoc mam, is addictive!

As a sixth-generation Texan, I'm not likely to ever give up cornbread or tortillas, but I'm really glad Central Market in San Antonio carries all the ingredients I need to make Vietnamese and Thai food!

As for the painting I'm posting, I never miss an opportunity to sample the offerings at Asian restaurants wherever we go and this scene is from a drawing I did in a Vietnamese restaurant in San Antonio. Actually, this painting is pretty wet, so maybe I'll post it again when it's dried a little.

Thanks so much for stopping by Hackberry Street Studio!

Evening at the Cafe - original oil figurative painting by Connie Chadwell

I just got back into town and thought I should get busy posting something, so here is a restaurant painting - 11 x 14" on Gessobord. Thanks so much for stopping by.