"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!
 

"Fiddling Around" - original oil pastel figurative drawing

I loved doing this very loose 7 x 5" oil pastel on Pastelbord - maybe because her activity (or lack thereof) is one of my favorites. 😊  This little piece is very raw - I didn't smooth anything and it's very much like the quickly done original pencil drawing I did while watching a girl at a table with her friends.  She was in her own world while the other girls chatted noisily.  I used lipsticky Sennelier oil pastels - what a joy they are to work with!  I guess I spent a teeny bit more time on her face and hair and allowed - particularly her left side - to just sort of 'happen'.  If you spend even a small amount of time on my blog, you know that's my favorite way to work.  Thanks so much for stopping by my studio!
 

Chess Game - Original oil pastel portrait drawing

 Kind of intense game between these two and I had to make my move while I could.  I'm always so happy to have models even if that's not what they had in mind!  I scribbled this one on 16 x 20" Canson Mi-Teintes board with Sennelier oil pastels.  It was so rewarding to draw quickly without thinking - just one's reaction to the model(s) is really deeply satisfying.  Same way with the "Seated Nude #45"  that I posted a day or so ago.  Somehow looseness (is that a word?) in artwork is so gratifying for

me.  Thanks for visiting my blog!

"My Favorite Season" - original ink and watercolor figurative drawing

Quick drawing of this slugger - so much fun to draw from baseball games - was in Baltimore the other day to see  the Orioles play KC!  And Orioles won - Yay!  I even love the sounds of a baseball game.  I'm guessing the new rules are making it easier for people to watch now that games are a little shorter.  The length never bothered me though - there is so much drama going on that it's just great to watch - or listen - I also love baseball on the radio!  This little piece is 8.5 x 5.5" on cold press watercolor paper, using a Sharpie with a bit of watercolor.  Thanks for stopping by! 
 

"40's Jive" - original ink and watercolor figurative drawing

 This drawing is totally loose and undirected with absolutely no thought to the end result.  Shouldn't admit it, but yeah, that's the truth.  I just put splashes of color here and there and basically had a great time.  Sometimes I think I'd like to make wire sculptures of dancers and this sort of has the same fun feel to it.  About 5 1/2 x 8" on Canson mixed media paper. Thanks so much for stopping by!

"Salsa!" - original oil pastel figurative

Salsa dancers are figures I don't draw much, but now and then, I do see a pose that appeals to me and here's one.   Some of my dancers go on to become larger oil paintings and this may be one of those that "graduates".   I painted it on 7 x 5" Ampersand Pastelbord with mostly Sennelier and some Caran d'Ache oil pastels as well. Thanks for stopping by - and Happy New Year!

 

A Nude from Summer - original ink drawing

Here is a nude drawing done this summer - can't believe it's been so long since I posted!  I used a very thin dowel - so thin that it kept breaking until finally I was left with a piece about four inches long.  Must have been using a bit too much pressure - and then brushed with water.  It's loose without much thought and that's the way I like it, so I consider this one a success.  The paper is Canson Mixed Media, 5 1/2 x 8 1/2".  Thanks for stopping by!
 

Clara's Hat - original oil pastel portrait

I used a rather casual approach to this little piece which always seems to be my best option. Loose and inexact makes me so happy - not just in what I do but in most all artwork.  Her pose was perfect as a design, I thought, so I kept her over on the side.   My tools were Sennelier oil pastels on 7 x 5" Ampersand Pastelbord.  Much fun.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

 

How I capture movement in figures - original oil pastel figurative drawing

One of my very favorite artistic endeavors is capturing the energy of dancers.  For jitterbug dancers I just turn on some rock 'n' roll music, then start making gestural figurative marks with my black oil pastel; I rely mainly on my memory of jive dance performances to flesh out the figures, adding very little detail. 
And yeah, I do dance a little - such great music, who could resist!  The lines are mostly in segments with a little smearing to indicate movement and energy.  Even when a bit of line ends up in a place I might not have intended,  I often just leave it - a surprise here and there.  Music is really inspirational when drawing dancers so I have lots of rock, tango, flamenco (gypsy) and some salsa music to get me going.  I used to attend a life drawing class where the monitor had mambo music playing as we drew from the model.  We all agreed we had never done our gestures so fast and with such emotion!   Of course, there are many different things that encourage artists to make art - what inspires you to draw or paint?  

This drawing - "More Jivin' #5" is on 5 x 7" Pastelbord.  Thanks for stopping by!

Lindy Seated - original ink figurative drawing

This ink and stick drawing was done from a pose while sitting outside a sandwich shop on West 6th Street in Austin, Texas.  I used an extremely thin balsa wood stick with India ink - one of my favorite ways to draw - and just let the ink kind of do its own thing.  This is a wonderfully freeing type of art and just good for the soul - or my soul, anyway.  I did this drawing on - I think it's Yupo, about 8 x 5".  Thanks for looking!

Fixing Her Hair - original oil pastel portrait drawing

I always just love it when the model takes one of the fixing hair poses!  This one is done on Art Spectrum Colourfix - the original, which I adore, in the sand color.  Maybe not finished - I didn't have a whole lot of time because I kept dropping my crayon and/or it kept breaking.  But in the happiness department, it was a win-win.  It's 9 x 12" - thanks for stopping by!

Jivebabies - original figurative oil painting

This little painting on 6 x 6" Gessobord was done from my post from last night - the dancers in the lower left of the picture.  It's done a little looser than usual and it was so much fun to do.  And easy, too, with the drawing already done.  I find that takes off a lot of time, although drawing with my brush is great, as well - now that I think about it, I don't know which works the best. Setting my timer is a great help - no noodling when that thing ticks away!  Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

Formal #2 - original oil figurative sketch

This sketch is based on an earlier charcoal drawing of mine and I'm just fooling around with it here; playing with the idea that working on a pose over and over helps to understand it better, resulting in a  more successful painting in the end - we'll see.  Today's sketch is done on 8 x 8" canvas and it is SO absolutely not finished.   Another stream of consciousness thing.  Thanks for looking!
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Lime Twist - original oil figurative gesture drawing

Just for fun - I coated a panel with lime acrylic and drew on it with oil paint. I've readied more panels in aqua and lime acrylic for these nude gesture drawings.  So much fun!  This one is 10 x 8" - thanks for looking!

Lady in a Hat - original oil pastel Artist Trading Card

I love doing these tiny "just a taste" cards.  This one is done on Art Spectrum Colourfix - my favorite surface for these little 3.5 x 2.5" pieces.  I used unsharpened Sennelier oil pastels - makes it looser and no way can I get it too tight.  Thanks for looking!

A Little Snooze - original soft pastel figurative drawing

This is drawn on black Stonehenge paper using soft - not oil pastel.  Much fun to do - thanks for looking!

Whispers at the Bar - original oil figurative painting

It seems like months since I've posted.  I've been away, then much wonderful company for the week of spring break.  So now I'm back with another result of my spying at the bar.  This is about 9 x 9" on gessoed panel.  Although I didn't post for awhile, I was actually doing art - just not sharing, I guess.  This painting was originally 9 x 12", but I didn't like part of it, so just sawed it off.  I've done things like that before.  One time I was in an art show where I had originally planned to submit a complete figure, but I decided I only really liked the top part of the figure, so I just tore everything off from the arms down.  It worked - looked lots better than if I had included everything.  Plus, much cheaper to frame! This one, you can probably tell, I did in a hurry.  And meant to, so I couldn't kill it with my overworking thing.  I just sort have to force myself to let it go.  Sigh.  Art is hard sometimes.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Woman in a Blue Dress - original watermedia figurative painting

This quick little painting is one of those fooling around things that often seem to go right.  So much nicer than working on something for hours, then having to throw it away, like I did the day before yesterday!  I listened to Ricky Skaggs and Kentucky Thunder while I did a bunch of these smallish watercolor sticks/watercolor on Yupo paintings.  So much fun to listen to music I love, while doing pieces that I totally enjoy. This one is 9 x 6".  Thanks for stopping by my blog! Sold

Sassy Jive - original oil figurative painting

I enjoyed painting the arm position of the woman - hence the word "sassy" in the title.  It's oil on 6 x 6" Gessobord.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Lindyhop Lovers - original oil figurative painting

I was pretty happy with this one - of course, there are always things to fool with and I might do that here and there, but overall, I'll mostly leave it alone.  I do love visiting with my little dancers - we're never apart for long.  It's 7 x 5" on Gessobord.  Thanks so much for stopping by!