"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!

 

"The Violinist" - original charcoal and oil pastel portrait drawing

Totally loved doing this drawing, beginning with vine charcoal
and then moving to Caran d'Ache oil pastel.  The (unsuspecting) model was in a quartet I was lucky to see and being close to the musicians, I zeroed in on this violinist. It's totally a memory drawing, but I think really pretty accurate.  I love drawing musicians as much as I love drawing dancers.  Gotta have music to dance, right?  The support for this piece is the carton board (carton is supposed to have an accent over the "o" but I don't know how to do it) from Guerrilla Painters.  I love this stuff.  It's great for oil pastel, charcoal, oil, acrylic and others, too, I'm sure.  If I use it for oil, I use clear gesso so I don't lose the beautiful color, which would happen if I used regular gesso.  With oil pastel, I just draw directly on the paper since OP contains a different type of oil that won't damage the support.  And the carton will then be bonded to museum board for extra strength.  Thanks for stopping by!

 

Today's Drawing - figurative charcoal drawing

This drawing of a guitar player - still in progress I want to emphasize - is an idea for a larger and more finished drawing, probably using a combination of graphite and General Pencil's Primo Euro Blend charcoal pencils, which are so easy to work with.  This one was done mainly with vine charcoal - 17 x 14".  Thanks for looking!  
 

Guitar Practice - original graphite portrait drawing

 Although I hardly ever use graphite, I had a great time doing this one on Strathmore marker paper that I had to buy for a landscape course.  Maybe y'all have used this paper before, but I never had and was surprised to find it such a delight to draw on.  Even though there's a slick finish - it's great for graphite!  Drawing is my first art language - not painting, really - and I will be doing many more pencil drawings  (used HB, 2 and 4B) on this paper - a great find for me!  Plus, even though the weight is only 50.5 lb, the paper feels much more sturdy. This drawing is 7 x 12".  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Another Crazy Drummer - original acrylic figurative drawing

The hairdo got me.  Lots of hair.  A good and pretty wild drummer, but he could really play those things!  I thought of making it have more movement by adding strokes after I was finished, but decided to leave it as I drew it and just added a bit of watercolor.  This drawing is on 12 x 12" Strathmore acrylic paper, which is 246 pounds - cannot go wrong with that weight, just good for so many applications.  I used #2 bright and #4 filbert brushes with the black acrylic, painting from a drawing I did years ago.  Could do more 'finishing', but I'm not.  More fun that way!

The Drummer - oil pastel figurative drawing of a man playing drums

Loving this new (to me, at least) Strathmore toned blue mixed media paper.  It comes in a pad, it's heavy, and has a wonderful surface.  Great stuff! I really loved doing this drummer - I played drums in my youth and have a soft spot for them to this day.  After all, they're the backbone of the band and in the right hands are just beautiful!  Thanks for looking!

More Strumming - original oil portrait sketch

I just love doing these quick little - in this case 12 x 9" on panel - studies.  Once I was attending a graduate class at Texas Tech and the professor said to me after we had completed some quick paintings from life that he would love to see what I could do with a week on the same pose.  I thought to myself 'I would completely kill the piece'.  Nothing like spending a little time on something and then moving on.  That's why I love drawing groups that feature short poses, but they're not easy to find.  Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

Country Music - original charcoal figurative

This drawing started out as a gesture sketch from life at a dance, then I just filled it in with vine charcoal and the occasional swipe of my kneaded eraser.  Really, it is like the silhouette drawing exercise, which I think is so effective for showing each part of the figure in relation to everything else.  Charcoal on pastel paper, 12 x 9".  Thanks for stopping by!

What I'm Working On - figurative oil portrait

Fortunately, this model was able to hold the pose because she really can play the guitar.  Ah, but the guitar, what a nightmare to do!  Whether to make it just so-so or to put the whole thing in - will decide on this tomorrow - but that's it for today. It's on 12 x 12" Gessobord.  Thanks for looking!

Guitarist Doodle - mixed media cowboy drawing

I had a chance and took advantage of it to quickly sketch this cowboy playing his guitar.  I drew it with a black Sharpie, and occasional outlines with a Tombow pen and a little bit of water, then I added colored pencil.  This sketch is done on 8 x 6" mixed media paper.  Thanks for looking!

A Little Strumming - oil pastel figurative drawing

No subject more rewarding to draw - for me at least - is a musician at practice.  Done quickly with oil pastels on 8 x 8" Multimedia pastel panel, I worked feverishly to capture the moment.  Thanks so much for visiting Hackberry Street Studio!

Playing Guitar - oil pastel figurative drawing

Hey, Houston, Corpus Christi, Victoria and all of y'all down that way coping with this disaster - hope you're safe!

Although I'm not totally finished with this piece, I just decided to go ahead and post - will finish it tomorrow.  I used Sennelier oil pastels on Sennelier oil pastel paper, 9 1/2 x 6 1/2".  Thanks for stopping by!

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!

What I'm Working On - original soft pastel figurative in progress

This piece is one I'm really enjoying.  Since soft pastel causes eye and throat irritation for me, I tried having a small fan blowing across the paper, then vacuumed up the dust.  Maybe that'll work.  The pleasure for me in this figurative, which is being done from a photo, is that there are many lines in it - unfortunately, some will have to be covered, but I'll cope.  Hoping to finish it this weekend.  The support is Pastelbord in sand , 11 x 14".  Thanks for stopping by!

Cowboy Fiddler - original pen and ink figurative sketch

He's not the only fiddler here.  I'm another one, but I was doing my fiddling with a dip pen and ink, which I haven't done in years.  I was kind of hesitant, since it's been a long time, but I remembered how much I used to like using this technique.  I drew with a 512EF bowl dip nib and then applied water.  I love the way these kinds of nibs make contact with the paper.  They don't run smoothly like ballpoints and they sort of 'catch' every now and then, which I think gives an interesting look.   Now I'm not saying the lines in this sketch are interesting, since I pretty much covered them up with water, but the nibs can and do provide these textures most of the time.  This sketch is on 12 x 9" mixed media paper.  Thanks for looking!

iPhone Guitarist - original iPhone sketch

Here's the result of a goofing around Saturday - probably could refine it some, but it is a loose little sketch, after all, and one must be grateful when there is a model of sorts around.  What's wonderful about using my phone is the phone doesn't get the nervous looks that pulling out the sketchbook - no matter how small - does.  Plus much of this piece is just drawing without looking and looking at the performer, instead.  Thanks for visiting my blog!

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!

Cello Practice - original oil pastel figurative drawing

This was a fun drawing to do, but I won't return to it to "finish" it - I love leaving things "unfinished". It's 14 x 11" on Pastelbord.  Thanks for looking!

Lisa Playing the Flute - original oil pastel portrait painting

More blues and greens - always looking for an excuse to use these colors. Plus the touches of reds and orange.  Alex Powers says - and I believe him - but then I believe Alex Powers in all art matters - that one is drawn to either cool colors or warm colors.  If a painting is all warm colors, I feel like I'm in the middle of July - okay, being dramatic, but still.  This painting is on 5 x 7"  Pastelbord.  Thanks for looking!

Strumming - original oil figurative sketch

This sketch was done on Arches oil paper, using a limited palette (black, white, yellow ochre and Indian red) and is about 11 x 11".   It's really great to paint on this surface - very freeing - no pressure to create a 'masterpiece' - not saying I ever do, of course.  Thanks for looking!