Lexie, Reading - original oil pastel portrait sketch

I did this drawing from life and it took a little less than 20 minutes - kind of a gesture portrait.   It's just wonderful to have models right here in River City and get to practice my all time favorite drawing exercise - short pose.   I used 9 x 12" Colourfix paper in a light grey blue. Thanks so much for stopping by!  Please visit my oil pastel blog

Jitterbugs All Over Again - original oil pastel figurative painting of dancers

Those crazy jitterbugs are at it again on 12 x 16" Pastelbord.   I danced with them while I drew and I'm worn out - it's off to bed for me.  Thanks for stopping by! Sold

Waiting - original oil pastel portrait painting

This painting is oil pastel on 7 x 5" Pastelbord.  Thanks so much for stopping by!

Preparations II - original oil pastel figurative painting

This oil pastel is on 7 x 5" Pastelbord.  Thanks for looking - hope everyone's having a great weekend!

Lost in the Rhythm - original oil pastel figurative drawing

This is a quick study of the drummer in a band that I saw recently. Musicians can't possibly "hold the pose", which is what makes drawing people in motion so exciting to me and, since they are constantly moving, a lot of what I do in these cases is done from memory. This drawing is on 12 x 9" Pastelbord. Thanks so much for stopping by!

Letha - original oil pastel portrait drawing

I've sort of been away from my blog - wasting time doing paintings that didn't really succeed. But you have to try, right? Today it was so cold - okay, I know you folks up north think we're a bunch of sissies, but 15 degrees? That's cold for this part of the country! After I went to my Zumba class this morning, I came back home and then started to my studio, but it was still absolutely freezing. I just did a U-turn and walked right back to the house. So no oil paintings today. This oil pastel is from a drawing group in November. I loved the model's hair - it was expressive, if hair can be expressive. Although it wasn't a particularly remarkable pose, she was a good model and I really loved doing this drawing. I drew it on Sennelier Carte d'Art paper and is about 8 x 8".

Check out my blog at The Oil Pastel Review for an oil pastel painting that I'm working on - without a lot of success, I might add. Thanks for stopping by - stay warm!

Wine and the Short Story - original oil pastel figurative sketch by Connie Chadwell

I wish I could say that this oil pastel sketch came from life, or came from a drawing from life.  But, it didn't.  My husband was flicking through the channels and I had a one-half second glimpse of someone reading a book.  I don't know if they had any wine or what color the book was and, actually, now that I think of it, I'm not certain it was a three-quarter view - might have been a profile.  Reading a book is one of my favorite pastimes, (right now, it's The Great Upheaval by Jay Winik).  I just started scribbling and this is the result.  It's on 9 x 12" Colourfix black paper.  Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

More Tango Nights - original oil pastel figurative painting by Connie Chadwell

Puff puff - trying my best to get this posted!  We've had spring break guests and lots of fun - now back to the usual routine.  This painting is on Art Spectrum Colourfix paper - 12 x 9".  Thanks for looking!

Seated Nude III - original oil pastel nude painting by Connie Chadwell

This quick sketchy painting was much fun to do.  It's on Pastelbord and is 7 x 5".  Hope you like it.  Thanks for stopping by!

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!

Sketch of Helen - original oil pastel portrait sketch by Connie Chadwell

This portrait sketch was done on Colourfix paper with oil pastels and is 12 x 9".  I loved doing the line work along with the bits of color - much fun!  Thank you for visiting my blog! 

K's Necklace - original oil pastel portrait sketch by Connie Chadwell

I can't believe I haven't posted in ten days! There's been a lot going on, plus I had some issues with my laptop, so couldn't transfer photos of my artwork.  But I'm back!

This drawing was done from life - great model - really loved drawing this one.  It's 14 x 11" on Strathmore oil pastel paper.  Thanks for stopping by! Collection of the Model.

The Flapper's Hat - original oil pastel portrait by Connie Chadwell

I've been wanting to draw this hat for a long time. It's just like some of the caps that flappers wore back in the '20's, and maybe it could even be that old, although I doubt it. I used oil pastels on 14 x 11" Pastelbord for this portrait. Thanks for stopping by Hackberry Street Studio! NFS

Tango Sizzle - original oil pastel figurative painting by Connie Chadwell

SOLD

I just love working with oil pastels on Stonehenge black paper! This painting is about 11 x 8".

I'm off to mow the backyard before it gets really hot.

Talk about sizzle!

Thanks for stopping by - have a great weekend!

The Ranch Hand - original oil pastel portrait by Connie Chadwell

This was a very interesting guy and great model - hope we see him again at another portrait session.

I drew this on 20 x 16" Canson Mi-Teintes mat board - not the paper, but the board - and I love the patterned surface. It seems to help keep my drawing loose - not that that's really a problem for me (maybe just the opposite), but it does give a casual, less studied look.

Thank you for visiting my blog!

Hopeful - original oil pastel portrait by Connie Chadwell

SOLD

I loved doing this on Pastelbord. By now, you may have realized that I have lots of "favorites". I guess I just love the one I'm with.

The great thing about oil pastel on Pastelbord is that in most cases, it can be framed like an oil painting. Really, the oil pastel gets dry on this surface and then can be fixed and varnished. Wonderful!

Today I learned what I guess just about everybody else knows - how to link to individual pages in my blog (is that deep linking? -guess I'd better go back and study the lesson). I'm taking the blog improvement class from Alyson Stanfield and Cynthia Morris and having a great time!

This piece is on 10 x 8" Pastelbord. Thanks so much for stopping by!

On My Easel - oil pastel portrait sketch

I don't have a completed painting, but I must post my assignment for the blog improvement class I'm taking, "Maintaining A Healthy Artist Blog" taught by Alyson Stanfield and Cynthia Morris, so here's a work in progress.

The first assignment is to describe on our blog posts what type of blog visitors we would like to attract. (I think a lot of our homework will be posted on our blogs.)

My blog readers are a delightful cross-section of art lovers - artists, collectors, gallery owners, dancers, art students and many others. I love having them all visit and comment on my blog or send comments to me via email. I hope to revitalize my blog and keep them interested in stopping by Hackberry Street Studio .

The blog goals I'm pursuing are those of increasing the number of my viewers, as well as making my blog a more interesting one.

This drawing, which I will complete early next week, is oil pastel on Colourfix paper, 12 x 9". Maybe I'll post it when it's finished. This young girl wanted to wear her cap, but I felt it shaded her face too much, so I had her turn it a little. I don't know if this will work. At this stage, though, things can be changed.

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!