Flamenco Frenzy - original oil figurative painting by Connie Chadwell

I know it's a little crazy and a little wild, but she's totally involved in the music as she stomps her way across the floor.   This painting is 7 x 5" on gessoed panel and I LOVED doing this one!  Thanks for stopping by Hackberry Street Studio - I'm always glad to see you here!

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.

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!

Red Ribbon - original oil pastel portrait painting by Connie Chadwell

I've been so busy painting for upcoming shows and getting started on spring planting, that I decided to post another of my small, quick studies that I love doing.  This one is 7 x 5" on Pastelbord.  Thanks so much for visiting Hackberry Street Studio!

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!

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

This painting is oil on 7 x 5" gessoed panel.  Thanks so much for visiting Hackberry Street Studio - I love it when you drop by! Sold

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

This portrait sketch was done quickly from a live model.  The pose would normally be a very tough one to hold, but she rested her head lightly against the wall - which to my eyes, resulted in a charming, wistful look. Today I posted on The Oil Pastel Review another oil pastel.  It's also a portrait, with the title "Sketch Chronology".  I hope you will check it out!

"Sketch of Penny" is painted on 11 x 14" Strathmore 403 oil pastel paper.
Thank you for visiting Hackberry Street Studio - hope to see you here again!  PS - Sorry, subscribers, I had to correct the size of the painting.  Hope you didn't get more than one notification.

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 Dancer's Shoe - original oil figurative painting by Connie Chadwell

This quick little painting (7 x 5" on panel) was a pleasure to do.  It's one of those where maybe something isn't explained perfectly, but you just move on because time is running out.  I love doing that.  When the timer is set, I can't overwork it - at least I hope not.
We're having a little cold snap here, but that's okay.  Baseball season is underway, so all is right with the world.
Thanks so much for stopping by Hackberry Street Studio!

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!

Geisha with Fan - original oil pastel figurative painting by Connie Chadwell

This painting is on Colourfix paper, 12 x 9".  I worked on it while I watched the Olympics finals in ice dancing.  While I've always been such a fan of Tanith Belbin and Ben Agosto and am so disappointed that they didn't medal, there was a lot of beautiful skating tonight!  I was always surprised when I could just get around the rink without falling flat, and am completely in awe of what these 'real' skaters can do!  And they make it look easy!

Thanks so much for stopping by my blog - it's always so nice to see you here!

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! 

Black Lace - original oil pastel portrait sketch by Connie Chadwell

I did this sketch in a life drawing group, where I moved around and did several drawings during the evening from the same pose.  It's 11 x 14" on Strathmore 403 pastel paper for oil pastels.  I really do love that paper, although I think its texture has changed somewhat over the years.  The oil pastel just  melts onto the paper.  Wonderful!

Thanks so much for stopping by 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 Spanish Dancer - original oil pastel portrait sketch by Connie Chadwell

She does flamenco dancing, and she looks like she could be from Spain, but the model - Laurie - is actually of Irish ancestry.  I hope Laurie sticks around; she's really a wonderful model and it's so hard to find good ones.

This quick little painting is oil pastel on Ampersand Pastelbord, 10 x 8", and was a pleasure to do.  The Pastelbord is so forgiving and after the oil pastel is dry, easy to frame, as well.  Oil pastel performs beautifully on so many surfaces and I love almost all, the exception being canvas.  Although many oil pastel painters like to work on canvas, I'm not one of them.  It just never works for me and there are so many wonderful papers, plus Pastelbord, that finding a great surface for oil pastel is easy.

I really could go on and on about the joys of oil pastel, but it's getting late, so I'll save that for another post.

Thanks so much for stopping by! Sold

Waterlilies - original oil pastel painting by Connie Chadwell

This is something totally different for me - but I decided to depart from the usual.  I sketched these waterlilies with oil pastel on 5 x 7" Pastelbord last summer at the McNay Art Museum in San Antonio, Texas.  The art is wonderful and the grounds are lovely - if you're in San Antonio, it is definitely a beautiful place to visit.  Thanks for stopping by!
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The Guys at the Bar - original figurative oil painting by Connie Chadwell

Love those bars! This painting is 11 x 14" on Fredrix archival canvas board. Thanks for stopping by!

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

Backward Glance - original oil portrait painting by Connie Chadwell

This painting was sort of a difficult pose to paint, I think, but I'm pleased with the outcome.  It's from a line drawing that I did and for the life of me, I can't remember who or where the model was.  Scary!

This painting is 8 x 10" on linen.  Thanks for visiting my blog!

JIVIN' - original oil pastel figurative painting by Connie Chadwell

Been working madly for the past few days on "serious" artworks, so here's what I really, really love to do - at least on canvas - another jive painting.  This oil pastel is 12 x 16" on Pastelbord.  The dancers had fun, I had fun - can't beat that.  Thanks for stopping by. Sold

Even More Jive - original oil figurative painting by Connie Chadwell

This painting is based on my earlier charcoal drawing, More Jive.  It's the same size as the drawing, 6 x 12" and is on Masterpiece stretched canvas.  So much fun to paint dancers - they never tire of dancing and I never tire of painting them!  Thanks for visiting Hackberry Street Studio! Sold

Sports Fans - original oil figurative painting by Connie Chadwell

In keeping with the time of year - football mania. I love bars with TVs tuned into the sports of the season.  This painting is 12 x 16" on Fredrix archival canvas panel.  Thanks for visiting my blog! SOLD

Lana - A Portrait Sketch - original oil pastel portrait sketch by Connie Chadwell

I love this particular pose and use it a lot.  This quick drawing - or painting - was a real pleasure to do. I saw in the model's skin tones lots of the green that I find so beautiful.  I love those colors in skin!  We used to have an old television set that had a messed up color reception, but I liked it because most of the people were lime green and fuchsia. It was a little over the top, and people in that color combination might be pretty scary, but it had a certain charm, in moderation, anyway.
Many redheads or those with lots of red in their hair have these green tones, plus there are different, but no less beautiful, shades of green in the skin tones of light-skinned brunettes - known as olive coloring. Just lovely!
I painted this oil pastel on 10 x 8" Pastelbord.
It's so cold here - 7 degrees last night.  This is probably nothing to Northerners, but it makes a total wimp out of me.  Summer, with all its heat and humidity, sounds great right now - hurry up July!  Thanks so much for dropping by - stay warm!  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!

New Year's Jive - original mixed media figurative sketch by Connie Chadwell

This sketch is a preparatory one for a more finished painting and was such fun to do!  First, I scribbled the figures with a calligraphy felt pen that has two different size tips, onto 11 x 14" Stonehenge paper and then added a little color with Crayolas!  I love those crayons; the wonderful scent of new Crayolas reminds me of happy childhood afternoons spent 'painting' in my movie star coloring books.

Thanks so much for dropping by my blog! I have sincerely appreciated your comments and emails over the past year and look forward to more visits with you in 2010 - I wish you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR!   SOLD

Girl on a Sofa - original figurative oil sketch by Connie Chadwell

I had fun doing this little painting, which is really a preparatory sketch for a larger, more complicated one that I am planning to do later. This time I used thalo blue, which gives that greenish color - don't know if I'll keep using it or if I'll go back to another blue. I do love greenish blues, though, so maybe. Today's painting is done on gessoed panel and is 8 x 10".  Thanks so much for visiting my blog! SOLD

More Jitterbugs - original figurative oil painting by Connie Chadwell

I did see some folks carrying on like this recently - just living for the moment - and it was great to watch! The result for my artwork was lots of fun sketches that I may turn into paintings and post later.  This 6 x 6" painting is on Gessobord and is somewhat tamer than some of the other drawings I brought home.  It was so enjoyable to paint these little wild things that I think I actually smiled while I painted.  Thanks so much for stopping by - I always love for you to visit Hackberry Street Studio!  SOLD

The Dancer's Portrait - original oil portrait painting by Connie Chadwell

I spent most of my day making Christmas goodies, but did set aside time to paint from a drawing I did earlier in a drawing group.  It was such a difficult pose, so we had the model stop after a few minutes or she would have had such a sore neck! I did get enough information down on paper to do a painting, though.  On gessoed panel, this painting is 12 x 9". 
Hope everyone's staying warm!  Thanks for stopping by my blog! Sold

Ellie as the Model - original oil portrait painting by Connie Chadwell.

You know how sometimes the model doesn't show? And the drawing group participants have to take turns being the model? I hate that. Sigh. Oh well, I always dutifully take my turn - even though it's not my favorite thing to do - and the bright side is that you get a variety of models in one session. Here's the result of one of those poses. I worked very fast on a 7 x 5" panel. Thanks so much for visiting my blog!