24″ x 16″ My granddaughter Lindsay was standing in the backyard of our house on Magnolia Street in Lee’s Summit, Missouri for this picture. We were going to a local festival call the Cole Younger Days. Cole Younger is buried in the old historic Lee Summit Cemetery. If you have forgotten Cole Younger was part of the Jesse James Gang that robbed banks, trains and stagecoaches. He was captured and sent to jail after failed Northfield Minnesota robbery attempt. He escaped hanging by pleading guilty to murder. After 16 years in the Minnesota Territorial Prison he was paroled with the recommendation of the warden. In 1903 he participated in a traveling show called Cole Younger and Frank James Wild West Company. With the realization that naming a summer festival after a convicted killer was politically inappropriate the name was changed to Old Time Days. Now about the painting I was experimenting with Oil Color Sticks or Oil Pastel Sticks and mounted my canvas on a wood panel. I had uninterrupted time and completed the painting in around 16 hours. Starting and finishing a painting at the same time is often used as a teaching method in Art school. I tried to play up some elements of the backyard to highlight the face. I still use oil crayons to layout a painting on my canvas and to make sure all of my shapes are correct.
