Quintadagio - 31

Quintadagio - 30

Quintadagio - 29

Just a lot of greasy metal today...slow going making sure the details are correct. I'm rapidly approaching the 100 hour mark on this already with a very long time to go..

I also want to take this opportunity to wish my American friends a VERY Happy Thanksgiving Day.....!

Quintadagio - 28

Had to go off to Stoke again this morning to do role play, made bearable by the company I traveled with, both Jane and Rachael are long time family friends and made sure we had plenty of laughs along the way.

Today I've concentrated on this area of the picture.The amount of time has been limited due to my role play work.Earlier in the week I ask you if you could identify the background...of course you guessed right by identifying it as a locomotive. However, there is much more that is significant to the choice I've made. The actual steam locomotive type represented here is the British Rail Class Five...which came to be affectionately known as 'The Black Five' Built in my home town of Derby, they were made in large numbers..842 were introduced from 1934 onwards until the 1950's. I chose this class of loco because of the Derby connection and the 'Five' connected to my picture. Below is a photo what a 'Black five' looks like. Incidentally, the main drive wheel diameter is 6 feet and 3 inches.

Quintadagio - 27

More work on the valve gear today....that's the name for all the masses of metal you see behind the figures here.Depicting railway subjects is a bit of a gamble really...for me, the significance is symbolic, but my need to represent naturalistically my subject means that when I exhibit my work, there are (and believe me..they are very zealous enthusiasts !!) enthusiasts who will look at every detail of a locomotive and point out any anomalies. Although as I say, the subject is symbolic, I feel a compulsion to represent the subject correctly....so I strive to do that.

On a slightly different note, I've been reading a book Jan gave me as a birthday gift...it's about the work of Paul Delvaux.If you want to follow up his name for your own studies, you might discover that there are parallels between his method of composition and subject matter to my own work.Whilst I can only dream of attaining the kind of notoriety his work has received, I am finding that the critical and psychological assessment of his work excites me ..I can identify with many of his motifs. I'll write more about him another time, but for now you can see a selection of his works here.

48 Candles ablaze !

This is the cake my lovely daughter made for me...yes , she really did ! she's only 9, but has memorised a couple of recipes and is able to interchange, swap and substitute the ingredients to make the type of cake she wants. She mixes,pours and bakes the cake too, although I took the cake out of the oven. She then went digging around various cupboards until she'd counted exactly 48 candles...she even took the photograph. I am obviously biased, but she is a little genius! You've guessed by now that it was my birthday .Saturday was a really nice day for me, we even had a party in the evening. and I welcomed some very dear friends to share the time with me.My friend Kay came down especially from Scotland, and an old friend Tracey whom I've been out of touch with came along....I had a nice phone call from Preeti and a singing birthday card from Devilmood.

I have been working today, but I thought I'd post this photo instead...you know it's something very special to have family and friends who love you, and I have some of the very best friends...they even still love me when I got so drunk, my trousers fell down and i didn't even notice! So this post is for you if you were there, and for you if you weren't but would like to have been. In two years I'll be 50, and I'm having a big bash with a band..dancers etc...and you are invited!...if you're able to come, I'll do my best to sort out accommodation..

PS..Cello Girls get priority!

See you tomorrow !

Quintadagio - 26

Sorry if the photo is a little blurred...but I hope you can see the pencil work i've applied behind the girls and Starman. It should give another clue as to what it is...

I may have mentioned earlier in the week that I'd had an asthma attack. Well #i had another episode this morning walking back from school. So a big thank you to all those who have nagged me via these pages and on my Facebook page to go and see the Doctor. I've only just got back and can report my heart and lungs are fine, my asthma is an activity triggered variety that occurs in cold air. I've now got an inhaler in case I get any further occurrences.

Quintadagio - 25

At the time of this photo earlier today, I had nearly completed the first piece of heavy metal appearing in the background.I wonder who will be the first person to identify what the background comprises of....ummm ?

Quintadagio - 24 Gangsters and molls.

Honestly, I wasn't drunk when I took the photo!...I'm pleased to have carried the darkened area over from one side of the page to the other. It has a unifying effect to the composition and helps me to visualise what the overall effect will be.

As an interesting side today I had a commission to do more work for 'Big Head Events'. I produced a poster for them earlier in the year. The artwork today required no text as the client wanted to add it themselves. All I had to do was produce two characters based on a Gangster and his Moll in the style of the first poster artwork. The client is very happy with the work and below is a scan of the finished piece.

Quintadagio - 23

This exciting isn't it?..... This represents the total of my day's work, around about 5 hours.But it will be worth it in the end. I got off to a wrong start this morning, I walked Annie to school, it was beautifully Sunny with a crispness to the air. I left Annie as the bell went and made my way back through the park.The journey involves a long steep slope climbing up out of the park...by the time I reached the top, I was out of breath and annoyingly my chest began to tighten...I used to suffer from asthma some years ago, but it suddenly disappeared when we moved house in 2002. Today was the first time it came back and I can tell you I was worried. As I continued on my way home a friend stopped in her car after dropping her own daughter off at school..I readily accepted the offer of a lift home. I'm fine this evening.

Quintadagio - 22

I wish I was able to write and express myself as well some people I know, but I hope you got the gist of my previous post? So today it's back to doing what I know I can do. I've spent a great amount of time today researching and sketching in the background to this piece.If you enlarge the image, I'm sure you'll be able to see some of the pencil lines. What I'm drawing will become apparent over time...stay tuned!

Purple Patch.

I'm probably on to a looser here, and I'm probably only too deficient in eloquence to argue my case, but if you'll bear with me for a few moments, I'll try to explain. Yesterday I went off to school to pick Annie up.It was a damp cold afternoon. I went to stand with two dear friends of mine who are both Mums of children in Annie's class.

looking in a draw and had come across a pair of leggings which she had worn some years ago.We laughed about how they seem to be back in vogue...we mused how fashion always comes full circle despite reinventing itself. I then mentioned that I really love the 'shiny leather look' leggings now seen .My friend laughed ..she didn't think they would suit her now being a 'mature lady'. But ladies and gentlemen, I disagree, or rather I disagree with the notion that one would feel unable to wear something because one feels that one is too old.

I entered the conversation during which one of the Mums was describing how she had been I suddenly had an image (morbidity warning!) of myself lying on my death bed. I imagined what I might have cause to regret of worry about...and what I'd worn would certainly not be something I would loose sleep (albeit eternal sleep) over. Ladies, I'm not urging you to go out and dress like teenager (unless you are in fact a teenager!) But please, have a careful look on your right hand...find the middle finger, leave it extended whilst lowering the other three, then point the finger skywards and say to life, "I'll wear whatever makes me happy...I will celebrate the fact that i am alive and will be a long time dead...for now, I'm going to express the person inside despite the fact that you might not like it... !" Don't worry about my clothes, instead worry about something more important. *

the following photos are perhaps of 'beautiful people', and they might not illustrate what I've just said...but look at them and then click on the link at the bottom for a very well known poem...then you will be free to agree or disagree with me!

http://www.crystal-forest.com/wheniamoldishallwearpurple.html

*If however you chose to dress like an old woman, then that's ok too...old ladies are great~!

Quintadagio - 21

Happy Birthday Jan !

I hope I'll be excused the lack of work today because it's been my wife's birthday. Jan insists she's only 28 years old, but since we've just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this summer, I think some recalculations are in order! I took this photo this morning in the local shopping mall where we went to look for a new coat for Jan...it was what she wanted for her birthday. I took my camera along so that we could take pictures of Jan wearing all the coats she could choose between, then had coffee to choose which one she liked best. Below is a pic of the one she settled on.

Jan then had to go off to Birmingham to do some role play training for the Fire Service, this gave me time to get Annie from school at 3:30 and set about making a birthday cake and vegetarian Moussaka.At time of writing, the cake (chocolate of course!!) is decorated and the moussaka is in the oven (ready in around 15 more minutes). I just need to get the table laid with candles and serve....see you tomorrow!

Quintadagio - 19

Quintadagio - 18

I've worked well today...the two faces here both turned out quirky ...but they tend to inhabit my imagination and always seem to come out like this...more tomorrow.

Quintadagio - 17

Quintadagio - 16

Thank you so much for the good wishes for recovery....I can report I'm feeling much better today! I've really only had a heavy cold, but you know what us blokes are like ?......one sniffle and we're dying! Anyway, so back to work...I spend time today planning the faces of the final two cello girls to complete the Quintat....once they have been completed, I'll feel happier about the rest of the composition.I've not fully settled on the background and details, but I'm thinking all things prickly like holly, thistles,nettles,hedgehogs etc..... there's a lot of time left in this drawing as it's the same size as Jigsaw .I'm constantly feeling drawn towards larger scale work at the moment which eventually I hope will result in me moving to oil paints and larger scale canvases.

Feeling blluerk!

Once again ...apologies for not posting. I've been sick for the last couple of days..! I'm feeling a little better this evening, so hopefully I'll be back to work soon.

the photo yesterday was of a mark 19 Supermarine Spitfire owned by Rolls Royce which in 1945 was flown as a photo - reconnaissance aircraft . Above is a better photo of the 'Spit'. I have not yet found out what the fly past was commemorating...I will post any details if I find out.

Quintadagio - 15..I'm back!

It's been a while I must admit. If there's anyone left, then hello! Last week was an amalgamation of things which meant that I took a rest from work....which is good I think. The highlight of the week for me was the visit for three days of my friends Preeti and Satish.Along with their two lovely children, they stayed at an hotel only 3 minutes walk from my house. So we saw lots of each other over the time. It was a privilege for me to take my friends around Derby, visit the Derby Arboretum, the city centre and Industrial Museum (much more interesting than it sounds!). We took a trip into North Derbyshire to visit Buxton where Jan's theatre company were performing their production of 'More Story Please' at St. John's Church.

We shared some wonderful meals together which we cooked on Tuesday and Preeti cooked on Wednesday. On the Thursday we visited a wonderful Indian Restaurant in Derby . The three days passed very quickly for us all and it was a very special time.

Sitting working at my desk today I had the drone of an aircraft flying by. Not far away is the aero engine division of Rolls Royce, and this aircraft was making circuits of the factory. The sky was very angry looking. So, to test your powers of identification, can you tell me what this aeroplane is?