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Well...here you can see the top half of the composition...make of it what you will...I'm not going to deconstruct it...although I have hard and fast ideas about it's message. Today I've had fun researching the Broiderie Anglaise edging to the dresses. I love the delicacy and complication of the patterns, and intend to hopefully return to this at a future date for more in depth study and inclusion in another picture.....

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Not much to show you today...but I've finally sketched in the hands which are holding tennis balls of course! I don't mind admitting that I find hands difficult to represent...I had to take photos of my own hands for resources, then attempt to draw the fingers in a more dainty way...allowing for alterations, I'll set to work on these tomorrow.

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Here are the two almost finished Jackdaws...a full three days work on these feathered beauties!

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Hit a few obstacles but have the solutions...the only problem is taking a few new photos of arms and hands...the other 'problem' concerns the central character of this soon to be trio... 

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you won't believe the effort it takes me to arrive at an acceptable face...I'm so bad at faces!...and I have a specific look i'm trying to achieve. You'll notice from yesterdays post that there is a change to the hair style...back to the trusty old bob..oh...and now there's another girl !

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Worked (as usual) on a wide range of faces for inclusion in this picture...and arrived at this one...i'm quite pleased with what i've come up with...there will also be Jackdaws!

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 It probably doesn't look as if I've done a lot today..but I spent a little time this morning looking for photo resources...I found an area I pass when I'm out running which had plenty of Nettles growing besides a little brook. The two photos below show firstly a colour unedited photo, and then one I've applied a monochrome effect to. In the drawing above I've sketched in a few Nettles behind the boy...you might also see the basic form of a leg!...more of that another time!

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Today I've worked on the Spitfire and then on the boy's shirt...I'm quite enjoying this piece...it's got a heck of a long way to go with lots of potential for symbolism in all things. whilst out on my run this evening I spied a area near to a main road which had a nice clump of nettles growing...I want nettles for this picture so I shall be returning in the daylight with my camera!

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It's been a day of interruptions and other things..so not a lot work-wise has gone on. However, I've now attended to the ear and continued with his hair...I will continue to develop the shading of the face ...as I progress and get a feel for the level of contrast with the rest of the figure, I'll return to the facial features time and time again. But for now...so far so good!

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 It's time to begin the new work. I've called the picture Muse-ic addressing firstly the 'Muse' and secondly 'music'..The 'IC' also can be pronounced 'I see'. The muse I see! Simple when you know! Anyway...I transferred the drawing of the boy and the Spitfire (see above) but felt distinctly unsure about his face...so I reworked the drawing and decided to instead have his attention taken by the aircraft...he is I think more wrapped up in his play to notice the viewer or whatever else will be going on around him!

 I tried to replicate how I looked as a boy his age, but didn't have any good photos to work off...so I made it up..I'm actually happy with the way things turned out (I really never looked that angelic!) and so began the first application of ink.

Once I was happy with the initial establishment of the facial features, I could begin work on the hair...tomorrow I shall also give him his ear!...so as long as you'll give me your ear and attention, you'll see what I have in store for your eyes over the next few months!

Muse-ic - prep/ sketches.

 The photographs above were taken around 1970..they show my Mum and Dad posing with me(in the red) and my brother Tim (who'd just returned from hospital after having an operation on his hand.) The reason i wanted to show you this was to illustrate my original love of model aeroplanes..in the top photograph, although it's hard to see in this copy, I'm holding the very first model I made with the help of my Dad...it was a Douglas Boston which was an American twin engined fighter/bomber that also flew with the RAF in World War 2.....I no longer have the model you'll not be surprised to hear, but one day I'll make another one !

Oi!...wake up! This is important to me!

For the purposes of my next composition, I wanted to include a likeness of me holding a model of a Supermarine Spitfire..Below you see the sketch I published yesterday which I've scanned and enlarged to the size I want for inclusion in the picture. this is overlaid with a tracing i made making refinements and alterations..and a small model Spitfire for reference.

Below is the same drawing with a few more alterations...I need to work on the shape of the aircraft wings a little more before it's ready for transfer...

As a little post script, i thought I should mention that it was exactly a year ago today that i began my exercise and weight loss programme...I've kept the weight off and I'm running on a regular basis...physically I've managed to totally change my life in the last year !

What i'm up to....Muse-ic of the stars.

Apologies seem to be in order...there seems to have been a fault recently with my Blogger settings which has meant that a few comments haven't reached me..and my recent posts have not published. Viscount Bubbles was completed on Friday, but the post somehow didn't get published...it will later today!

Meanwhile, i thought you might like to see this Little sketch which might wet your appetite for the next piece. In my own opinion, I've been producing work which is below par...I'm constantly being left deflated and dissatisfied, and I don't like it. OK, so it's the desire to attain perfection that keeps us creative types striving for the perfect composition, and yes, that's a greater part of my current state. so onwards I go...the main aim is to block out all negative feelings...all hesitations and doubt...find the space where the muse is not only whispering words spun of gold and star light into my ear...but shouting them so that they echo off every sense and memory resonating notes of visual wonder....

easier said than done you'd possibly think? Well only time will tell...I came up with the sketch of the little boy who, yes represents me...he's begun appearing in my recent works and I'm happy to say he'll be in the next one...I used to love my model aeroplanes...the Airfix Spitfire 1:24th scale was the ultimate when I was 10...so here it is..so let the wonder begin!

Viscount Bubbles - finished.

Viscount Bubbles (2012)

48 x 31.50 cm.

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 Penultimate session working on this...having finished the jobs around the picture I needed to do, the final part of the process is to shade in the white areas on top of the aircraft...this is slow work and needs to be even to give the right effect. Below you can see the area I've finished in contrast to that which I have yet to do on the left of the shot.

Found this old Corgi model of a Vickers Viscount that was languishing up on a shelf...I wonder if there is one available in the BMI livery?

The next post will feature the finished picture!

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Coming to the end of work on Viscount Bubbles thankfully! I've spent the whole of today drawing bubbles...and there were a lot of them! I'll show you the bigger picture tomorrow, but here are a couple of close ups as I worked on the bubbles. Bye the way, I didn't intend the Cello Girl to look like she was inflating a condom, but it does look like it doesn't it?  

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 Approaching the final stages now...have completed the Globe thistles in the lower left hand corner..you'll note that my signature is still pencilled in..the last thing I do at the end of a piece is to rub out my signature leaving the white of the paper below to show through. I've started work on the bubbles and will move onto the white of the aircraft's fuselage..I will also have to finish the Starman's hand which you see in the picture below. See you tomorrow for possibly the end of this piece!

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I'm exhausted this evening..I spent the whole day working on the plants to the left which involved a lot of concentration...then this evening I went for my run which this time was a new route I'd not tried before..it was still the same distance but included a brutal (at least as far as I'm concerned!) up hill section stretching over 2 miles ! Sp at the end of this day I can honestly say I'm mentally and physically tired...it actually feels very satisfying!

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