Black Friday...

I thought I'd reveal how my pictures develop.  This is the start of a picture with the working title of Blood, bullets and boots.  It is a template for an idea, so this is a kind of draft.   The trick is to try to catch the feeling of shiny boots,  which is done using different greys, black and some white.   I'm playing with what I will want on the final picture, so those red dots will become drops of blood coming from the boot, there are some crosses in this pic, but not sure they'll stay.  Also toying with the idea of the Union Jack in the background.  

So more shading,  trying to define the creases in the boots, and introducing the blood.   I came across a site that has pictures of pools of blood!   So now I have some examples to use, very handy...  if a little on the gory side.   I also looked around for pictures of bullets,  don't want to just guess. 

This is also helping me work out what colours to use for the blood, did I hear you say 'red'?  Well you'd be right, but not just one shade of red,  arterial blood is bright red, venus blood is darker etc.   All things that need to be considered. 

While doing this, and, I have to confess, getting rather bored with black, I felt the need to just do something different. So...

Blood and bullets!   A very early photo,  only just started this piece and I have a long, long way to go.  Using coloured pencils to create a picture takes a good few hours, if not days.   I had to create brass and copper,  the brass was achieved by using a green gold,  the brass by mixing some reds and browns,  the colouring was very, very light.  One bullet is a bit wonky!  But again, this is a test piece, so a bit wonky doesn't matter a whole lot.  When it comes to the real thing I'll use my T square and triangle to get straight lines.  The shiny bit is simply a strip of uncololoure paper,  it is all about illusion. I've also used a picture to base the pool of blood around the bullets, just working to give it a realistic feel, so it is necessary to think about curves, direction of lines etc.  

And finally...  for me yesterday was a day of gloom.   I had hoped that labour could at least get enough seats to form a coalition,   anything but a ruddy Tory majority.   The only bright spot is that that oil slick, Cameron, only has a slim majority.  I'm not keen on the SNP having all that power,  not sure how they came by their candidates, I doubt that they thought they'd win so many seats, so they installed a load of sheep/puppets to dance to Nicola's tune.    Let's not forget how she bragged about being the king maker, and so fell into a Tory trap.  I am sickened by the outcome of the election,  it seems to mean nothing to a lot of voters that food banks have increased over the last five years (and no, they are not like a supermarket,  you can't just turn up and fill up your trolley!  You get given a couple of bags of basic items,  they will last 3 days.  So stop swallowing the lies).   I knew someone who had used them, she as a single mum, but was working,  studying as well so she could better her self,  she was claiming tax credits,  they were stopped because of an error, in the meantime she didn't have enough money for food and bills, the error took 4 months to sort out!    You've read the stories of benefit scroungers, who get over £25k a year, no they don't,  what the tory press do is add everything up, that is the maximum benefit, HB etc, entitlement and come up with silly figure.   I pay bedroom tax,  I acquired my 'extra room' after my mum died, nice. I live in a two bedroomed flat,  the second bedroom is big enough for a single bed, small set of draws and wardrobe, and that leaves little room to move around in!    I cared for my mum,  during that time I had a bad fall, which left me disabled, but I continued in my caring role.  I only claimed carer's allowance as I had a small pension, so I managed on a little under £700 per month.   I have worked since I was 16, paid into the system in the belief that if I should ever need it I would get help.  I have served my country,  wore the uniform proudly,  has any government helped me, no.  Covenant, what convenant, it never covered those injured in Northern Ireland, who have been forgotten.    I hate that the tory press run down the unions,  time it was taught in schools how the unions came into being, and what they have done for the working classes and the poor over the last hundred years.   Torie say the wealth will trickle down, it doesn't, it gets stashed in offshore tax havens.    We have zero hours contracts,  who the hell benefits from those?  We used to have temp agencies, then it was a choice what hours you wanted to work, now the choice has been removed.   The tories want to sell off more social housing, so removing yet more houses from the rental market, or rather the reasonable rental market.  Maybe the rule that govern the building social housing should cover ALL housing,  so they would be built to a better standard.   The tories also intend to penalise carers, some will lose their carers benefit,  same with those, like me, who are unable to work,  I'll be hounded,  asked to attend medicals conducted by a nobody who knows nothing of my medical condition, or my mental illness.   The last time I attended a medical sitting in the room was a young man, around 20, he had Downs Syndrome,  and learning difficulties,  they were seeing if he was fit to work, and if so they'd stop his benefit.  What sort of country does that?   

My hope is that the current government comes a cropper,  and Cameron will,  he said he won't serve more than two terms, well it will be more like one and a half, cos his own party will shove him out to pasture pretty soon and install the next leader,  Boris Johnson,  the tory press said that Miliband didn't look like a leader, do we really want Boris Johnson as our leader?  

Rant over...   hunting will make a return as well,  yes,  back to hunting animals and ripping them to pieces, so civilised are we!