One down, and two to go

This is Blood, boots and bullets, the finished piece, but not yet framed.  This took me over 24 hours to complete, working with pencils is not a fast way to produce art!  Yet I find it immensely satisfying applying the layers,  and watching as the picture slowly emerges.   There is a point at which it suddenly 'pops', which is the only way I can describe it, the moment when it comes to life.   I know I'll probably return to it at some point and do more colouring,  not quite happy with the flag or the blood, which is too flat at the moment. 

I've since gone over the boots with a pastel oil white pencil, just to lift the shiny bits on the boots, and blend them in a little more. 

So onto the next project, these are exercises.  This is a shell, no honest it is, or will be!   This section pretty much took a couple of hours to do.  I used reds, and blues for the top bit of the background,  oh and some magenta.  For the lower bit I used a pale, sky blue.  For the shell I'm using blues and pinks.   This requires a really light touch, the pencils need to be super sharp also.  At the end I'll apply some white all over the shell,  this will help blend the colours,  and maybe a warm grey.  It looks like nothing right now,  there are shadows to be added,  more highlights as well.  

I needed a break from the colouring, and I am desperate to try to capture glass.  So I searched for a pic of some wine glasses, found this one, and got out the plain pencils. I used my T square to make sure the glasses were even, and to ensure that the stems were straight.   This is all down to shading, I'm using a H, 2H, 2B and 3B, plus a blending stump.  And the all important eraser!   I discovered that the brush at the end of my pencil erasers fits the plain ones, which are cheaper...    The brush is also essential to keep the surface clean, the coloured pencils sometimes leave a little bit of residue,  which you must clean off.  Same with the surface you are using to hold your paper,  I'm using an A3 sketch board,  which is great,  but I always give it a wipe over before beginning any new project.  Oh, another tip, make sure you wash your hands, well you don't want grubby prints all over your work. 

It's been an up and down week,  more down than up.   Things weren't helped by getting my new PIP form,  the one that was promised some 6 weeks ago!   That must be filled in this week,  then a confusing letter from the council mentioning an overpayment of HB, but no demand for it back, which must mean it is their mistake.  I've kept them fully informed, and they did make a hash of things right at the beginning, which is when this mistake occurred.   I'm also in a dither whether to buy a dolls house,  I've seen a small one which I can afford, just,  it's very pretty and I know I'd enjoy building it.  I had one as a child,  my uncle made it for me and my sister,  it was a double fronted pre watched detached house.  He'd wallpapered it, and had put in working lights,  I loved it and wish now we'd kept it :-(     I went to a few Dolls House shows a few years ago,  mum went with me and encouraged me to buy one, but I couldn't decide which one to buy.   I shall dither a bit longer. 

I got out the summer togs, so of course the weather had to change!   I was pleasantly surprised to see that I have plenty of tops,  what I really need is a summer weight jacket,  and some shoes, oh and one pair of trousers.   I also got rid of some clothes,  a charity bag popped through the door, so I took advantage. 

I'm becoming more and more annoyed at how Sky report on Labour,  the press review this morning was so tory biased.  The businesswoman made the comment that the 'living wage' was a socialist thing!   How could anyone label the living wage in such a way,  it is a moral thing,  stuff the minimum wage, it is not enough to live on,  hence billions are given out in tax credits, just why should we be subsidising employers?  Now they're moaning about the unions link to Labour, but they never mention how the Tory party is funded by big business - do they?    Funny that.  Labour was born out of the unions,   and I am sick of the unions being given such a bad press.   I once went on strike when I was in the ambulance service, it wasn't about money, it was about our equipment,  I'd spent many hours trying to either repair or build a new stretcher, most of the stuff we had was second hand, meanwhile our bosses were busy refurbishing our control room,  all very fancy, chairs costing over £200 (that was back in the eighties).  Finally we, the crews, snapped,  issued our ultimatum, new equipment, and an end to bullying etc,  and we ended up walking out.  We did staff the stations and were prepared to attend any emergency.  See, there is often a lot more to a call to strike,  and never believe what the press say about pay,  they always average it up.  People who work on our railways do a very important job,  our lives are in their hands, so why shouldn't they get a decent wage?    I don't hear anyone moaning about the golden goodbyes that all those ex MP's are entitled to,  plus their gold plated pensions...   oh and their subsidised restaurants and bars, and why the hell do we need over 800 idiots sitting in the unelected House of Lords?   A hundred would do,  all cross benchers,  and they'd be replaced with each parliament, and no titles either! 

I'll get off my soap box,  carefully mind,  my bilateral sciatica isn't helping improve my mood. 

Enjoy the week, thank you for stopping by.