Tyger, Tyger...

Tyger Tyger, burning bright, 

In the forests of the night; 

What immortal hand or eye, 

Could frame thy fearful symmetry? 

 Not claiming this to be an original idea.  It was from an excercise in Leisure Painter.   This is my take on it.  It's taken me two whole afternoons, plus interruptions from Harvey, and nuisance phone calls.  

It's all pencil work,  H, 3H, 2B, 3B,  7 and 8B.   All of which were super sharpened during the drawing so as to get the detail in his fur.  In the magazine the artist had also used a ball tool so as to add extra detail.  It's something I might try in the future.   I also loved the idea of the letter box, think it adds to the drama. 

 This is a close up of the eye.  I wanted to try to get in as much detail as I could.  This is were I used the 7 and 8B pencils.  I may continue to dabble with it over the next few days.  His fur needs to be darker in places on his nose.   

 It felt good to complete a piece of work.  For the last few days I haven't really managed to do much, aside from the parrot.  And it was nice to go back to the pencil work after all the colouring.  This would also look good as an abstract, or in full colour - may just do that and have a triple frame.  

  Phew it ain't half sticky,  been very humid here,  and cloudy. The past week has been lovely, sunshine every day, and at just the right temperature for me. Don't like it too hot, around 21C is enough for me.  

And this is the finished picture.  Doesn't look much different from the first, but trust me there is far more detail on this one.  I'm messing with my camera to try to improve my photos.  The new lumix has a lot of button to try, so it can get a bit confusing at times.

Then of course it was time to decide what to draw next!  Since I fancied sticking with the pencils, and animals it was a case of wondering which to do.  I flicked through one of my art books,  it is dedicated to animals.  I've already managed the meerkat, rabbit and the horse (sort of, need to finish it).  There was one that had been proving tricky, the pony...   

  This pony!   I've not been able to get the proportions right, even with using a grid.   So I'm afraid I used some tracing paper,  I'm not happy about it, though the book does say it is perfectly acceptable.  It also occured to me that all the tracing does is give me the outline,  I have to do the rest.   I had to twiddle with the settings on the camera to get him to show up.  This is at a very, very early stage,  his colouring is black and white, plus there is a lot of detail on his legs and tail,  plus the mane. 

  That's for tomorrow,  if I manage to get back home.  Going to do a reccie,  need to find out where I have to go for my medical.  I've been staring at the map for ages and it isn't making any sense.  What is so frustrating is that I used to drive round that area day in and day out in my ambulance days.    Oh well, have A to Z and will attempt not to get lost! 


It's not been a great week health wise,  on Friday I had a swollen right foot, at first I couldn't figure out what had caused the swelling or pain.  Then I remembered, that morning I'd dropped a pair of nail scissors and they'd caught my foot,  only got a slight nick, nothing major.  Yet that was were the pain was emanating from.   Wednesday and Thursday I had numb hands,  along with a horrible burning sensation going from my neck down both arms to my hands.  I couldn't grip anything,  even holding a carrier bag with one book in it, hurt like crazy.   I was getting the numbness today. Had to laugh at all the advice this week about staying active, standing up,  moving around etc, if you have a bad back.  I do that, but the more I walk, or stand the worse the pain.  I think I've done well managing my back pain for 30 odd years,  during which time I did work,  but now it has defeated me.

There is something to look forward to this coming week, TENNIS!   Yep, time for the Queens tournament,  so my afternoons are all booked up for this week.   Just two weeks to go to Wimbledon.   I've been tucking into strawberries in preparation,  while Harvey has been enjoying some caramel ice cream.  Today he had some chicken, drenched with a chow mein sauce,  he rather enjoyed it.  Of course he has now just turned his little nose up at his usual food...  he did that this morning, but I wasn't budging and he ended up eating it.   Yesterday he tried being ultra fussy,  so he'd barely eaten anything,  when finally he came in late at night he wolfed down a whole bowl of food. 

Right that's me,  off to do an entry in my diary.  The weather is set fair for next week,  lets hope it stays that way for the next 3 weeks.   Take care.