I had a nightmare about rechargeable batteries. Two men, one red, one blue, were fighting in a bus on fire, each strangling the other. At one point I realised that the heroic one was the wrong type of battery and should be thrown out. I awoke very hot and feeling rather ill but eventually drifted back to sleep. My last dream involved a Welsh orchestra playing the Ode to Joy from Beethoven's ninth symphony, but with a new fugue part. It was positive enough for me to feel that my immune system had made some positive progress.
Today I've been painting a simple and unamazing but brilliant picture that I have been unsure about for some time, partly because it's rather intellectual instead of personal. It's called The Romantic Life of Rene Magritte and it remains very true to the original idea, even though that made the painting of it more difficult and unsatisfactory. Here is the underdrawing.
For the butterflies I made quick 3D computer models but these were useful only for outlining, and I found the painting of these insects difficult and awkward, however, truth is more important than difficulty; and apart from anything else, difficulty is always to be sought when painting. In painting there's really nothing worse than an easy subject, and if anything the impossible should be included somewhere (of course, you will fail to paint it, which is the whole point!). Well with this paragraph I've reinspired myself. Hurray! Now that ends today's silliness! Tomorrow's silliness awaits! I'd like to paint all month but I must design at least one painting, something for the Derbyshire Open competition.
