Another full day but it never seems that I get by daily plans done. I listed some sound effects on my itch.io account today, perhaps I can sell a few there.
I must also measure my photography setup... how much tubing do I need? Do I want a 1D or 2D set-up? 2D would need 4 tripods ideally... and a lot of room, but it should make lighting easier (more consistent, as the work won't move) and fewer problems with aligning the work.
I also experimented with finishes on my frames, applying some acrylic and leaving wood samples at various stages. The best way to get smooth results is watered down fluid acrylic and applying several coats with a sponge, the results are perfectly smooth, as good as spraying with none of the mess or problems with dust.
I then sanded my frames and applied another coat of gesso. The imperfections are still visible, most of them, but not all. The filler had helped, but even this very fine filler is a little coarse, and rather flaky. I feel that I need to fill the wood first, before this acrylic. I need something like a gesso grosso, something gap filling that will eliminate the grain. Studying guitar makers will help. Experiments are needed. My simple mix of chalk, water and PVA worked so wonderfully even when very thin.
I have paintings to do but don't feel ready to do this tomorrow, so I'll work on the frames and experiments, though I don't think I'll experiment with these assembled frames... I might work on bare wood to observe results. Even with one gesso coat on the test samples from today, the results looked very beautiful even if some grain was visible. I might stick with that for now. One option I'm imagining is smoothing and filling the wood and applying one gesso coat before sawing and assembly, then more filler on any joint areas and gesso after assembly. The moulding used by over the counter framers are obviously fully finished before they assemble them, which is why the joints are the poor part. Better quality framers will then attach corner mouldings, but perhaps over these finished (or at least partly finished) frames. Of course, the best quality frames are fully wood carved before any finishing.
As Covid-19 infections soar to record levels here, our idiotically named 'Freedom Day' beckons on Monday. The government's Covid-19 plans are crazy. Their plan appears to be to open to country to cause as many infections as possible as quickly as possible, and their primary motivation seems to be impatience; they don't appear intelligent enough to be malevolent. The Chief Medical Officer, the likeable Chris Whitty, asks: If we don't open now, then when? The sensible reply is when 80% or more of the populace is vaccinated. After 8 months, despite an obvious need to vaccinate everyone and a possibility of a need for a third 'emergency' vaccine (which has thankfully not been needed) our vaccination speed has not increased, and only about 50% of the population are vaccinated. Unlike most other countries, there are no plans to vaccinate the under 18s, as though this demographic will not catch or pass on or mutate this virus. The situation reminds me of the last days of Mussolini's government. Philip Pullman's prediction looms large.
External events have a habit of laying waste to any prime minster's plans and term. Irrespective of 'boosting' Britain, or doing anything else, Boris Johnson's only job will be managing Covid-19, and his only legacy will be how he managed it. Even setting aside his illegal proroguing of parliament, the probable break up of the United Kingdom due to a broadly unwanted Brexit, and the many scandals, how will the world remember his actions in respect to Covid-19? I suspect, poorly.
