Urban Escape 5

Well the underpainting to "Perfection" is finished (it is, as expected, imperfect) and I also finished the moth-wing effect glazing on Urban Escape. That part is eye catching now and mostly automatic. I think every painting needs a few ingredients;

1. Something special and beautiful.
2. Something automatic; a part where the even artist doesn't know what it's about.
3. Something that shows flair.

But it should all be true to the message. Butterfly wings were exactly the texture for that "building".

Perfection and Necroamoria 6

A frustrating day. My Mars Black dries too fast, often in the course of one day. It's the fastest drying colour I have and it's making blending impossible. The slightest bit of light paint over a dry dark area stays there like an unsightly smudge for all time. I've sent for some clove oil to slow it down. The smoothness of the surface is a problem too. When it's very smooth it can be hard to put down enough paint to adequately blend, and when I do it smears and slides a little too much. That is all down to the sanding I had to do to remove the old surface and prepare this new one. That smoothness also eliminated some of the underdrawing lines which also negatively affected the picture. I really need a consistent surface and have some ideas on how to get one. I could also do with doing a contour study before painting too. I did one for The Migraine Tree years ago and it worked but it is an extra echelon of preparation.

So far this picture has about half a million things I want to correct or repaint and I really wish I had a proper amount of time to spend on it, but the competition deadline is only about eight weeks away now, so I must rush and cut corners. The quality is inevitably suffering. The lessons will have to be learned for the next great painting; probably The Apocalypse of Finance, which is what I would have been painting now if this competition and the silk competition hadn't turned up. I really wish that these competitions were announced 6 months in advance! It's 6 weeks into my painting season and I've hardly painted anything I was planning to.

Perfection 5

A frustrating and tiring day painting green leaves and vines. I only managed to paint a little but spent all day on it and the results are average. I wrote a song while painting too, only to discover that I coped the tune from another by accident. Last night though, I came up for an idea for communication device to assist with relationship problems! I've ordered some components to build it. Designing a sculpture is one thing, but combining art with technology and you enter the domain of product design. When buying some of the components I spotted a type of plastic called Polymorph which is apparently like plasticine when warmed up with boiling water but sets solid at room temperatures. That sounds brilliant.

Perfection 4

I painted the female figure today which is the most crucial part because her face is a main focal point. Tiny faces about the size of a coin are always difficult to paint but I've painted a few and seem to be getting better at doing them. When my life is chronicled, people will stare at the size and detail of this painting and ask "How did he paint it in seven days???!" I discovered that I'll probably need to go to Chester on Saturday and I've got an appointment in Marbury Church on Sunday so I have to finish this by Friday. I am on track. One advantage of working until dusk every day is that I am too tired to do much or think about anything but rest. My stomach is finally settled today. The meditation of painting is good rest.

Perfection and Necrophilia 3

I've been working like crazy on Perfection and Necrophilia. It's about the love of art, the love of something dead, immortal love and divine love. I'm thinking that Necroamoria might be a better word in the title. The act of painting is tedious, tiring, straining and not at all fun but whenever I'm not doing it, I wish I was.

Dream

Last night, a dream of many scenes. I was wearing cobalt blue high heels and gliding around a huge Marks and Spencers shop on them as though they were ice skates. I met Ken Dodd there, he was performing ramp tricks on a skateboard and I did the same tricks on my high heels. In another scene I saw a version of my painting of Claire Luce on a back wall of a television scene, but an alternative high quality painting. At first I thought that I might get in trouble for using the image, but then concluded that it was more likely that the original photo was out of copyright allowing both me and that other artist to use it. A tiny reproduction was in a near empty Meccano box. My brother and I were investigating a few Meccano boxes, although most contained only a few parts. We found up to eight quite old rechargeable batteries in there, four AA and some AAA. I wondered if they had any power left or if they needed recharging. I was interviewing Liza Minnelli and she was flirting a lot and talked of her relationship with Noel Gallagher. I made a comment about his children but she said with a laugh that he hadn't given her any and then Noel appeared and they had energetic sex in front of me.

Perfection and Necrophilia 2

Well I awoke feeling much better and given the bright sun, decided to paint. So, the first bit of Perfection and Necrophilia has been painted. I had to improvise the lighting on the bones so the modelling on the bottom part isn't quite correct. I should be able to invisibly guide (I won't say fix!) that though.

I painted over some of the gold and found it difficult to remove the paint from the surface. I think I slightly damaged the gold by trying to remove the tiniest of particles of paint. Now I'll rest and with luck I can have a normal day tomorrow.

Sick

Sick last night, and all day so no painting. I won't be well enough tomorrow either. This might be due to a mild case of food poisoning but I'm wondering if it could be my old irritable bowel syndrome, a spasm in the gut that was sufficiently severe to stop digestion, trap food in my stomach and cause the agonising pain and repeated vomiting I've experienced over the last 24 hours. My digestive system is my physical weakness and always the first thing to be affected by any illness.

Either way I am not happy at the moment and in fact very annoyed, angry, miserable, in pain and unable to work, unable to lie down, unable to sleep, unable to eat. I aim to do nothing tomorrow but try and recover. This is not good.