I’ll stop the late afternoon tea I think.
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I can only think when my fingers are on the keyboard.
I have been missing the focus. I have been painting seriously-ish since my late 20s but I was all over the place- digital, watercolours, gouache, pastels, paintings, comics, mangas, cartoons, illustrations, character designs, landscapes-everything. But I would make big things which would take time. I would also get bored of it after sometime.
I started making some art everyday since I quit the sea-three years next jan. I started making small stuff-usually A5 size. The practice has helped but since I was still this varied I did not make progress in any one field. I did learn a lot about digital from scratch the past year but one cartoon would take my whole weekend working continuously (of course I became faster by the end of it).
Now I’m finally making real progress. It’s visible. It is because I am actually making the things I always knew I could. I would be like: I can make it but I don’t want to, I can make better him that but I’d rather not, I know how it is done but that’s not my style. Of course the practice is helping reveal things which I wouldn’t know without actually doing it.
All in all, the unfocused practice on totally unrelated stuff has also helped. But if someone looks at my work now after my few months hiatus they would be shocked (we’ll almost-I would be anyways, if I were them 😆). So I guess what I’m trying to say is that it takes a lifetime of practice to become good at anything (I’m really practising the speech I’ll give after 20 years 🤣).
It also helps if you have no life to speak of (and this is where I plug my non-date with my not-boyfriend-ever Mechatron tomorrow. We watch the new Fantastic Creatures).
I just realised, I don’t have time because I have two full time jobs. Even so I’m slow at being an artist. I need to finish the Still Life #2 latest by Saturday. I think if I work continuously I’ll be done by tomorrow evening.
The submissions are now open now so I want to finish asap.
I have decided I’ll be making my cousin, the librarian’s portrait. His face is totally angular, nothing round about it, so I think it will be simpler. His will be full length I guess then mom’s portrait when she’s in a good mood.
Holiday Weight
Finally back at the gym after a week and half. I’m planning to take it easy. Lesson for life I guess.
I’ve definitely gained a lot of weight. I’m not gonna step on the weight machine for at least a month.
I was planning to do research on recipes to achieve my zero sugar/refined carbs plan but I used the free time on loading on carbs and sweets 😬. I guess I’ll take one day at a time-small victories etx.
(My underarms are smelling so bad that I might faint myself. I just remembered I did not shower on Sunday 😬. )
My Wikipedia research has revealed that the Outlander series has 8 novels (the last one still to come out)-the TV series just started. I guess I have my Florence reading list spelled out 😁. Also, there’s a gay series-Lord John Grey which I’ll definitely be taking up.
Wordsworth
Does anyone else think WW is really boring? (Facetious?)
[i decided to read my MA books for pleasure 😬
Dinna Fash Sassenach
Yeah I lied. I binged on Outlander the whole holiday and now I’m up to date. Thankfully Season 4 is being shown weekly. I’m not starting any new series or novels till I’m done with the submission paintings. I’m planning to do one portrait (preferably mom), one full body portrait (myself?), another still life painting, possibly painting of draperies, another Master Copy (most probably Rembrandt’s Girl at the Window). The charcoals and pencils, I’m thinking, I’ll keep doing till submission I’ll hopefully come up with something worth submitting by then.
The weekend was also spent tending to the feral kitten. She slit her stomach while jumping some fence. Her intestine was out. Mom gave her first aid and then we took her to the doctor. They had to cut her open to put them inside. Then she chewed up the stitches ( the e-cone was too big for her, she was managing to slip her head out). So yesterday we took her to the doc again and she had to open her up n push back the intestines, again. Now mom n I have cut mom’s old thermal pants’ leg and made a tube like sleeve to cover her bandages. Then today we made holes on the cone and tied it up firmly with some string. She could not take it out again the whole day. We renewed her bandages just now and the stitches are still holding. Now she’s in my bathroom. (I found her sitting in the wash basin when I had left her for a short time earlier🙄). Dad has been strictly instructed to stop giving food to stray cats anymore. He assembles them at the door everyday but does not help much when they need medical help (he feels icky about it). He didn’t help the other feral kitten either. Her ear had been bitten off by some cats and when I tried to catch her from inside the cars engine, she bit me. 😷
Mom is having her quarterly “get married to a girl” attack.
She rubbed her eyes so violently (apparently something was in her eye in the morning) that it’s swollen up and now can hardly open. And she won’t go to the doctor’s. All the difficult people have been granted to me.
I understand I’m not the easiest person but I hope I don’t get that difficult in my old age (that is if I have someone to care about me when I’m that old).
I do want some happy person in my life. Someone who is able to put up with someone as dour as me and is unaffected by it. (And I mean anyone. Not only a partner.)
Defagging
It’s one thing to know that your oldest friend is gay and quite another to check his browser history.
Well it’s not happened yet. He’s visiting home from Australia for two weeks. I came out to him last year after he had settled down there. So this is the first time we’re meeting after that.
What to feed him? 🤔
I have finally finished Season 1 of Outlander. I’ll take a break now. Unfortunately can’t do that with the still life. I mean if I start painting something else I can’t keep the ‘models’ sitting like that forever. I think I’ll paint the background and final touches tomorrow and that’s it. It looks ok enough to submit methinks. As I said before -if it’s perfect then what will they teach me?
