I had two pictures booked for collection today and the carrier was scheduled to pick them up between '9am and 6pm'. Actually, it wasn't too bad as he turned up around 2pm
We also had a return visit booked by a Gas Engineer who has been trying to sort out our 'sick' central heating boiler which keeps losing pressure and failing to heat the house.
I have lots of jobs to get done before we fly back to Fuerteventura on Wednesday morning but couldn't leave the house for fear of missing one of the callers. Sadly that meant I was forced to tackle the housework LOL.
As it happens, it wasn't the day to be out and about anyway - gale force wind and icy conditions with snow/sleet showers made it very unpleasant outdoors. After a stormy night we were greeted this morning by the sight of a huge section of the asphalt roof on our main shed flapping in the wind. One of the retaining wood trims had been torn off and the asphalt just took off - the wind was blowing from an unusual direction. So after a makeshift repair most of the asphalt is kind of in place and hopefully will keep the rain out for a while. We're reluctant to have the whole roof replaced just yet as its the shed where our Blue Tits are setting up home in the nest boxes. I don't want to scare them off.
After my panic with the spitting W&N fixative spray the other day, I've successfully worked over the spotty bits. It doesn't really look as though I've achieved much since the last post but I had to take a couple of steps back and then rework the picture. I think its a good thing that I'll have a break from it now. It will be good to come back to it with fresh eyes and concentrate on the texture/coat colour now that the 'foundation' is in place.
It looks a bit fuzzy here but I'll worry about getting better photos when I've made more progress.
drives me crazy when collections or deliveries give times that are the whole day. some of use do have to leave the house every one and awhile :p (not often, but it happens :p)
ReplyDeletethe weather here is horrible, very very cold. what happened to spring?
Glad you were able to fix the sputters! I haven't had that happen yet (thank goodness!) but I'm always afraid of that when I use fixative. I've never used fixative on a pastel though (didn't think you could). This portrait is already looking beautiful :)
ReplyDeleteSaw a football match on TV where it was sleeting down, not too sure where in the UK it was coming from, south I think. Not very nice weather at all. You will be glad to get to Fuerteventura.
ReplyDeleteGlad you were able to get rid of the spots. Horse looking good.
grrrr, getting that cache full error again.
ReplyDeleteYour horse looks great, especailly the background and the Fuerte weather will help you forget all the negatives you're currently experiencing!
Hi Jennifer
ReplyDeleteI don't know what's happened to Spring. We had a couple of warm days and then back to arctic conditions ...
Thanks Peggy. I don't always use fixative on pastels but as these are destined for Singapore I wanted to give the pastel extra stability for the journey. I do sometimes steam pastels to help fix them so will revert to that method I think.
Hi Jo
ReplyDeleteWe've had snow across most of the country. It isn't deep but combined with strong winds and that dreaded 'wind chill factor' its pretty horrible just now. David was out on the roads last night and said the conditions were some of the worst he's experienced due to the 'type' of snow
Thanks Jan.
ReplyDeleteBummer with all these computer glitches - is that why my last email to you bounced back? Who knows??
Thankfully all my 'negatives' are mini-ones and solvable. Just wish they hadn't all waited till we're about to go away :-)
Steam pastel to set it? How do you do that?
ReplyDeleteI've only done a few pastels and the one I shipped overseas I protected by putting a piece of acetate over the top of the portrait and then I made a sandwich between two layers of thick foam core board and Duck-taped it all so there was no movement. Then placed the sandwich inside another box and surrounded it with bubble-wrap and bubble-pillows. I then included directions on how to open the sandwich. Made it to it's destination with no damage (thank goodness!)
Hi Peggy
ReplyDeleteSteaming is as simple as holding the picture over a pan or kettle of steaming water. Face down so pastel side to the steam. I used to use this method a lot when I worked in pastel on velour and then I used to steam the back and the front!
I ship a lot of commissions throughout the UK and Europe but the additional journey time/route made me a little twitchy. I'll be happy when I know its arrived safely in Singapore on Thursday :-)
Thanks for the explanation Sue! I'll have to try that :)
ReplyDelete