Been Busy! - J'ai été très occupé

This acrylic panel took much longer than usual because it presented several problems - how to show a mass of trees receding into the distance without making the greens too boring.  In fact, my ususal technique of short brush-strokes, merging colours where necessary, turned out to be the best way here. It took a long time because there was so much of it.

The perspective and impression of distance problem solved itself because the subject of a river flowing towards the viewer meant that I didn't have to convey very much aerial perspective.

J'avait passé beaucoup plus temps que d'habitude parce qu'il présentait plusieurs problèmes - comment afficher une masse d'arbres fuyant à la distance sans les verts trop ennuyeux. En outre, il n'etait pas necessaire de lutter avec "aerial perspective." parce que le sujet a resolu ce probleme soi même, mais il y avait un tas des arbres!...

Detail..

Detail...

Detail

 

Mike

Posted via email from The CA3 Newsblog

The first April panel is finished. This a typical bucolic subject, beloved of the resaurants we are supplying.

The panel is MDF as usual and around 1.6 metres wide.

It took just over 10 hours to do, although it has yet to be varnished.

It was entirely executed with the studio door wide open this time, spring is really giving me a push now and this morning I've already started the next panel.

We've started our musical endeavours again - just three of us. We've clubbed together and bought some PA kit so we can make a reasonable amount of noise if anyone asks us to play for them (Amplifier/mixer, speaker, microphones) - all we need now is some practic! We're down to 2 guitars, the occasional keyboard use and a singer but i'm attempting to make some 'backing tracks (via 'Garageband on the Apple Mac) to give us a bit more 'body'. Tomorrow evening I'll be attending a meeting to help organise a music festival in June at a nearby village so we may have a gig....

We'll see.

Busy, busy............

Mike

Posted via email from Michael's posterous

Another UK trip(up). The politics of despair and the despair of politics.

Just got back from a week in the Old Country. Frankly, very depressing. Used Flybe (Limoges - Southampton) for a change as we thought it would be a bit cheaper overall but the whole thing was a trial (security, extra baggage payments, inconvenience of not being able to carry extra stuff), so won't fly again in a hurry. Car much more convenient and doesn't cost much more overall.

Weather was awful and politics worse. The anodyne "debate" between the three putative Chancellors-to-be was pretty pathetic. I found myself aligned with Simon Jenkins - have a look at this:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/mar/30/three-chancellors-banks-the-city

And then there was the nonsense in the UK media over the possibility of a 'huing parliament'. The Guardian tried to sum this up:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/mar/30/gordon-brown-hung-parliament-pm

What a farce! What a muddle. Look at this quote:

"The head of the civil service, Sir Gus O'Donnell, updated a manual today which sets out how the key players are expected to act if no party can instantly form a government.

In one of a number of precautionary steps, it has been agreed that parliament should not meet to decide if a government can be formed for as long as 18 days after polling day.

The extension to the period is to give the political parties extra leeway to create a government commanding the support of the Commons.

After the 18 days the Tories could then table an immediate motion of no confidence.

The manual is designed to protect the Queen from being asked prematurely to invite someone to form a government, or to prevent a constitutional impasse causing a panic in the financial markets at a time when the UK's triple-A credit rating is under threat .

O'Donnell is due to meet with other senior civil servants in New Zealand shortly to discuss how they have handled hung parliaments."

Is this the way to run a country?

"..it makes yer want ter eat yer young..." (Someone said this, I think)

Michael Durant

michael.durant@wanadoo.fr

michael.durant@cegetel.net

WEBSITE: www.artsargentat.com

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