Two things to report from yesterday. One good. One bad. Do you want the good news first or the bad news?
Oh. Okay. I can hear you. Please don't shout! The good news...
Regular visitors to this humble Yorkshire blog may recall that several days ago I painted a peacock. No. I didn't grab a living peacock from a zoo and slap some magnolia emulsion paint on the screaming creature - I mean that I painted a peacock on a canvas to echo the wallpaper design in our "master" bedroom. You may remember that I wanted to have a go at a very different painting of a peacock and yesterday I managed it.
I based my painting on an image I had found on the internet. Before beginning my peacock I studied the photograph carefully. Rather than tackling the whole peacock, I decided to just paint a picture of its head. I had to remind myself that I was creating a piece of Art and not a replica of the photo image.
When I was eighteen, one of my three A level subjects was Art but the only oil painting I ever created at that time was an extra large image of a woman hanging up washing in a northern alleyway. They hung that picture in the school canteen. Painting with oils is very different from watercolour painting. Different techniques are required and different expectations. It is also a more costly process and more messy too.
However, I am pretty happy with how my second peacock turned out:-
Emerging from an awkward road junction that Clint has negotiated a thousand times before, he managed to bash into the side of a taxi. The damage caused to Clint's frontage and the side of the taxi appeared more or less cosmetic for it was a very low speed accident. However, knowing how expensive car bodywork repairs can be, this is an event that I have had to report to my insurance company. If only our lives had rewind buttons so that we could backtrack and erase unpleasant happenings before they happen. I admit that I was probably daydreaming about peacocks. It was my fault entirely.
I like the painting very much, but then I'm partial to blue including the shade of blue you painted the peacock. I think this version is the right size to complement rather than copy your wallpaper. Well done. That's probably little consolation for the damage incurred in the collision . . . I've had close calls (not necessarily car-crash-wise) that I have thanked my lucky stars weren't worse. It made me more cautious in many ways than my careless younger self. But there is always something new to learn, unfortunately. People aren't perfect. I hope your insurance doesn't go up too much.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your kind consolation Jenny. Much appreciated.
DeleteOh! I'm sorry to hear about your accident, Yorkie. The best outcome is that you weren't injured. Poor Clint, though...he'll be feeling bruised and sorry for himself. Give him a hug for me.
ReplyDeleteFrom now on, stop prancing around like a bloody peacock and watch where you're going!!
Like your painting, by the way...and by a further way...I replied to your comment in reply to my comment in your previous post.
Prancing around like a peacock? Have you got a private detective following me? There's a pub on the edge of Sheffield called "The Peacock" which of course I like to frequent.
DeleteLittle bumps like that are extremely irritating.
ReplyDeleteIt sounds as though you re speaking from experience Red.
DeleteYou mean you don't have a photograph of a live peacock you painted?! Well despite that I truly do love this painting. Your artistic talent is far reaching and this is a lovely peacock! The eye looks especially realistic.
ReplyDeleteI'm so sorry to hear about your accident. Poor Clint - I hope he feels better soon and I do hope he forgives you. You didn't get yourself banged up as well did you? A rewind button would be nice. I can think of many times I could have used one.
I do have my own photos of peacock but I especially wanted to focus on the head.
DeleteClint may forgive me Bonnie but I doubt that my insurance company will.
I would be proud to have that framed in my kitchen
ReplyDeleteI know you are an art lover John so I appreciate your thumbs up. If it wasn't going up in our bedroom I would have happily sent it to you.
DeleteFocusing on the art--you did a great job of capturing the gaze of the peacock and all its wonderful colouring.
ReplyDeleteAs for the jarring episode on the road, well, happens to the best of us. Hope Clint is on the mend soon. Afraid his new outfit is going to cost a pretty penny.
I have bitten the bullet and phoned the insurance company this morning. I felt like a criminal. If they lock me in a cell I will be able to churn out plenty pf paintings of peacocks.
DeleteI can imagine that peacock's eye following you around as you go about your business in the bedroom
ReplyDeleteYou mean swishing my feather duster and plumping up the pillows?
DeleteWe are all human and as such, sometimes have bashes. I am glad this one was small. It's not a pleasant experience though.
ReplyDeleteYour peacock is very fine. Keep painting, Mr. P.
It's nice that my peacock has passed the Moon test.
DeleteHe is a very handsome peacock, I would like a painted pheasant please. Female pheasant are beautifully coloured in a fetching range of beiges. Sorry about Clint, Our Honda called Jeva has a 'y' registration, he is pretty old but prized beyond any measure, though he refused to start the other day. Maybe this is the beginning of the end.
ReplyDeleteJeva? Sounds like some Hindu goddess...
DeleteDon't worry. Clint is just "a thing" and can be repaired. (Don't tell him)
ReplyDeleteYour peacock is quite beautiful.
There used to be peacocks behind our house on the farm but it is now built on in the insatiable thirst for more housing......
Didn't you find the peacocks' early morning cries unnerving?
DeleteI love the peacock, I'm very partial to that shade of blue.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain about the accident. It might just be a thing and it might just cost money but there are better things to do with it
I wonder if my silly accident is the beginning of my senility.
DeleteNo, it was a moment in time where you missed something. It happens all the time. Sometimes nothing happens. Sometimes it's bad
DeleteOh. That's good then. Now...What day is it? Where did I leave my keys? What's my name?
DeleteOh no! Poor Clint! (And poor you!) I hope the taxi driver was civil about the whole thing. I can think of many, many times when I wish I had a "rewind" button.
ReplyDeleteThat's a very noble looking peacock!
Of course it's not the beginning of your senility. You have been senile for quite some time now. I'm just kidding, of course.
ReplyDeleteOf course.
The peacock is attractive and laudable and regal, all things you are subliminally.