Personal Space Invader...

Another beautiful sunny day and warm!

D took Lola to the vet this morning for her annual titre test.  Results in a week.  She didn't flinch getting the blood taken and was very affectionate towards the vet.  She was also weighed and at 30.7kg is exactly where she should be for her build.  General health checks also carried out and vet said she is in fantastic shape.  Good to hear. 

After lunch we returned to the Gin Palace as my special surprise purchase had arrived - a mirror ball :-))  Just a medium sized little one :-))  Once D got that hung from the ceiling, he got us some drinks (Diet Coke for him and diet iron bru for me :-) and we spent a couple of happy hours sitting in the GP enjoying the sunshine and the bird song.

Lola was in a very snuggly mood and was demanding cuddles.  She has no concept of personal space and after climbing all over me, she turned her attention to D.  I could hardly take these pics for laughing!  

Reluctantly we moved indoors just after 5pm as it was another early dinner as D was out singing again this evening.  

I managed to get the commission painting packed and ready to be posted tomorrow.  Spent a little while on the FB group set up by the artist who's acrylic course I followed last week.  The page will only be available for a few more days so wanted to catch up with a few people who also did the course and who had been kind enough to leave encouraging comments on my work.

I have put the various stages of my painting in extras and although I am not over the moon with the finished result, I have learned a lot about how to approach acrylic painting and how to create texture.  

Pic 1 - laying down the composition and basic shapes.
Pic 2 - Mapping tonal values.
Pic 3 - Introducing colour.
Pic 4 - Introducing texture
Pic 5 - Final touches (for now.  I suspect I'll return to it in a few weeks and attempt to fix the rocks.)

It's my first proper attempt at an acrylic seascape so trying not to be too hard on myself.  Lots still to learn and lots of practice required, but I enjoyed it (on the whole :-) and will have another go soon.  In a years time this will hopefully serve as a reminder of how much I've improved :-)))