Warmth

Chanced upon a can of Plastic Wood, mostly dried out but I was able to cull a usable (just) amount from the bottom.  I might be able to do a lot with this stuff for filler if it were fresh.  I wonder what it costs.  I used it to fill out the legs and torso on the 1/12, (white clumpy material below), then covered them in Mod Podge and paper napkins.  The armature's shoulders were not high enough or wide enough, but it wasn't a problem.  The wire would have been the core of each arm, now they are simply the undersides.  Head a little more filled out, neck is placed without restricting the head too much, upper arms roughly done.  Had to move an elbow up.  Forearms will eventually need shortening to allow room for the hand/wrist subassenblies.  The base disc should have been flat on the bottom but the  amount of Bondene I used to texture the paving bricks warped the plastic, so it's now slightly convex and won't sit flat.  It's also not a problem, as I had intended to elevate the platform anyway (currently doing that) but it's a good reminder to be careful about using too much MEK.  Staff is redone proper length, and the headpiece has a base with a better shape.

^Tidy little waists on those Aurora figures!  Not really, they taper to fit into the upper torso pieces.  It's helpful to have a physical guide to work by.  When I do the pants legs I'll want to do an image search for fabric creasing.

This Plastic Wood puts out fumes like crazy, needs ventilation. 
Right now the only concern is that the base may not be wide enough for his stance with the walking stick

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The lesson I learned from doing Moony's picture still hasn't set in: go smaller.  All my life I've wanted to do large work.  Poster size!  Wall size!!  BIG!!!  Well, my technique doesn't support that.  To that end I have a sketch tablet the size and kind that I used to carry around at school.  I've a bunch of smaller images ready to draw on sketch paper of 5.5 x 8.5.  Don't know if the paper is a good enough grade for harder leads.  Hope so, I'd like to do these.  I did a half hour on Sharon Mitchell's hand but the conditions weren't amenable, I couldn't concentrate on it.  Too many interruptions to focus on what I was seeing.  You have to be able to...(thinking)...there's a mental process.  You have to take apart the shapes, shade by shade, tone by tone and see how they flow with the greater image.  You have to be able to recreate that.  You have to make choices about transitions and flow of the drawn image regardless of the source.

Still can't find that pic of Nastassja Kinski but I found another from that photo shoot, and I should be able to extrapolate enough from it to reconstruct it.  That is, as I said earlier, what I have is a low-quality b&w copy of the photo used to have.  That gives me shapes and placement, but little visual info.  Now I have a quality shot that's similar but not the same That could be interesting.

Last thing I need is more material to draw.  It's all I seem up for lately, prepping new pages and then not moving on them.   I have Ingrid Bergman, Anna May Wong, a whole bunch of Shanna Evans, Eartha Kitt, Theda Bara, Asia Carrera, Ilhan Omar, and someone unnamed who showed up at a rally for Omar.  The Anna May Wong could be amazing with a ton of tiny details that will be a challenge.

I am having difficulty finding any image of Angel Kelly that will make a good drawing, even a simple head-and-shoulders shot.  It may be that she's less known today and many of her photos have disappeared.  The photography itself is not the most accomplished.  I've a single photo I'd like to try to work from, best I could find  but it's a typical cheesecake shot and poorly framed at that.  So if I work it, I'll have to decide how much or how little to draw.  None of the options work well.  I might end up with just a head shot.  That's okay, Angel's a beautiful woman.  She always struck me as a friendly woman of quiet dignity, intelligence, and warmth, confident without an inflated ego.   Wait, is there more than one Angel Kelly?  (does a search)  No.  Okay, good.  (later)  Mmmm, this enlarges in my viewing program up to life-size.  Loss of clarity though, details get fuzzy.  So I can do an extreme zoom on her face that could be fantastic and maybe convey a mood.  I love it so far and might go with that.  She's got a sweet body, but it's the face that matters. 

***

Depressed, despondent.  Endless succession of joyless days, each spent getting by for the privilege of doing it again the next day.  Obligation to stay alive for mom, for Jesseca.  I'll never actually be with Jesseca again, she has her guy.   I've never been able to wrench my heart free from Dana.  I've tried.  The last thing I want is to fall in love with someone new.

Dana, it's getting easier to stay mad at you, to hate you.  When I start to remember how it feels to care about you, it doesn't last as long anymore.   A few days.   It makes me feel like the biggest fool for thinking of you with kindness that isn't reciprocated.  It's harder to bite back making posts that I hope will hurt you.  I couldn't reassure you, I can't make you cry, I can't piss you off, I can't spark anything in you that cares.   If you feel anything, how would anyone know??

***

The largest moth I've ever seen in person was clinging to the back screen door this morning, and still a little while ago.  Beautiful thing, great big golden-brown eyes, an almost rabbit-like face, markings that had just a hint of strawberry among the tan, white, black, and silver. It's a chilly day after the heat of the last several.  I blew warm breath on it to see if it was still alive, then took it gently in one hand to blow across it a while.  When it stirred it turned around a few times to let me breathe on it from the front and the back alternatingly.  The sun was out and warm so I carried the moth off the porch and into the yard and sunlight.  It took a while, kept trying to stir.  I hope it understood what I was doing...at any rate, it fell into the grass and willingly climbed back into my offered hand on its own. It fell again onto my shirt, and there vibrated its wings for a good minute or more before it tentatively flew slowly up my chest, onto my face, and finally up and away.

Second time I've resuscitated a frozen moth.  The first had gotten itself trapped in the refrigerator overnight.