St Ives, Bradford

Sketch a day - Day 143/365

Today has been playwriting (pushing into the scenes that are tricky. Feeling frustrated that I can't find a flow. Lumpy and bumpy. But some words arrived).

Also a MAP walk. I felt tired and I was slow and didn't feel like I really wanted to be there. But Tucker enjoyed some premium ball time. And in the end I got into it. During the walk we saw swallows or swifts I get them muddled. I think swifts. And we heard a cuckoo, so that was very exciting.

Also I am doing a Liz Steel inspired attempt to limit my sketch pallet. And or try out colours that aren't realistic. The sketch of the pond at St Ives is a mess and just totally failed in every possible imaginable way. Gubbins.

The sketch of the house in the edge of the wood (I expect originally a gate house) was an interesting experiment but the colours I chose don't please me/don't work. I think I do need to explore this restricted palette even if it simply ends up being an experiment. Colour is my joy but control is my weakness. So perhaps I will learn a bit from doing stuff like this. But it's not something I find easy at all. We shall see.

The news coming out of Gaza continues to be dire. Some handwringing from the UK govt but no meaningful intervention. Aid isn't getting in. People are dying of starvation. The UK is still selling arms to Israel. Kier Starmer will be (along with Tony Blair) another Labour Prime minister who will forever be associated with war crimes. And now genocide. Beyond words.