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| Unleashing the last spirits of winter |
Something about spring makes you think of fairies. I think it is all of the new life that emerges. So, I have been doing a lot of them in my sketchbook lately.
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| The council is in session... |
We also just saw
Song of the Sea, a wonderful film by the folks who did
The Secret of Kells. It was a beautiful film with a bit of a
Spirited Away vibe with a dash of Tolkien's
Silmarillion (he was greatly influenced by Celtic and other European mythology). I loved the design and the concept.
It is common mythology around the world of spirits being a part of everything... The world does awaken this time of year from a dormant state.
I can hardly wait to get outside to sketch!
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| The Leaf Litter... |
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| Even at the Krohn Conservatory! |
Happy Chinese New Year a day late! Although this is from the goats I saw in Greece on a tiny island off of Aegina called Moni Eginas.
It was cute and covered in goats and peacocks.
My friend brought bread to feed them and got head butted by an aggressive male when she tried to pet him. She said she should have known better and had giant bruises to prove it!
They had glorious horns!
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| Moni Eginas; magical land of goats and peacocks |
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By:
Christina Wald,
on 11/19/2014
Blog:
Christina Wald's Design and Illustration Blog
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Humor Monastery,
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| Me Sketching at Voronet |
We went to a lot of monasteries old and new. Of course the star monasatries are the old ones...
Above is Voronet Monastery in the Moldovan area of Romania. It was built in 1488 by Stephen the Great. The painting have survived war, weather and disuse. They are now restored including the paintings on the inside. They are not restoring the exterior paintings as far as I know which I think is a good thing.
This was the only place where we ran into an American tour group.
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| Detail from the exterior of Voronet. All of these churches have paintings of the Last Judgement... This is the place you want to avoid... |
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| Me sketching at Humor Monastary |
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| Detail of the battle in Constantinople. |
Above is the Humor Monastery, a painted monastery located in Mănăstirea Humorului. The frescoes were originally painted in 1535 and this one shows Constantinople defending itself from a Persian invasion in 626. The Persians were illustrated as Turks which is proof that the news is always prone to revisionism even if it is really old news
A lot of the monasteries had these cool seraphim images depicted as wing clusters with lots of eyeballs.
I know I have been slow to post these images. But there is MUCH more! Next up, the Merry Cemetery and a stones throw from the Ukraine border...
Read the rest of this post
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| Red line shows our itinerary... |
I just got back from a 2 week trip to Romania with my friend Ioana who is working on a plant field guide to the country. So much fun touring the country and seeing castles, churches, villages and fortresses.
It was a whirlwind! We were on the road a lot so we could see as much as possible. But, in the short time, it was just tastes of different regions.
We first went to Romania in 1998 to be in George and Ioana's wedding. The country has done a 180 since then and is growing in leaps and bounds. Unfortunately, the guys could not join us this visit.
We did not get to revisit the seaside town of Constanta or the Dacian ruins, but next time...
Our first stop was Brasov and OF COURSE Castle Bran in Transylvania. We did not see Bran last time since I had to pick one castle to visit and that was Peles. So this time, we made sure to cover it.
Brasov is an amazing town. I hope to go back and sketch more! We only got a little taste of the city.
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| The Brasov town square |
While I sketched this, they were giving a free opera concert. It seemed to cover a lot of the greatest hits and was a bit of a sampler platter of songs.
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| A peacock is a good image in Brasov. It is a proud and beautiful city. |
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| Did you think I would not sketch it? |
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| Queen Marie's Chapel we thought... Gorgeous with all the moss... |
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| Me, walking up to the castle... |
If you are curious and want to know more, watch this amazing series about Romania called Wild Carpathia. They go to a lot of the places Ioana and I went to and talks about how they are trying to conserve the largest areas of virgin forest in Europe.
http://youtu.be/jvDIpOPlWJ8
I am finally posting all of my sketches from Chicago. I have been buried since my return in work. (I have some amazing projects on my plate at the moment.)
But, it was wonderful to have a weekend devoted to just sketching and hanging out with wonderful friends.
You can see photos from the seminar here:
http://chicagosketchseminar2014.wordpress.com/and some of the Cincinnati group's photos and sketches here:
http://cincyillustrators.blogspot.com/2014/06/urban-sketching-seminar-in-chicago.htmlSee Vanessa's sketches here:
http://nessydesigns.blogspot.com/2014/06/urban-sketchers-chicago-2014.html |
| My favorite sketch from the weekend. This is the Holy Name Cathedral where Roger Ebert's funeral was held |
and her incredible photos here:
http://nessydesigns.blogspot.com/2014/06/chiacgo-urban-sketchers-trip-photos.html |
| Another church on the church architecture tour |
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| Porsche at what the locals called 'Viagra Triangle' which is a good description |
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| Big statue next to the hotel |
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| A bit of sketching between bites of Garrett popcorn |
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| Detail of the facade |
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| Part of the Newberry Library |
Amy,
Vanessa and I managed to get out and sketch the cherry blossoms at
Spring Grove Cemetery while they were peak. It was a beautiful day. There was also a plein air group out that day, so a lot of painting was going on.
Here is a vine on location:
https://vine.co/v/M5T7vuYrIz5Also, I forgot to post the Cosmopolitan building sketch from a couple weeks ago. It is a couple doors down from Suder's Art Store and is supposed to be haunted.
It is a beautiful building and it is being renovated for The Brandery. Its windows are incredible!
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| I love the wobbegong! |
I went with Amy, Vanessa and Monica for an afternoon of sketching at Newport Aquarium.
Checkout their AMAZING sketches and photos
here and
here.
They are in the middle of a reconstruction so I am looking forward to their next phase. I love the shark rays. They two are named after my and Vanessa's cats (Spike and Sunshine).
Blurry video of the wobbegong:
https://vine.co/v/MKZEiIr57TD |
| The penguins are always adorable! |
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| A very sociable turtle... |
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| Japanese crabs! |
I did this sketch a couple days ago. It looks like it will have the opposite effect of bringing on spring weather...
Read the rest of this post
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| Where is Bette Davis when you need her... |
As many know, I have been a huge Downton Abbey fan. So, of course, last night's episode was a disappointment. I fee like the writing since the first season has been uneven. There were many other ways to handle the "Matthew" situation:
-Matthew could have been kidnapped by aliens
-Sent to India
-Sent to the mad house
-Recast like Bewitched/Rosanne characters
-A Doctor Who solution... Cast David Tennant as Matthew!
Season Four Likely Scenarios:
-The grandkids, a little older, are given puppies and/or kittens as gifts from the Dowager. They are promptly killed off in a freak steamroller accident.
-Matthew will have an identical cousin; Edith will marry him. Mary will acquire more and more cats and live in a Grey Gardens situation.
-Hercule Poirot shows up and more main characters start to die in strangely unlikely ways. Who is the murderer?
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| Back off Tennant! |
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| The view from the patio of our hotel in Austin. |
Our hotel was very clean, meticulously so. It was odd to me then when I went to sketch on their lovely patio, it was covered in Grackle droppings... I had to cover my chair in a towel as a protective barrier.
I was later informed by our friends that grackles are the bane of outdoor eating and patios and keeping areas "poo free" is very difficult.
I suspect that these are the birds that Hitchcock was depicting in his movie...
So I did this:
On the last evening of our vacation, we had another encounter. We went to see
Django Unchained at the insistence of our friends at the
Alamo Drafthouse. After, we got dinner at a Chili's at one of those fancy outdoor malls they have been building.
The trees were so covered in grackles that you could hear their calls in the car. Even to me, who is hard of hearing, they were loud. As we left, Troy had to dodge poop.
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| NOT an exaggeration... |
It reminded me of Walton Ford's painting of carrier pigeons...
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| Little sketch done at my friend's New Year's Day brunch |
Happy New Year! A lot of great things happened in 2012 and I am looking forward to a year with lots of cool art to work on!
Those who have kindly commented that they enjoy the sketches I post, thanks! You are all enablers to my addiction... But it is a good one right??!!
Actually, one of the benefits of sketching a lot is the general improvement of painting and drawing skills overall. I have a long way to go but I feel it helps me grow in expected and unexpected ways.
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| Angie is a good model. She stays still for a long time. (Note: Her bed does not really look this much like a peppermint) |
We just got back from a brief trip to Kentucky to visit Troy's parents at lake Barkley. We had hoped to stay till the 26th, but the blizzard warning forced us home a day early. We worried about getting trapped in the storm. Snow clearing is not good in KY...
So I am posting this on "storm watch"... Soon we will know if our caution was justified.
Anyway, I did some little sketches of Angie, my in-laws' dog.
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| Ahhhh....The humiliation continues... |
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| Here is a view of the lake... The sunsets are beautiful. |
I also sketched my mom, brother and sister-in-law's pets on Saturday while we celebrated at her house.
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| The full menagerie! |
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| Quick sketch at Findlay Market Saturday Morning |
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| Gelato=Yum... |
It was such a nice day on Saturday that I stopped by Findlay Market to sketch. I also did a little shopping for apples and stuffed pork chops from Kroger Bros. But of course I always stop for a little gelato.
Dojo Gelato has some great flavors. I got a mix of Maple Cream Cheese and Pumpkin.
It was very weird to open the
Cincinnati Enquirer Sunday and see their photo of the market from almost the same vantage point. I suppose it is the best angle and there is seating there. It was very serendipitous. Although, I doubt this is a situation like the TV show Heroes where a character was drawing the future. If I start sketching natural disasters however, watch out! It could be a total Cassandra situation.
Anyway, here is a doodle I did while waiting for my computer to restart. Thank goodness I am upgrading!
Yesterday I went with
Vanessa Sorensen for a little walk at Spring Grove and some sketching. It is so beautiful there.
It is interesting because I did not know that Spring Grove was constructed in the 1830s after a Cholera epidemic and the overcrowding of little church cemeteries was unsightly.
This is the
Robinson Mausoleum. I found out after that it was built in 1874 for $35,000. The Robinson family owned Robinson’s Circus from 1824 to 1916 when they sold it to the American Circus which later merged with Ringling Brothers. The place is cram-packed with these historical goodies.
I forgot to post a couple weeks ago this sketch of the dock at my in-laws at Lake Barkley in Kentucky. It was a great place to view birds. I saw herons, a turkey vulture,and many others.
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| My little setup next to my sketch... |
Finally, I just started a new blog. It is meant to be a place where I develop children's stories. First off is Francis Tales. I did a dummy a few years ago. This is a new iteration of that to start, but it will be a home for stories, experiments and little nugget ideas. Stop by and say hi:
http://christinawaldtales.blogspot.com/
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| MG and cool chrome plane at Lunken... This is my new itty bitty sketchbook that fits in my new purse. |
Squeezed in a couple sketches between deadlines and posting some old ones. I have been biking more lately at the newly expanded trail at Lunken because I love it! This weekend was
Aviation Days so it was a double bonus. The weather was a little iffy yesterday though or I would have taken a Cessna ride over downtown Cincinnati.
The MG outside the show was gorgeous. It almost had cliched sparkle. Too bad a bunch of bikes were leaned against it.
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| I did this several weeks ago. I have biking at the cool new trail at Lunken lately... |
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| Sketch of our view from the 1215 at a little outdoor table waiting for our call to get int Bakersfield OTR Friday. |
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| This woman had a gorgeous fairy costume. The Henna Hut was a cute little building. |
The Ohio Renaissance Fair opened yesterday in Waynesville and I went with some family members and fellow artist
Amy Bogard. The first weekend is a 2 for 1 deal which convinced me to go.
Amy and I spent most of the time sketching. The festival has expanded a lot since I last visited; there are tons of really cute buildings and cosplay has really exploded in recent years. Lots of elves, fairies, and pirates were represented in addition to the medieval garb.
I actually felt sorry for the people in costume because the air was a humid soup. It was not pleasant.
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| The Swordsman Theatre and a cute little fairy girl with matching orange crocs. |
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| Lady in the Lake with curious bullfrog. |
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| Loved this tree decor. |
We were in Boston for too short a time... Anyway, I did get some sketches at the Boston Common and the Boston Garden...
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| Swan boats in the Garden |
The duck sculpture is based on
Make Way for Ducklings by Caldecott winner Robert McClosky and is sculpted by
Nancy Schon.
I have always loved McClosky's work.
Blueberries for Sal is a favorite.
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| Me with the sculpture... |
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| The park is lovely... |
We also headed to Copley Square and the
Boston Public Library. What an amazing collection of art! The
Edwin Abbey Holy Grail murals and the
John Singer Sargent Triumph of Religion murals are the tip of the iceberg. There was cool art everywhere, even a room of amazing (but creepy) puppets.
Some of my mediocre photos are posted here on the
Cincinnati Illustrators Blog.
Anyway, more sketches of course...
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| One of the stairway lions... |
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| Gorgeous courtyard |
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| Marble turtle lamp in the Abbey room... |
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| Sketchbook pages from the Norman Rockwell Museum |
After Vermont, we stopped at the Norman Rockwell museum. It was a little rainy, but still worth it. I wrote more about the visit on the
Cincinnati Illustrators Blog. As a fan of Howard Pyle, I was not disappointed. The campus was dotted by Norman Rockwell's son's sculptures.
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| Me standing in front of NR's studio. |
We then made the trip to Boston. Here are some images from the sketchbook. We stayed at
Taylor House Bed and Breakfast in Jamaica Plain at my friend from high school's suggestion. Super cute area of town...
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| Our bed and breakfast... |
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| Pixie the cat, the cute Rhode Island Reds (Yay fresh eggs!), and the giant forklift (maybe 10' tall?) at the marble quarry. |
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| My feeble attempt to capture the light. |
As I mentioned in the last post, we headed to Danby, VT to visit our friends Andrea, Ed and Olivia.
The view from their house is breathtaking. Since our only view is of North Bend Road, it was refreshing.
The light was always different and the night sky amazing. It was a wonderful visit and they send us home with honey from their own bee colonies.
I should also mention that they arranged for us to have the most amazing tour of the marble quarry. It was cool to see the operation and scale of the tools required.
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| The real thing... |
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| Keeley the wonder dog. Such a sweetie! |
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| Me and the neighbor's dog Whiskey. We have a similar fashion sense. |
Next, it was on to Boston with a side trip to the Norman Rockwell Museum.
We just got back from whirlwind tour of the Northeast including Upstate New York, Vermont, and Massachusetts.
I have been attempting to keep up my sketchbook.
Here are some of the images:
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| My Aunt Joan and Uncle Dick's Victorian mansion in Stamford, NY. |
The trip up was a little grey and got rainy. It was storming when we arrived in Stamford. We visited too briefly and headed up to Vermont.
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| Welcome to Vermont... |
The main reason to go to Vermont was for my Godmother's daughter Nora's wedding in Woodstock, VT. The bride and groom went by "Team Floogen". It was a lovely ceremony and included a happy hour the night before at a place called Bentley's and Brunch the day after.
The day of the ceremony, there was a really cool food and art festival in downtown Woodstock.
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| Looked good but we stuck with a lobster roll. |
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| The first bite is taken with the eye... |
That afternoon I got a bit of sketching in even though rain was a worry. They had some gorgeous buildings in that town, especially the public library...
I also sketched the building adjacent to the library.
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| Cool building in the library quad... |
Here are some wedding sketches:
The bride got a wonderful dress at Kleinfeld, lost of detailing. I never got the name of the designer. Sadly, she did not get on the show, but discussing the name "Kleinfeld" gave me an idea of a Seinfeld/Kleinfeld mashup comic for
Pop Smoothie... I will post it this weekend.
The bride and groom left the ceremony on a motorcycle and their cake topper feature and bride and groom motorcycle theme as well.
The next day was a farewell brunch.
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| Pano of Quechee Gorge outside of Woodstock |
Next, we headed up to Danby, VT to visit our friends Andrea, Ed and their daughter Olivia.
I will post the sketches from that the next post, but first, the view from their backyard:
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| Bernie Sanders and this view! (This photo is in evening light...) What more could you ask for? Stay tuned! |
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| I wised up this time and sketched from a shady spot. |
Even though I am buried in deadlines, we took a quick trip to the newly renovated park downtown across from
Music Hall called
Washington Park.
It was such a beautiful day. They have a wonderful fountain, playground and dog park.
Here is the dog park. This puppy had the right idea:
I could have stayed all day if I did not have crazy deadlines. The hour there was rejuvenating.
We went to Loveland Castle today with my nephew Joshua. Out in the middle of Symmes Township, this guy spent most of his life building a real castle. The lifestyle must have agreed with him. He died at age 91 and not of old age. He never married, oddly...
Joshua barely made it past the dagger clearance sale.
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| Cool dragon sculpture |
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| Little entrance gate where I sat and sketched. Note to self: Sketching in the hot sun is a really bad idea. Find a shady spot next time... |
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| Panoramic view |
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| Sketches of the Earthships |
I put the
Earthship sketch first because I loved this site. It is a collection of self-sufficient structures that grow their own food, make their own energy and recycle their own waste. They build them from recycled materials. I have heard that the UC Architecture department has a program has done programs in Taos before, but I could not find a link.
I am pretty sure these structure inspired the home of Luke's aunt and uncle on Tatooine...
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| This is a panoramic of one of the structures... |
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| On the solstice, we watched the sun set over the gorge from another angle. |
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| The ice cream bus, sadly not open for our visit... |
This is Taos Gorge. The little river at the bottom is the Rio Grande. It is certainly dwarfed here. It looks like the earth just opened up in a catastrophic event.
Finally, the San Francisco church. St. Francis is really big in this area. This is the mission church made famous by the painting by
Georgia O'Keeffe.
4 Comments on Taos Sketch Journal Workshop Part 2, last added: 7/2/2012
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| Boris and Spike |
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| Boris and a little Miffy Sketch |
In preparing for our journal workshop, many of the books about making journals have lovely cat studies so I decided to do some of my cats. Yes, Boris really looks like this. He is almost 17 and has been shaved because his fur gets severely matted. It gives him an odd appearance. He has a huge head and a little old man body underneath. Great for sketching cat anatomy...You can see every bone and muscle.
The next day was a farewell brunch.
It's always a bit of a let down when you can see the machinery of the plot working. Killing off a main character at the end of the season is such a cheap and obvious soap opera tactic. Oh well.
It is getting very soapy... Maggie Smith keeps me watching...