SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Fri 12/22/23 04:24 AM
Thinking... Gotta do some last Christmas grocery shopping and I really don't want to.

SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Thu 12/21/23 03:04 AM
Best to properly fill out your profile first and then ask...

SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Thu 12/21/23 02:50 AM
12C and visited by Storm Pia. Heavy to very heavy storm gusts. In my area until 4am tomorrow morning.
Oh joy.
Overcast and occasional showers.

SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Thu 12/21/23 02:45 AM


Yup, me has started watching Reacher season 2 last night as well, right after the last episode of the other series I mentioned.

I was quite shocked to see the actor playing Reacher. Not sure what he'd done in between seasons, maybe began testosterone as he did that at some point to get more muscles.
But he looks god awful, unnatural, off-putting, whereas in season 1 he looked tall, big, strong and attractive. Even his face looks kinda distorted.
I liked him better in that sense in season 1.
Just look at the width of his shoulders... too much of a good thing is truly too much, hihi.
It looks as if some plastic surgeon sewed on extra bones & padding, just really weird.




I agree 100% with Reacher looking worn. Didnt Neagley say as much in the beginning? That he looked rough?

Either way, he is pretty to look at but holy mac and cheese. Enough already with the bulking up! It is overkill.

One question tho. Did anyone else notice that a 6'5 muscle bound man easily finds clothes at a thrift shop or clothing bin?? <blinkblink>

TheKid is 6'8 and rarely scores clothing finds such as that. <laughing>

Glad you agree he went over the top with the muscles.
They did indeed mention him looking rough, but he's beginning to look like a Neanderthal, that typical look of someone using steroids to get muscles.
I prefer natural muscle. My Taekwondo teacher told me that bodybuilder muscle gets in the way of being swift and doing certain moves. I could tell as a dad from 1 of the kids occasionally joint in and he was a bodybuilder. You become more of a blunt object as opposed to a swift and elegant fighter, so in that sense not entirely congruent with the Reacher character.

The 2nd hand clothes is indeed weird. Only once did they address that, when he was in NY and needed a suit on the spot. Then there happened to be one that was made for a rugby player.
Even here where people are taller it wouldn't be easy to find something to fit a 1,98m tall bloke.
I guess it's 'artistic freedom' by the author to create the image of a certain type of man.

SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Wed 12/20/23 02:08 AM
9C Clouds, occasional sun, it is dry for a change. Strong wind that will get stronger later, Code Yellow for heavy gusts tomorrow.

SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Tue 12/19/23 12:23 PM
Not action or anything, a docu series, but so worth watching that I wish to mention it here:

Ancient Apocalypse - Season 1
8 episodes - 7,8 IMDB rating
I rate it 10, would give more if I could.

In short it's about Graham Hancock travelling to many places around the world (US Turkey, Indonesia, Bimini, Mexico etc.) to find proof of a great flood, the consequences of it and so on.
In a way all leading back to there once having been a very advanced civilisation that disappeared and/or spread across the world because of that apocalyptic happening.

Many of the ancient cultures he investigates left signs of a comet, or rather debris of a comet hitting the Earth, causing that event.
It also has to do with the ending of the ice age, which is when all this happened.
That was around 10.800 years ago.

It's so incredibly interesting! If you're into this you watching this docu is a must!

I'd never heard of Serpent Mound in Ohio btw. What an amazing place! Unfortunately he wasn't allowed to go there to film as the organisation rules Graham Hancock's docu's and wisdom 'hogwash'.
Arrogant w@nkers... But seeing it from the sky... amazing!!

SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Tue 12/19/23 11:13 AM
Thank you so much, Julie!
I looked into how to finish it off, the final things, and dang, lots and lots of fine detailed work... I was really looking forward to that, not, hahaha.
I'll do it regardless as I don't want to ruin it by doing a botch job.
Even though the ones with the cottages took quite a lot of time, I don't think I've ever spent so many hours on one painting as this one.

SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Mon 12/18/23 10:55 AM
That is an option indeed. And yes, the oracle deck! Good one, hihi.

OT - gotten quite the bit further since last posting, which is on the previous page.

I have now done the basic tree trunk to the left, the plants alongside the path/sandy bit in the middle, worked on the grass there too, added the grass in the bottom left corner and... I did do the 2nd jaguar after all! I just could not resist, hihi!

I need to do minor tweaks on all the things I mentioned above. Like the jaguar still needs its whiskers and tail, its left eye's pupil needs adjusting as it got too large. Just small stuff.
And I'm still not happy with the grasses in between the stones in the middle section. The grass itself is okay, but I don't like their shadows.
Of course the tree to the left won't stay like this either.

But in essence it's finishing off & fine-tuning.




SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Mon 12/18/23 10:08 AM
Edited by SparklingCrystal 💖💎 on Mon 12/18/23 10:08 AM

61. Very good movie.

That's about sports

Go for 65... that's a good movie!!

SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Sun 12/17/23 09:07 AM

The Hitman's Bodyguard

Such a great movie!! Still makes me laugh every time I watch it.
One of the best scenes for that was when he wasn't wearing his seatbelt -after fussing about that time and again to the hitman- and was launched through the windscreen, hahaha.

SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Sat 12/16/23 04:20 AM
Edited by SparklingCrystal 💖💎 on Sat 12/16/23 04:21 AM
Yup, me has started watching Reacher season 2 last night as well, right after the last episode of the other series I mentioned.

I was quite shocked to see the actor playing Reacher. Not sure what he'd done in between seasons, maybe began testosterone as he did that at some point to get more muscles.
But he looks god awful, unnatural, off-putting, whereas in season 1 he looked tall, big, strong and attractive. Even his face looks kinda distorted.
I liked him better in that sense in season 1.
Just look at the width of his shoulders... too much of a good thing is truly too much, hihi.
It looks as if some plastic surgeon sewed on extra bones & padding, just really weird.

SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Fri 12/15/23 02:37 PM
Special Ops: Lioness - Season 1 - 2023 - 7,5 IMDB rating.
REALLY good!

No news on a 2nd season yet. In a way this was a stand-alone story.

SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Fri 12/15/23 11:38 AM
It's amazing how many positive reactions I've gotten concerning the leopard/jaguar!
I have sort of decided to do a 2nd one as well. But I do want to finish other details first.
I think it will enhance things even more if there's a 2nd one, relaxing in the shade :)

It'll have to wait though. Got cleaning help over today, tomorrow going to pick up my mum, and Sunday I might go see something in the afternoon.
So no painting for at least 2 days. I'd love to, but it'll be good for my neck to have a bit of a break!

SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Wed 12/13/23 03:26 PM
Thank you so much!
The jaguar was a helluva struggle, but I got it done in the end :)
I normally don't fancy animals in landscapes, but in this one it just seemed right.

Now it basically finishing things off. Plants, grasses, fine-tuning details etc.

SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Wed 12/13/23 08:14 AM
Another piece done! Yeehaaa!! I'm very happy with it.


SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Tue 12/12/23 02:32 PM
Thank you so much, Julie!
Currently working on another addition to it, will update when it's done :)

SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Mon 12/11/23 02:59 PM
Thank you!

Ended with this tonight :)


SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Mon 12/11/23 04:45 AM
Thank you, Julie!


OT
Did more work yesterday. First finished the brownish rock & ground around it in the middle. Growth on the rock and added more detail to the greenery on the ground AND I put a background tree in between that rock and the temple.

Some grass here and there, background for plants along the edge of the path. That needs more work, but I wasn't in the mood for that.
I could NOT wait to start with the broken off head of a statue in the foreground!
It's far from finished, but in the end I sat painting in almost complete darkness while painting with black and grey shades, haha. Not very handy!
It was dinner time as well, so I decided to clean up.

Nevertheless very happy with how it's coming along! Tomorrow's another day :)

So much left to be done as this isn't even the last thing that will show up on the canvas, hihi. And then there's a ton of detail I have yet to finish off. But at least that 'island' with brownish rock is finished now.




Close up of the 'island' with the work I did there. You can compare with the last photo to see the difference :)


SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Sat 12/09/23 01:37 PM
Edited by SparklingCrystal 💖💎 on Sat 12/09/23 01:38 PM
I did some finishing touches on the tree -will do a bit more on that regardless- but for today I had fun beginning with the foreground!



SparklingCrystal 💖💎's photo
Fri 12/08/23 02:01 AM
Thinking... change of plan for today!
I had wanted to go to the crystal shop, now I get a parcel delivered today. A wee bit narked about it as I really had wanted to go to the crystal shop, but it is what it is.

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