Location: Los Alcázares, Murcia, Spain
Summary: A week of digital art inspiration, genealogy updates, good food, long chats with friends, and a few well‑earned beers along the way.
Friday, February 26th
A new digital art page, a sunny walk, and a long‑overdue catch‑up at Rocco’s.
This morning I published a Farcebook page where I’ll start adding digital art over the coming months. I only invited a few people to look at it as I’m still building a portfolio, but I’m hoping for constructive feedback and maybe some ideas for future artwork.
In the evening, I walked up to Rocco’s bar to see my friend Johnny, whom I hadn’t seen for over a year. It was lovely to see some friendly faces again, and I enjoyed catching up with him. A few beers, fresh air and good company did me the world of good. I had taken my Kindle with me, but it stayed in my pocket; we didn’t stop talking.
Saturday, February 27th
A swollen leg, Wales beating England, and inspiring Photoshop tutorials.
Today was mostly spent watching YouTube videos, football or rugby on the television. Yesterday was fun, but my leg ached this morning and was a bit swollen, so I rested it.
I watched the Wales vs England Six Nations match and was ecstatic to see Wales win. There were a few dodgy refereeing decisions in the first half, and England mounted a strong comeback to draw level before Wales pulled away to win 40–24.
In the evening, I watched YouTube videos on using Photoshop to draw various scenes. They were brilliant and very inspiring. Tomorrow I’ll try creating some landscape images of my own.
Sunday, February 28th
Creative energy, an Arsenal win, and my first complete digital artwork.
After yesterday’s drawing videos, my creative juices were flowing. I planned to create artwork while watching Leicester vs Arsenal at lunchtime. Arsenal came from 1–0 down to win 1–3 away from home, a great result.
The rest of the day was spent creating my first digital art piece. I finished it around 22:30 and posted it online for the world to see. It was a wolf standing on a rocky outcrop, howling at the moon over tree‑lined hills and a large mountain.
Monday, March 1st
Pinch‑punch, yoga mats, butter chicken curry, and 3D art ideas.
For the first time in a long time, my sister managed to pinch and punch me this morning. Love you too, Sis. I got my dates mixed up and thought I was meeting my friend Jacqueline tomorrow, not today. Luckily, she contacted me, and as the weather didn’t look great, we rearranged for the following Monday.
I’ve had bad back and hip pain for some time, and after consulting Dr Google and Consultant YouTube, I found some stretching exercises that might help. I went to the local HAH charity shop and bought a yoga mat for €5. It wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but it will do for now.
Back home, I realised I didn’t have the spices I needed for the butter chicken curry I was making, so I went to the local spice shop. I prepared everything, put it in the slow cooker on high for six hours and hoped for the best.
In the afternoon, I watched more art videos. One showed how to turn my 2D wolf image into a 3D one. It looked great, but it will take time, so I’ll practise more 2D work first.
The curry smelled amazing all afternoon. There was enough for six people, so after eating my portion, I put the rest into tupperware containers for the freezer. I didn’t fancy rice or chips, so I had it with mashed potato, and it was fantastic, one of the best curries I’ve ever made.
Tuesday, March 2nd
A big breakfast, St Wayne’s Day, and a very lively bar crawl.
I did some shopping at Consum this morning and had a large breakfast at The Tipsy Thistle on the way home. Today was my friend Wayne’s birthday, and it was highly likely that our “couple of planned beers” would turn into a dozen or more, so a big breakfast seemed wise.
The celebrations of St Wayne’s Day started at Rocco’s bar, continued at Le Petit Bistro and went into full swing at Harry’s bar, with occasional returns to Rocco’s. I had a great time. Wayne should definitely consider having a birthday every year.
Wednesday, March 3rd
New shelves on the way and mind‑blowing Photoshop inspiration.
My friend Reindeer came around this morning to measure up for bookshelves in my lounge and plant holders for my balcony. He makes them from old wooden pallets, and they always look great.
In the afternoon, I watched some incredible YouTube videos on image manipulation in Photoshop. Some of the images were stunning, and I hope to reproduce one or two over the coming weeks.
Thursday, March 4th
Good intentions, La Playa pints, turkey chops, and metadata marathons.
This morning I hoovered through my bedrooms with the intention of steam‑mopping them in the afternoon. Good intentions aren’t always enough, though. Instead, I had a couple of pints at La Playa bar, watched a film, then cooked turkey chops and chips for tea before doing more work, adding metadata to my image collection.
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