Ah the lovely and talented cast of Groove High. Beth Gardiner, Rebekah Staton, Rasmus Hardiker, Frederick Puech (he has the best part), Samantha Barks, Rupert Degas and sitting on the floor is Jonathan Bailey.

So... in other news, I'm working in France at the moment.

Imagine this happening in my hack French and his equally unintelligible English. So, who knows, this conversation may never have actually happened. But it's how it seemed at the time.

I go in to an estate agent in Lille and tell the guy that I'd like to view one of the flats in his window - after laughing at me and saying that I can not live in his window, I ask if I could meet at the flat to view it, say next Thursday at noon. And he says, "but I eat lunch in my lunch hour which is from noon to 2pm" So I say, "so do I, but its when I have time to see a flat." And he says "how about 2pm?" And I say "I have to be at work by 2pm". And he says "so do I." And then he says, "Don't make me work during lunch hour and I won't make you look at a flat during lunch. Nobody on earth should do anything during lunch but eat lunch. French people eat lunch at lunch. We do not work at lunchtime, we work at work time!!" And I said, "Ah but what about the people who work in restaurants serving you?" and he said, "You are not fluent enough in my language to make such clever retorts you stupid English speaking swine, and that none of the people who work in restaurants will be able to show you a flat, so there!"

And in words I didn't understand, but in gestures that I'm fluent in, he essentially told me that lunch hour is a sacred two hours of the day and that I needed to get my priorities right.

And then I realised, with food this good all around ... I suddenly saw his point and found myself respecting the lunch 'hour'. But still, two hours? Every day? In my next life, I'm coming back as an estate agent in France.

Another voice direction, this time for the most adorable show ever. Well, apart from that other show that was also the most adorable show ever.

Sometimes working on preschool shows, you feel like the Aunty who wants to pinch little kids cheeks. Needless to say, there was a lot of 'aaaah'ing and general squeaking over all the cute bits.

Great fun to work with the Sophie Thompson again. We don't get to see each other enough. When last we worked together she was playing a Kung-Fu villiain. This time was far more adorable.

I've decided to kick start the blog again. Try to share some fun stuff, general musings and the occasional doodle. Life in animation is never dull. Sure it may seem that way, because it's all at 24 frames per second and takes so long,... but actually it's because we all sign NDA's and can't discuss much.

I had to have a head shot done recently. That was nerve wracking. To smile or not smile? I went with irony. Hopefully others will smile.

So, I'm back and forth to France at the moment on various things. Just did a quick bit of script punch up and voice direction on Bao Battle for Alphanim. It was the hottest day of the year. It's such a cute, cool show. I want the toys already.

And another big laughing painting.

This was a commission for a friend who wanted something very RED but also very French, but no wine and no Eiful tower or anything else touristy French. Hmm.... It's quite big, and very red.

And so I've started with more paintings. These are all first coats, undercoats, apart from the dinosaur which was painted for a very tough client, my son, who had very specific instructions on how he should be painted. Exactly how it should be!

A friend asked me to post up the pictures of the photo reference used for the paintings. Ok, but... just to make perfectly clear... what I'm going for is not pin point accuracy (It's been done by too many others and good luck to 'em) but rather, I'm going for a feeling of energy and a feeling (one might say impression, but that's getting too poncy and too French and so last Century!) I prefer to follow the paint rather than force it (did I just slip into prententious twaddle? I apologise) and when things start to feel forced or too tight, I start to get unhappy with it. I'm enjoying it feeling bright; alive; active. So... let's settle for 'energy'. (Lordy, I feel like I'm about to show my underwear or something, what gives?)

So, yes, for all you literalists out there... I know... the colours are often nowhere near the colour and the shapes pull or push a bit here and there. And really, that's why I prefer the laughing photos to work with because the subject itself has a feel of movement of action, and as grotesque as all those teeth and gums can seem, the overall pose is one of beauty... well, at least I think so. And so, for your curious nosey eyes... the most recent photo reference.

A close up of Lilly.

Some portraits are more fun than others. This is a portrait of my UK agent's dog. She (the dog) is very noble and yet a bit skittish.

It's meant to be a surprise so shhh...

There's a point when the painting feels right. You stand back and think, "Ok... that's it. I could walk away now." But a small demented voice inside you says "Ah, go on, just one more bit... right there." And you listen to the voice and it all goes wrong and you've lost whatever you had. And then you spend ages trying to get it right again, and then it takes a different route entirely and you're flying but quite frankly, you're just panicked trying to get the canvas back on track and the metaphors get mixed and stretched and eventually ... eventually you feel like you're close enough to something, that's sort of ok, and you stand back and think... 'that'll do'.

But really you wish you could go back in time to that moment when you should have put the brush down and walked away.

This is one of those paintings.

Finally finished this one this weekend. It's quite big. I think it's good enough to show... and has the right energy. Lyn wants to keep it and has already hung it up in the living room.

I've noticed, that in the photo's of kid's laughing, they laugh with their eyes open or closed, but grownups almost always are laughing with their eyes shut. Perhaps this is because kids laugh more freely. And grown ups need to concentrate, to remember what it's like to be a kid... and so need to close their eyes tight to remember what it's like; to go to that place where they're a kid, laughing freely? Or is it just late, and I'm tired?

Well, it's getting there. At least proportions feel about right... but not the colours. Is it wrong to show work in stages? Is that a bit like getting ready for a party in front of your partner? No surprise?

Well, after this dries I'll start globbing (as no doubt the technical term is in latin) another layer on top and get it humming. And I doubt she'll have a blue nose when it's all done, but hey you never know.

Started. Went wildly odd, with the pose too stiff and the colours too blugh and dull... and so I rubbed it all down and started again.

Ok, so it's not a laughing face, but rather a portrait of a friend's kid. Is it just me, or is it harder when you haven't actually met the kid.

Still a work in progress. Sort of wish I'd worked out a full strong undercoat but hey, it's oils. There's time.

Close up of Paula laughing. See below.

Still in progress... not much more to go.