Out of Ugly and Christmas in NY

Finally worked on the Beast in the City and got it past the ugly stage. It's a real leap of faith, or to use a different metaphor, it was like slogging thru devil molasses.
In the meanwhile, to distract myself, I went to the Metropolitan. On the way there, I saw this lion, forced to dress up by it's captors.

The ugly phase and homeless socks

I do believe there comes a time in every painting when it goes thru the 'ugly phase'. Here is this painting in that phase. Of course, ugliness is in the eye of the beholder but for me, the colors are so yukky that I have to just keep going based on faith.
In the meantime, to keep my mind off of the painting, I took a walk in the city with my sister. It's sad to see anyone homeless at this time of year but this was especially poignant: a group of homeless socks, huddled together from the cold. Won't you take one home to hang over the fire? Actually, all these socks had a story to tell. Some are the mates of the better sock that was chosen to hang for Christmas. Some of them said they would rather take their chances on the street than be forced to have a nail stuck thru them and hung for the amusement of some jaded child. Some of them were toeless veterans. When I got home I kissed my socks, knowing how lucky they were to have their own pampered life.

Guardian Angel

Taking a break from my painting, I made this pen and ink drawing. God it was fun to do. Can't wait to do more. I used Stonehenge Rising paper.