painting portraits, still. so much easier than writing. none of that worry about the big stuff, plot, structure, voice, idiom... just birdwatching-intensity observation and the slow accumulation of detail until the subject starts (hopefully) to rise off the paper. hair is a nightmare, as always, long blonde hair especially, having to find a language of shapes and colours so that it looks exactly like hair whie, in fact, being nothing like it. but shoes. god, shoes. i could paint shoes all day long...