Men, a cow and some oranges

I worked from home yesterday as I have a bad cold and the studio is freezing. I enjoyed working while looking into the backyard and watching recorded episodes of Italian Food Safari that my mother lent me recently. (An appropriate accompaniment to making little men with cows and oranges, don't you think?) Never mind that I got paint all over my favourite jeans, a beloved old shirt from Florence and a t-shirt. I was so in 'at home' mode that I forgot to put on an apron.
The combination I alluded to recently here, in progress above: I cut my sketches out, trace the outlines then fill in the bits: you can't exactly put wood over a lightbox to trace! And I often do faces either first or last. I find them very important and have to find the right moment to paint them. And these faces are relatively small, so they require some concentration: something I am not so good at, especially when watching TV while working.
Otto the Orangerie Man, leaning up against a messy kitchen cupboard. He is part of that series of brothers that I began with Franz last year. I had planned on painting him in red on a white background, red to the blue of his brother Gustav. However as I was falling asleep the night before last, he popped into my head in a warm grey colour, with a reddish brown line and bright oranges the colour of the cream in those biscuits that you find in a packet of Assorted Creams (the ones that nobody wants). I love that shade of orange. But I'd choose to eat the Kingston.