The Rocket Park Mural begins

The two sheet steel panels that will be riveted onto the rocket at Waihi's Rocket Park playground to represent portholes on the rocket showing children within ready to take off for outer space are taking shape at last.
After much time waiting and, I thought for a while, waiting in vain, people in the local Council and the people in charge of my Community Service sentence have got together and agreed that an experienced mural artist painting a mural for a local children's playground as part of his sentence would be a good idea.
I have to say I agree. I first suggested the idea right at the start of my 150 hours community work sentence and be careful what you wish for 'cause all dreams come true....
I got taken off the chain gang and put to work at the local Marae which was O.K. but too easy and finally, with not many hours remaining on my sentence the mural project came through and the galvanized steel sheets were delivered to the Marae (I wasn't allowed to do the job at home in my studio) for me to cut to shape, clean, prime and paint the designs on.
This is how far I got as of today, the children drawn up and redrawn in Paynes Grey acrylic and the background mostly sketched in in washes of Paynes Grey.
Next Monday and Tuesday: Colour!! Yay!
The kids depicted are Daniel and Annabel from across the road, my Grandson Mateo, Tawhiri and Paige, two kids from the Marae and my young friend Amelie who blessed my studio at it's opening a year and a half ago when she was four by creating, at my request, the first original work of art therein.
I will be doing more hours on this mural than I owe and working harder, mentally, than I would on the chain gang but I still think it's a good idea. I am no stranger to doing art for free, 'specially in the early days of my mural painting phase, so it's no bother really.
My life as an artist has always been either a feast or a famine. This particular job is a feast of goodwill.