Boardwalk Wheel Game part 11

I spent the entire month of October preparing for my exhibition in Iowa, as you can see by going back through this blog. But the work is now out there, and I put in time over the past few days finishing all the various artist statements and other handouts, so my part of the show is pretty much finished.

That meant I could get back into the Studio today for the purpose of making new art. First I took care of printing a few student blocks (top photo). Then I turned my attention to the boardwalk block that I haven't worked on since September. One of the suggestions that came out of the Crit group this past Wednesday was that the kid playing the game (second photo) should look more excited by the game. Someone even suggested he should be jumping or waving his arms with excitement. That seemed a little extreme, but I did think it was worth exploring a more subtle suggested change, having the kid look up at the prizes. The simplest way to do that was to cut out duplicate head drawn on a newsprint scrap, and reposition it over the original. The results can be seen in the last photo. I think I like this change. The cap brim creates a new implied line that I like, helping the eye move across the diptych and through the heart of the composition. Next time in I'll make the change in the drawing. I'm leaning toward leaving the area around the wheel blank, but it's now a matter of deciding whether that will be left uncut (black), or become a solid lighter color. The black would help the wheel stand out, but it might be too heavy. I don't have to make that decision right away.