Boardwalk Food part 2

Was briefly in the Studio this afternoon, travelling from one place to another. I took a look at the new block. As I mentioned last time, the first day's results had all sorts of perspective problems. As a rule I don't use linear perspective systems to line up all the items in a composition. While they do bring order to a composition, it can be accompanied by some significant distortions. Early Japanese woodcuts tend to use oblique and isometric projection systems, which employ diagonals with identical angles, flattening the surface. I decided that was not a way I wanted to go. (later Japanese woodcuts show the influence of one and two point linear perspective systems, so this option is not without historical precedent) What I end up doing in all my prints is using some of the tricks of perspective, but not forcing all the lines to meet vanishing points. It seems to work for me.

But that doesn't mean that anything goes either. Just as perspective systems can help clarify and define 3D space on a 2D surface, inconsistent perspective can really confuse a composition. So I don't need perfect perspective, just one that's not going to make things worse. If I was just copying a particular existing boardwalk scene it would be easy enough, but I'm making something up, pieced together from sketches and photos from different viewpoints on different boardwalks. Today I made some minor adjustments to the two places in the left panel, but the right side, with a projection back into deep space, will be more of a challenge. I made some changes that improved on the first day's work, but it's not quite there yet. Not enough done today to be worth showing here; I'll have a photo when I've got it figured out.