Boardwalk Food part 23

After spending some time considering the rubbing I had taken off the block on Thursday, I decided to keep two of the previously uncut sections as black shapes- the top worn by a woman in by the ice cream stand, and the dress worn by a woman near the foreground sausage and peppers counter. (both can be seen above) All other remaining black shapes (various articles of clothing, the trash barrel, and odd bits and pieces) were all cut out.

When I showed this block at the last critique night, someone brought up a possible issue with one of the figures. I had drawn my cotton candy eater pretty much like she posed for me, including a simplified reproduction of the design on her t-shirt. I had told her to wear whatever she might for a stroll on the boardwalk and she arrived in the outfit above, including a shirt that featured Tillie, a well known symbol of Asbury Park's boardwalk amusements. However, one of the group thought this might be confusing, since the scene in the print is based generally on the Seaside Heights boardwalk, not Asbury's. My model (who was there at the crit) gave me permission to change it and I had considered that over the past month. Today I had to finally make the decision. I decided to keep it. First of all, few people outside this little corner of the world even know what Tillie is. Second, there is nothing in the print that specifies the scene is specifically Seaside and I'm under no obligation to keep things completely accurate. Third, I'd like to have at least one printed t-shirt in the image and this would be the only one. Fourth, although the model said she didn't mind if I changed it, she really does like Tillie. Besides, if in the end I didn't like how it turned out, I could cut it off the block later and have the blank shirt.

Below is the view of the whole block. Tomorrow I'll try to print a couple of proofs to show at the next meeting of our critique group.