Boardwalk Nights part 10

Today was the start of real cutting on the new block. But before that, I did spend about half an hour drawing- adding details, fixing issues, etc. When I did begin cutting, I started with the fireworks in the upper left. My design called for two simultaneous bursts, very easy to represent in woodcut. However, that would still leave a whole lot of black sky, very heavy in the composition. My solution (I hope) is to surround the fireworks with smoke. When you watch fireworks, the flashes of light usually reveal the drifting smoke resulting from all the combustion. In the image above, those clouds really stand out bright against the black, but the plan is to color them with some deep dark colors- not nearly as bright as the fireworks themselves, but just colorful enough to break up the huge expanse of sky. I'll know if it works in a few weeks.

I decided to continue cutting along the top part of the composition. I quickly finished off the large streetlight just to the left of the fireworks (see top photo) and then moved over to the right side panel and cut the two major rooftop signs, as seen above. Below is a photo of the whole block in its current state.

So far the wood is cutting nicely, but things will slow down a bit as I get into the more detailed areas of the composition.