Boardwalk Nights part 8

Been feeling the effects of a cold the last few days, so I brought the block home from the Studio yesterday, in case I wanted to stay home and work on it. So today I mostly relaxed on the couch, and did a little bit of drawing, adding the last major figure.

I had always planned to include a police officer or two in this particular image. There is usually one around somewhere during the day, but the numbers tend to increase at night. (if you don't know why, go watch MTV) The bigger boardwalks can support vehicular traffic, so sometimes you'll see an actual patrol car on the boards, but more common are officers on bicycles. Last night while I was waiting for the fireworks to begin, one such mounted cop came up near where the band was playing and I did some quick reference sketches as he stood watching the music, at least as much as I could do with both he and me in the dark. This afternoon I roughed in a figure (see above) in the lower left corner of the block- not exactly any of the poses I sketched, but I was able to put some of last night's observations to use. Below is a view of the whole block as it looks today.

As I said, this is likely the last major figure. I might be able squeeze in one or two more in the background, but the space is getting pretty full. And I still have to fill in some signs on the right side panel and refine a few things everywhere in the composition. Still, I think I'll be ready to start cutting in the next few days, with my goal still to be getting an acceptable proof done in time for an October show.