Belmar and the Railroad part 4

It has been a week since I pulled the two proofs of my train image.  The plan was to color it during the week, but the never ending snowstorm that is 2014 slowed down my progress.  It's done now, so here's how it happened.

I had printed the two copies last Saturday afternoon, finishing just in time to get to the latest opening at the Boatworks.  The prints stayed home to dry, but at least I could show a photo of the black and white proof to interested persons in Belmar.  Two days later I brought the practice (second) proof to the February critique, dry enough to transport but I wanted to give it another day or two before I started coloring.  The next day was my long school day, leaving me no time for art.  Then another big snowstorm, a statewide state of emergency that would keep me close to home for a few days, including an hour of shoveling wet heavy slush.  At least I finally had time to start coloring the practice proof.

I used my original photo of the scene as a starting point.  I made the sky a deep ultramarine color (in line with most of the vintage posters I've seen) rather than the pale sky blue I had shot that day.  And the brick platform in the foreground, that became a bold mix of some quinacridone colors.  I did my best to match the colors from the photo for the train, though my version of the lower half severely simplified the mechanical components.  In the end, I wasn't satisfied.  That big hunk of New Gamboge (yellow-orange on the side of the locomotive, reflected late day sun probably) was accurate to the photo, but I didn't like having it dominate the middle of my image.  And that brick color was too bold, out of balance with the value and intensity of building colors.  Spent a day looking at it before I decided to make a few changes and start the second (good) proof.  Began it last night and finished it today.

Some colors were kept the same- the sky, roofs on the buildings, the naples yellow platform edge stripe,  and the rails.  The brick platform in now a lighter shade.  I replaced the pale black washes used all over the train with washes of pthalo blue (for light silver) and indigo (for dark grays), bringing in a little more color.  Got rid of the big golden side of the locomotive, though there is still a hint of the NJ Transit colors, and a paler version of that warm yellow is used in the front windows.  Also colored the far side platform that I hadn't bothered with in the practice proof.  I don't know if this was the best solution, but it's definitely better than the first one, and if the goal is to get these postecards made and distributed soon, this is our best option.

For the past few days, forecasts had told us the next batch of snow would arrive late this afternoon, around 5 or 6 pm.  My plan was to get this finished by around 3:00, then run it over to Pat in Belmar so she could scan it and prepare it for the postcard.  (crop, add text, etc)  At 3 pm I was done, and I looked out the window to see a blizzard going on, either the third or fourth this week depending on how you count them.  This one won't be too deep, but it was sticking quickly and very slippery.  So I e-mailed Pat a photo so she could begin thinking about it, and I'll just have to hope for a dry day soon so I can put the art in her hands.  Meanwhile, my part is done.