Vesuvio part 8

Got all my school related tasks done early in the day, so I had time to get to the Studio to work on some art.  Brought the current block with me, but this time also something else- my bag of drawing ink, cups, and brushes.  The plan was to start filling in some of the dark tones.  This will be a color piece, but black will still play a part- it always does.  Unfortunately, I forgot to bring with me my copy of the restaurant photo, so all I had to go on was the drawing on the block.

Part of the reason for doing this is to get a sense of the balance of black and white, so it's not a wasted effort.  I can see from this, that more dark is needed.  Unlike my last piece, it won't be done with just more black ink.  Colors also have values, so I need to select colors that match the scene, make things stand out or hang back as needed, while maintaining the value balance.  Color offers possibilities that black and white doesn't have, but it brings its own challenges as well.  I've been dealing with it for years, so I'm sure I'll figure it out.  One thing I am sure of is that the ceiling won't be as dark as it is now.  There are shadows up there, but not as dark as the india ink there now.  I have a few things to figure out before I start cutting it, likely next week.

Music today came from home, two related things that come from my days at Montclair.  First was an album by the dB's, a band that was very active in the Hoboken area, and what was their second album (last with the original line-up) called Repercussion.  Came out in the late 80's, but I first heard it a WMSC, our station there.  Critically acclaimed, but not a big seller, which is probably why I didn't hear anything from it until I was at the station.  One of the principle vocalists and song writers left after that, and eventually the band disintegrated, but those two vocalists got back together in the early 90's (while I was still there at Montclair) and put out an album called Mavericks.  Some of the songs from the later album feel like they could have fit in with the original band and some were different. The later album is the one I owned first, acquired as a new release on cd.  I later got the earlier album on vinyl in a used record store in St Louis, since then burned to disc for easier access.  Good mellow power pop, nice background music for making art.

Rounded out the day of drawing a pizzeria by finishing off the last three slices I had from the pizza that I bought a few days ago and is the model for the ones on the two foreground tables in the print.  Sad to see them go, as they were quite tasty.  For now I will just have to enjoy them visually.