Boardwalk Days part 16

 Another sunny day today, so I decided to go up to the Studio.  Didn't really have to do any work, and with the work going on around the outside of the building, I had no idea if there would be any place to park.  But I went up because of the weather, and I had a box of paper to bring inside.  That doesn't work so well on a rainy day. 

As I drove up Main I saw that the back parking lot was empty, but still caution tape stretched across the side of the parking lot with the driveway off Lawrence. Continued on to the front lot.  Still work being done on the roof, and a dumpster was still parked in the handicapped spaces, and workers still working on the sidewalk, but there seemed to be a few spaces available in the front.  I was able to get one, so I was happy.  Went in through the front door, carrying my paper box with me.  

Set aside the box for the moment (wouldn't need any paper today) and got to drawing on the latest block. Still had the Bruce Springsteen disc with me (in my jazz/blues book from last week), and since I was going back to work on my Asbury boardwalk scene, it made sense for today as well.  This time I skipped some of the early songs, and as a result got to hear some tracks from Darkness on the Edge of Town, and The River.  I consider these albums to be part of his American period, when the music was less focused on his New Jersey background and more on national events and conditions.  For the most part, I have tried to make my art with an American focus, which may come from a plan to be more universal, and may come from the fact that as part of my education I lived for several years in Virginia and in Illinois, and time spent there made me more aware and interested in life in those places.  (to put things in their perspective, this boardwalk series is very much about New Jersey life, while the Robert Johnson series is not, and the prints could be about life anywhere)  

I do need some more reference for the boardwalk print, and hadn't had time to do that yet, though I have spent a little time looking at the scene in photos, and had some things I can do.  For example, I noticed that the benches have three boards across the back and seat, not the two boards I had drawn, so I made those changes.  There is something along the roofline of Convention Hall that doesn't match anything there, but I did see some things I could fix or draw in.  I very much roughed in a few of the planned figures that will occupy some the space between buildings, but I want to get more specific images of those figures to work from before I do final versions.  Results of today's brief session can be seen below:

I'll be needing a lot more time with drawing this one, but I decided to head home before my parents left for their latest thing, so I'll deal with it later. It's waited years, so a few days won't make a difference.  Meanwhile, before leaving I put my paper box in the usual place I keep it.