Another Show

Right now I have work hanging in two shows- two pieces in my former student Mary's show in Asbury Park, and three pieces in Ocean Grove, in the first floor of the building where my Studio is.   I think the former show ends soon, but since the dates were shifted and don't match up with the schedule posted on the gallery website, I don't know for sure.  As for the show in my building, I got the impression that was put up to have something for the tv producer to see, so I assumed it was up until there was something else scheduled.   That time may have come.

Got an email last night stating that there is a plan to have a 4th Tenants show later this year, and information about it.  I think it's called the 4th Residential Exhibition, or something like that, which I guess means they have finally taken my advice and stopped calling it the annual show, which it technically isn't.  It has been about a year since the last one (or will be when it opens), but along the way a year was missed, probably the Covid year.  We are allowed up to three works as long as they don't exceed a certain size, and mine don't.  Do I have three completed never exhibited prints ready to go?  Yes.  But do I want to show those?  Not sure. That remains a back-up plan, but I think I'd rather show three related prints, and my best possibility for that is the next three from the Robert Johnson series.  Two are completely done, though I may print a new proof of each.  And I have three frames of the right size for the three planned prints, though two of them are currently in that show in Asbury.  However, I expect that to end soon, and I should have those frames back soon.  (unless those pieces sell, in which case I'll have a nice payday and cut new mats for the prints and get new frames from the work I have stored in the basement)  And I don't need to commit to the show for almost two weeks, and don't need to drop off work for about a month, so I have time to get all this done.  

Now I don't think I can finish the current boardwalk print in time for this show.  If it was black and white, maybe, but with the color it requires, it seems doubtful.  So I think next week I will set aside that block and start cutting the Robert Johnson print.  The drawing is just about done, and the print will just be black and white.  It is smaller as well. I think it's possible to get a proof before the commitment deadline, and a quality proof worth framing before the drop off.  The most recent photo I have is the below image of the drawing from mid-July:  

 I have done more drawing on the block since, mostly on the woman's face (using one of my reference photos from that session), but you'll see that the next time I work on the block, which now looks like it will be next week.  I learned today that the tv producer will be there at the opening in late October, taping it as part of his show.  Don't know if he will be talking to me that night, but we did have some time in my Studio, so I figure that covered it.  But if he wants to, I'll be ready.

Night Drawing by Daylight

 It occurred to me that these morning figure drawing sessions are a lot like the evening ones I used to go to  in Belmar, about a dozen years ago.  Cost is a little higher (which is not surprising), but otherwise it's the same idea- organizer schedules and pays the model, and artists show up with materials and draw.  I used to go to that on alternate Wednesday evenings, so maybe I'll try to go on alternate weeks to the daytime version.  Around medical appointments, which seem to be numerous.

So I was there this week, and found out the group would be held in room 5 today.  Last week, when I chose not to go, it was up on the 2nd floor.  And the time before that (when I did go) it was held in room 3.  But first I stopped by my basement Studio to pick up my drawing pad and drawing board.   Molly was definitely there since my last visit.  I have no idea what all this is for, but I assume someone contracted her to make it

She even cleared off one of her tables, perhaps to use it in production.  Not so much there right now, but these t-shirts covered almost everything in the room, except my table of course.  Lots of cd cases on the counter, and a disc in my boom box, which was still on.  I turned the power off, but otherwise left everything where I found it.  Grabbed my drawing stuff, and went upstairs to join the group.  Not a large number of people this time, so I had my pick of spaces to set up.  

New model as well, tall and thin, no tattoos.  She did fine.  The organizer was there this time, so we did the short gestures he always has us do, then 1 minute, 5 minute, and 10 minute poses, which I did all in pencil in my small sketchbook.  One of the regulars really wanted the longer poses to be reclining and on the floor.  For the first one I moved my big table so I could see the model, but for the second one, that would do me no good, so I moved myself and all my drawing stuff across the room to one of those empty spaces.  The last two were about 20 minutes, done in charcoal.  What I thought was the better of the two can be seen below:

In general I thought today's drawing was successful, so perhaps this practice is paying off.  I documented the better of the charcoals (the second wasn't that bad) and started for home.

Boardwalk Days part 33

 Work continues on my latest boardwalk print, my daytime scene, which is also my Asbury Park scene.  My plan for today was to continue on the right side panel, which is also the Convention Hall side, as on this block it is the reversed image.  Decided to continue with my Beatles music, and selected my home burned copy of their last studio album- Abbey Road.  (as with before, if you haven't come to know this album in the 55 years since it was released, nothing I say here can help you) On the counter top where I keep my Studio boom box all the discs (including my pile) were a mess- which meant Molly had been listening to them.  No problem, as part of the reason I left some there was for her to have things to listen to she liked, plus they are there in case I forget to bring anything with me.  And besides, I occasionally listen to her discs. 

After clearing my table, I got to work on the block.  I started by getting rid of the rest of the sky on that side.  I did the two stairways on the side of the building, leading down to the beach, and the little bit of beach around the bases of those stairways.  This included the boardwalk railing in that panel. The other thing I did was start on the building itself, cutting a little bit of the part of the beach and about where it hits the boardwalk.  Lots more to go, but no hurry to get this done.  The results of today's cutting can be seen below:

Still a long way to go, but it's best to take my time with all this detail.  As I never got around to looking at that plant near the base of the right side lamp, I left that part alone for today. I will try to look at that before my next Studio visit, so I can resolve whatever it is I will be doing with it.  

Boardwalk Days part 32

 Another nice day, and a plan to go the the Studio.  The news this morning was full of stories of yesterday's big event- a drilling of a hole by an unnamed contractor caused some leaks in the ceiling of the Midtown Tunnel in NYC, which resulted in the whole tunnel being closed down for a few hours.  The shown film of the problem didn't look that serious, but maybe it was a precaution in case things got worse, with a greater leak, or flooding, or something.  What they showed was minor dripping, something that a good set of wipers would resolve on any car going through there.  Wipers.  Okay, now I had an idea of what to listen to while I worked.  I brought the rock/pop book of discs again today, with plans to listen to my home burned Wipers disc while working.  (written about back on this blog in July of 2019 and many other places I'm sure, should you want to know more about this music and the very influential but largely unknown band that created it)

On the way there, another crane and bucket truck working on wires along route 71, same as Tuesday.  Aren't they done with that yet?  But I got past and up to Ocean Grove.  A lot of cars in the lot, but there were a few spaces left and I grabbed one.  Went down to my space, and sharpened my tools a bit, because I was planning to do some details today and it had been a while since I did that.  Meanwhile, I had cleared the stuff off my table and got to work on the current boardwalk block.

Today's plan was to work on the lower part of the right panel, the space in front of Convention Hall.  That included all the figures (human and animal) on the boardwalk, inside and out.  Put on some music, and got to work.  I had done more drawing last time, so this went fairly fast.  Of course, there was a lot of detail in all these things on the boardwalk, so it did take the entire disc to get it done.  One thing I left alone was the concrete slab that the right side light pole rests on, mostly because my block sketch shows the remnants of a gestural sketch of a plant there.  Best to check my reference photos of the space before I cut any of that.  Results of today's cutting can be seen below:

I still have to deal with whatever I'm going to do with the beach, then all that detailed architecture.  Then I have to ink it, possibly recut sections and ink again, print some proofs on the proper Japanese paper to match the other ones, and color at least one of them to bring it to the level I expect.  Good thing I don't have a deadline for this.  On the way home those crane trucks were missing.  Either they were on some kind of lunch break, or maybe they were finally finished working on those wires.  So I got home quickly and had some lunch.

Boardwalk Days part 31

 Labor Day is passed, so some would say that we begin what is known as "local summer", when those of us who actually live around here full time can do all the things that tourists keep us from doing for the summer season.  Parking is now available.  Restaurants and bars are not so crowded.  Fewer cars on the road than I am used to seeing. (lots of construction, though, as it is a very nice day today, and all the outdoor projects that were put on hold are now being done) Stopped at the store on the way up to pick up a few non-perishables, and then on to the Studio by 10:30.  Brought the rock/pop book of discs with me today, and from that selected a home burned cd with two Beatles psychedelic albums- Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and Magical Mystery Tour.  The latter album actually was created for American release only, but it filled a need so well it became one of official disc/albums when they finally started putting them on disc.  I've probably written about this before, and by now you should know about these albums, so no need to talk about them here. Most of what I heard today was recorded before I was born, and one song was worked on the day I was born (information about the most documented band in history).  

My plan for today was to continue work on my boardwalk print, so I got that out.  While still at home, I looked up some photos of the space I had taken quite a few years ago, and made sure to bring my sketchbook with me to have those references as well.  Wanted to do some drawing first.

I hadn't dealt with the paver plaza yet on either side, and that was part of what I needed to complete that left side panel.  So I redrew some of those stones, based on the photos I had.  I also redrew some of the figures I had on the boardwalk, using the sketches I had done as a guide.  With that done, I moved on to some carving.  I cut out all of the pavers in the plaza, and the first section of the boardwalk.  (I had already decided that the layers of light and dark in my photos of the space would be handled with color in the final version, so I'll just cut them all out and not worry about texture.  Below is an image of the section I worked on today:

I will probably thin those lines showing the edges of the pavers (will look more like the actual space and my photos of it), but for now I left everything as I cut it.  I've drawn those lines three times now and it's getting hard to erase all that, so I just went ahead and cut it while I know what is good and what is wrong.

I also brought home the block from my latest Robert Johnson print.  I may do some drawing improvement there before I cut anything, and it's easier to work from my reference photo on a computer than on my camera, and it's easier to bring the block home than to bring my computer to my Studio.  You'll see that one next time I cut it.