Boardwalk Bar part 11

 The Open Studio is all done, so now it's just time to get back to work.  I went directly up to the building, and then directly to my space. After clearing off my table I got to work on the current block.  Today's task was to cut out the deep background, under the chain link fence, and around the tiny faces and figures in the deep background.  As noted here previously, these characters are based somewhat on similar characters in issues of Mister X, drawn by Jaime Hernandez, though none copied directly from the originals.  They are meant to show deep background. What I did was cut out the faces and (occasionally) figures, then cut all the space around them, leaving just the parts that will stand out, surrounded by little black lines.  And I cut out everything between the fence and the next layer of figures, dancing, standing, or sitting around the bar, smaller than the ones closer, but that is part of the idea of showing space.  I have a plan here, but I have never done anything like this before in woodcut, so I really don't know how it will turn out.  Results of today's cutting can be seen below:

One thing I was asked a bunch of times during the Open Studio was how long it would take me to do a print, specifically the boardwalk prints, and they had the examples of this one in progress, and the completed The Floating World: Boardwalk Days print (Asbury Park).  I told them that I didn't know, except that they would take as long as they take.  I have no deadlines for getting these done.   What I did say was that the last boardwalk print took over 50 sessions from start to finish.  With the current one, I have to finish cutting it, taking some proofs, coloring one as an experiment, then coloring a second one (either the same colors if I like them, or different ones if I want to try something else), and only then deciding if I am done.  I just can't predict how long that will take.

For music today I pulled two discs from the storage box (probably from my friend Doug) just labeled "BOB DYLAN LIVE 1966" and DISC 1 and DISC 2.  The first disc was acoustic, the second one electric, and each 40+ minutes, so I assumed it was from a two disc set.  I wanted to know more, and the internet had it of course.  What I was listening to today was The Bootleg Series Vol 4: Bob Dylan Live 1966 The "Royal Albert Hall" Concert.  It was actually recorded at the Manchester Free Trade Hall, but the other name became associated with it and stuck.  As stated previously, the first disc is him solo and acoustic, while in the second he is electric and backed with the Hawks, who with a change in drummer would become known as The Band.  I can't say I was very excited by it.  I like Dylan okay, but I'm not a huge fan, and I had it on low as background, so the words weren't as clear as they could be, and the key to Dylan was always his lyrics.  Still, it was good music to work to, and I wouldn't be surprised to find myself listening to it again.