Studio Work

 I still want to give the latest proof of the current boardwalk print a little more time to dry, but I don't want to waste a day either.  So I went to the Studio today to get some work done that wasn't my new boardwalk print, work that I have been meaning to get to for a while.

I have a pile of proofs and good prints sitting in my drying rack, but I noticed I didn't have a copy of my Vesuvio print in there. It's not a very recent piece, completed back in 2020, but I may show it coming up in the next tenant show in Ocean Grove, part of my So Soon No More series.  I did print a few copies, including one that I consider a good one, but those are probably in storage and I may not get them any time soon.  On the other hand, I know I have the block and could make one any time I wanted.  Today started that process.  

I started by tearing a piece of the appropriate paper to the right size.  The paper in this case was Rives Heavyweight, a paper that can still be hand rubbed, but works well for coloring with watercolor, which is what I will be doing with this. It's likely the paper I used to print the last copies I made.  Then I got the block out, on the shelf where it has been sitting a while.  Still had some blue tape on it, and I chose not to bring my cutting tools with me today.  No problem- I still removed the old tape, and I would just have to be careful inking it up.  And this time I was more careful.  The old ink had dried to a flat black, and the new ink was a glossy black, so I could easily see the difference, and that this new proof did not have some of the ink the previous one had.  Printing Heavyweight takes a little more effort than Lightweight, but its manageable, and with some re-inking, I got a nice proof.  I took the photo below, 

then put it in my rack to dry.  No hurry in getting this done, as I don't have a date yet to show it, much less frame it, so it can stay in my rack for a while.  Eventually I will color it, using my online photos as a guide.

I cleaned up everything, but the disc I put in wasn't done playing yet, so I took care of another task- looking at my first color proof of the newest boardwalk print.  I know there will be some color changes in the next one, and today I thought about it some more.

Maybe I'll start coloring the next one later this week, or maybe I'll start it next week.  Either way there will be some changes from the last one to the next one, and I know some of them now.  Others may get decided as I go.

On the way out I stopped again in the office.  On my earlier visit I had mentioned killing a living bug in my space, and before leaving I saw a dead one in the sink.  As with before I was told that they would let the exterminator know what was going on.  Earlier I had asked what was going on in the building.  (both our doors had envelopes taped to them)  Apparently, the comedy group that meets there is participating in a national championship (?) this week and wants our support.  No art is currently scheduled for the first floor (summer heat can be brutal) but I may be welcome to put up some frame works if I want.  I'll talk to Jeanne about this more later.  

For music today I went with my rock/pop book, and my copy of the Zombies singles album, written about on this blog back in January of 2020 if you want to know more.  It was good then and is still good now.  When it finally ended, I went home.

Boardwalk Bar part 25

 I went in with the plan today to pull a better proof of my Boardwalk Bar block, which got some additional cutting a few days ago.  It was cloudy when I left home, but no rain yet, possibly predicted for today.  So no jacket required either.  I got to the Studio and found the parking lot nearly empty again.  I decided to park in a space right next to the building.  Such things were available today, plus it would put me close if the rain did come.

Inside I cleared some space on my table, got the appropriate pieces of paper, took out all the tools I would need for inking, and got started on that.  It's been a few weeks since the last time I printed it, so the block is completely dry.  It was easy to see where the fresh ink was going down- it's a glossy black, as opposed to the dull flat black of the first proofing.  Got less stray ink on it this time (and needed less blue tape), but I don't know if that is because of the second round of cutting, or just taking a little more care this time.  Once it seemed fully inked, I carefully placed a fresh sheet of okawara on top, and some plain newsprint on top of that.  At first I hand rubbed through the newsprint for protection against tearing, but after doing the whole print that way, I removed the newsprint and rubbed the back of the okawara directly.   Did a little more re-inking, but not much, and again no tears in the very thin paper, so I was happy.

I know there are some improvements in cutting between this proof and the first one.  In addition, I was a little more careful with inking and printing than with the first proof, and I think it shows.  

After taking a photo of today's work, I put the proof in my rack to dry.  As with last time, I won't touch it for at least a week, which gives me a little time to look at the first colored proof and decide what I want to do with this one.  

For music today I started with my homemade Homicide: Life on the Street soundtrack, which I have written about on this blog back in February of 2020.   The reason for this is that the show is back on tv again.  Not new episodes, so these are about 30 years old, but I'm sure it's at least a decade since they were aired in a place I could see them, so I am glad it's back.   These days cable systems are full of rerun stations (an effect of the change from analog channels to digital, and the resulting surplus of bandwidth, so I believe) and so here's another one that popped up and content is needed.   Homicide was a quality show, the cast is top notch, and none of them are currently in jail (not something that can be taken for granted these days), so episodes are being shown.  They are on after I am in bed, but my DVR is up all night, so I can record them and watch them later.   When that disc ended (and I was still printing) I went to my rock/pop book and selected U Ready, Man? by Hobex, as it seemed it would go well after the other, and it did.  More can be read about this album back in November of 2021.  About the time that second disc ended I was done cleaning up and putting things back where they were, so I went home.  If it ever rained, it was brief, because the ground was dry and the sun was out.  On this hot day I drove home.

Boardwalk Bar part 24

 With my practice color now done, I want to deal with the block itself.  One thing I noticed in the coloring was that some of the faces in particular needed more cutting.  Features were too big and blocky.  Also there was a little curvature in the block, which resulted in a lot of extra ink ending up in places that weren't supposed to get any.  Short term solution on the day of proofing was pieces of blue tape, but today I pulled all those off, and cut the areas of black underneath them.  I don't know that this will permanently solve the problem (these areas may end up taking ink again) but it can't hurt.  The photo below shows the current state of the block, along with some of the wood removed today:

The next step is to take another proof of this block, a little more carefully this time, and try to get the right colors this time.  Some I already know will change, and others I may decide over the next week or so of looking at the one that is done.  Once that proof is dry, color it to make what I expect to be the final version.

For today's music I went with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds.  For reasons I am not sure of, my original copy of 2008's Dig, Lazarus, Dig!!! was in the storage box.  It wouldn't make sense with the alphabetical discs, and it was stuffed in with the home burned discs.  I did make a home burned copy of the album to keep in the Studio, and I have listened to it in recent years, but today I brought with me that official label produced copy.  When that ended, I went with a home burned disc of the same artists and their 1992 album Henry's Dream.  Coming after a label produced disc, it played with no problem.  By the way, you can read about these albums and how I became a fan on August of 2019 on this blog.

Art Walk Manasquan 2026

 I learned that Manasquan was holding its art walk today, and the weather is warm and sunny, so I decided to go.  Not as a participant (I was offered this opportunity at the Open Studio event back in April and declined) but as a viewer.  It's about a 15 minute walk from where I live to the area of Main Street where such things are held, then tables and racks are set up along the sidewalks of Main between route 71 and South/Broad streets.  I went not knowing if I would know anyone there, but knew there was a chance I would.  Doing what the traffic lights dictated as I approached, I ended up crossing to other side first.  Not surprisingly, my first stop came in front of the Main Street Gallery, a place I know Molly does her pet art thing on Saturdays.  However, though I saw her paints and many examples her work, she wasn't around.  Inside the gallery they thought she may have gone to get a drink, so I continued to the end of the art fair, then came back.  Molly was approaching her spot as I came back, so we had a nice discussion about the Studio, art in general, and other topics.  Some potential customers stopped by occasionally, and I let her talk to them.  Got this shot of her working on her art, a regular thing on Saturdays.  

She had plans later and was planning to leave soon, so I let her go and found a place to safely cross the street.  On the other side I found two relief printmakers, both doing linocut instead of woodcut, but the process is otherwise the same, including a lot of the same materials and concerns, so we had a lot to talk about.  What all of us have in common is the enjoyment of what is considered an unusual process, and all of us using oil based inks.  The one I ended up talking to the most also shared with me a disdain for businesses that promise to turn art into prints (we already make prints) and the problems that come with finding frames and shipping work.  I warned her that most viewers will be impressed with the process, but never do anything about it.  A very small percentage will love it and want to do nothing else.  As a relief printer herself, she completely understood.

With those exceptions. most everyone up and down the street was doing paintings of landscapes, which is the kind of thing I can ignore.   A few were showing ceramics, but nothing that caught my attention.  The sidewalks were crowded (had to be careful of the many kids on bikes) but I don't know how many sales occurred.  I stopped doing these things as I never sold much, and the constant wind kept blowing my racks down.  And it's a pretty long day in the sun.  I had seen enough and walked home.  

Boardwalk Bar part 23

 Went in today with a plan to finish coloring the latest print.  I still had some areas untouched in the right panel.  At the end of the session I had achieved my goal.  Every space in this initial practice proof had some color in it.  I don't yet know if all these colors will remain.  I'm sure some will, and some may change.  For sure I know I will recut some areas, especially faces, and I may add a little ink here and there to the next proof.  Whatever I decide, I will take more care with the next copy, to avoid any color seeping into the wrong areas.  What I will do is spend a lot of time looking at this current color proof, and see what I like and don't like, and that will determine how I color the next proof.   Results of today's efforts can be seen below:

For music today I wanted to go with the disc from my rock/pop book that I couldn't find the other day, and that was my home burned copy of the one disc version of the live album from Dream Syndicate, Live At Raji's, written about on this blog many times, but for best information, see my posting in April of 2020.  The problem this time was that at first the disc wouldn't play at all.  My player couldn't seem to find the beginning of the disc.  I took it out and put it back.  This time it sort of worked, but shut off during the second song.  Remembering that sometimes this worked if I played a label made disc first, I played some of one of Molly's discs, then put mine back in, starting with the third song.  This time it played all the way through with no problems.  I still don't know why this process seems to work with this machine, but I am glad I have a way of playing my many home recorded discs.  As I expected from this particular disc, good music to make art to.

Boardwalk Bar part 22

 I went up to the Studio today with two plans.  Part of my plan was to do more coloring.  The other part of my plan was to pick up and drop off some items, and possibly to build a new watercolor box for myself.  Got everything done.

Once again, only a few cars in the lot, but that doesn't bother me.  The front gate was open and that's all I need.  Down in my space, I cleared my table and took my color proof off the wall.  I had spent a little time looking at my many reference photos for the boardwalk, and concluded that the most common colors for people to wear on the boardwalk are pink, orange, and light blue.  Most of the people in the other photos I have (band in Belmar, interior in Neptune) are in black or dark colors, which I guess made sense for each event, but I want more colorful characters in my bar.  For today I had decided to add more color, including some of those colors I had seen in the boardwalk photos.  I concentrated on the left side panel, and before I was done, I had come up with some color for every space.  Even added a little to the two tv screens.  I put in a few colors over on the right side, but most of this is left to do.  Results of today's work can be seen below:

As for the watercolor box, I had a wooden wine box there in the dining room at home, and decided it might make a good watercolor box, which would be an improvement over the bag I've been carrying into the building each time.  So first I emptied that bag onto my palette table, and divided the watercolor tubes into color groups (browns, blues, etc).  Using some scrap mat board from my table, I created some simple dividers for the box, leaving room for some of my premixed palettes as well.  And I was able to close the box.  Needs more work, but I can find my paint tubes a lot easier now.

For music today I went with a combination of old and new.  I always had a disc of the first Arctic Monkeys album in my Studio set of discs, with some of the demos added to it.  (this can be read about back on October of 2023 on this blog if you want to know more)  Today that home burned disc didn't want to play.  Luckily I had the official first album, called Whatever People Say I Am, That's What I'm Not, (2006) in my Studio as well, so I played that disc.  Then I followed it up with their second album (disc from the storage box, alphabetically) Favorite Worst Nightmare (2007). The second album still has the same guitar sound as the first, so it's enjoyable enough to listen to, but the songs are just not as interesting.  Perhaps that is because half the first album in redone versions of old songs (known from the demos) they had time to develop over the years, while the second album is all new and had to be created from scratch in a year.  I can see why that first album, plus old demos, made my Studio set, and the second one didn't.  

Boardwalk Bar part 21

 The parking lot wasn't quite as empty as it was last time, but still there were few cars in it this morning, and the 1st floor was pretty quiet.  I also noticed that much of the artwork that had been on the wall (kid's art) was gone now, in favor of signs just mentioning a new show coming soon.  Not that I miss the old art on display (some of which was already falling apart), but these largely empty walls seem very bare.  However, when I got downstairs and approached the closest door to the elevator (green door) I noticed a light was on.   Either Molly left it on or was still actually in the space.  Turned out it was the latter, and she was picking up stuff for a workshop on book making that she was doing.  After a few trips to the car she was gone and I had the place to myself.

Today's task was to continue the coloring process on my latest print.  First time coloring goes very slowly, as I need to carefully consider what I am putting down.  What I choose today won't necessarily be the final decision, but what I choose as I go will influence what I do in the first editioned proof.  So I  continued with skin tones, most of which were the same premixed color I used last time. I added some darker paints to this mix as I went, to add a little variety to the piece.  None of the photos I have show anything but white people, and bars tend to have this same racial balance, but the boardwalk I know doesn't, so my boardwalk bar will have a little variety as well.  In a few cases I put in some hair and clothes, but most are still blank.  This will take time.  I also put some color on the television screens in the scene- just blurry color for now.  Results from today can be seen below:

That bright green in the lower left corner seems very bold right now, and it may yet change, but I am keeping it for now until I put some other colors around it.  For all I know, it's the right one.  Putting skin hues on so many faces pointed out how many of these will need more cutting.  But that's a task for another day.  Looking at it today, I realized that I am more than halfway done with it, though what remains will not be easy.

I had a plan for music today, but it turned out I did not have that particular disc with me (actually I had it, but just didn't see it), so it didn't happen.  Instead, I went with another disc from my rock/pop book, my Shazam disc, another one originally made for the Texas trip, never used there, and found its way to my Studio.  I have listened to this one a lot and written about this Tennessee band before on this blog, such as a posting from January of 2020.  Not surprisingly, good music to make art to.  

Boardwalk Bar part 20

 I was a little surprised when I arrived at the Studio today and found the parking lot nearly empty.  Not typical for a Tuesday, when if I'm lucky there's a space left.  But the door was open.  I went in and the building was pretty quiet.  Downstairs, dropped off what I had brought in, and stopped by the office.   Jeanne was in.  She said that there was a break on, and all classes were off.  She didn't say if they were coming back after the break, or if we were waiting for summer, and I didn't ask.  We both decided to enjoy the quiet.

But then it was time to get to work.  I had my latest proof hanging on the wall, so I took it down.  A little had changed since I put it up.  That back wall dried, and was mostly lighter than it had been.  Some areas were just as dark as they had been, but now some of it was almost as light as I wanted it.  Almost.  I mixed up a new lighter back wall, a mix of titanium white and indigo, and put it everywhere appropriate on the right side panel, then went back over the darkest spots on last week's left panel coloring, in an attempt to even it out a bit.  I decided that the shadow areas on the ceiling weren't dark enough, so went over the shadow areas again with the new dark color I had made.  In general I think all this is an improvement.  One thing I don't like is a large space on the right panel, where the background seems to extend all the way to the floor.  For now I made this whole shape blue, but I may add a little ink to the next proof and create a line marking the difference between the wall and the floor.  Meanwhile, I mixed up another blue, this time white and cerulean blue, to be the little patches of sky seen between the back wall and the ceiling.  The value of this sky blue color is almost the same as the light areas of the ceiling, but a very different hue.  I'll decided later if this is difference enough.  I also put in the little pieces we see of tree trunks in this area, but I'll probably have to do that again.

I decided to drape the proof and let the colors dry a bit as I worked on the block.  The block itself was now dry enough to permit me to do some more cutting.  Nothing new today, just cleaning out some depressions that ended up with ink when I first proofed it, though didn't really print.   Also removed some blue tape and recut those areas that were always intended to be white, but took some ink anyway.  However, there is so much to do in the latter area that I didn't get very far today,   I may need to devote an entire day to recutting this block.  That will have to wait for another time.

Now dry, back to work coloring.  I had some already mixed caucasian flesh tone, so I put the in place on faces and hands- mostly for the band, but also on the tiny background figures, and a few people near the bar.  Didn't get to everybody yet, and this will also have to wait until I have more colors down.  The last thing I did today was put some pink on the back wall, as seen just below the little pieces of sky and through the chain link fence.  I saw this pink (neon?) in my original photo.  This pink I put down today may be a little too intense, so I may change that in the final version.  In the meantime, it makes a nice contrast with all the blues in the image.  In general I like what I see so far, but there's a long way to go. Results of today's work can be seen below:

For music today I went back to my Studio discs.   Partly because I don't think there is anything left in the storage box that I haven't taken to the Studio yet, and partly because it is now June, and I think it's safe to listen to the old classics now.  Today was a real classic, my Wipers disc, made originally for the Texas trip, but obviously never used there.  Instead it ended up in the Studio here in Ocean Grove, where it has accompanied my art many times.  Been mentioned on this blog many times as well, but there's a good write up on July of 2019 if you want to know more.  A home burned disc that played just fine today.  About the time it ended, I hung my proof back on the wall, cleaned up my area, and headed home.