Boardwalk Bar- Finished

 Another not too hot day today, maybe thanks to the smoke from Canada, or maybe just the whims of weather.  All I know is that I didn't need the air conditioner in my car, and the Studio was comfortable enough to work in.  When I left off last time I was almost done, just had some touch up to do.  That's what I did today.  Some I planned, like all the very thin lines made with a v-gouge that helped define the trestle over the bar.  A dark gray was used there, something I already had mixed.  However I did spend some time carefully looking over the whole thing and found a bunch more things that could use some touching up. Some not done at all, some getting a going over.  So I ended up adding some white.  And some blue.  And some green.  And some red.  And some pink. And some orange.  And some tan.  And some brown.  And some flesh tones.  But now I think it's done.  For now it's up on the wall.  I'll sign it later.  The photo below shows where it ended up:

I think it is a little better than the practice one.  I know the cutting is a little better.  I took more care with the printing, and the colors are all bolder, except maybe that bright green I had in the practice proof.  The balance still seems to be there.  So next time I am in the Studio, it's to start something new.

For music today I went with something from the jazz/blues book, my home burned (for Texas) disc of Buddy Guy, with all of Stone Crazy and most of Sweet Tea, which I have written about on the blog many times, but the best one is found in February of 2020.  Not unexpectedly, the first song had some problems, but taking out the disc and replacing it solved the problem and it was fine after that.

Boardwalk Bar part 31

 The sun was out again today, and it was hot, but not as hot as tomorrow is expected to be, so a good day to get up to the Studio.  Temperature and humidity inside was fine, so a good time to be working as well.  There was evidence that Molly had been in the space since the last time I was there, but her output didn't affect anything of mine, so not a problem.

Not much left to go on the latest print.  Today I was putting in pinks, reds, and more oranges, plus touching up a few things that I missed the first time.  The result is that it is almost finished.  Next time I'm in I plan to look at it a bit, touch up anything else that needs doing (such as the trestle above the bar, but I had already put my paints away and didn't do it today), and probably declare this thing done.  Meanwhile, here's what it looks like now:

For music today I pulled an old favorite out of my rock/pop book, my home burned disc of the Gun Club, which combines their first album with several songs from a later live album.  (you can read more about this disc back on November of 2019)  My player had issues with one of the early songs, but after removing the disc and restarting it, the whole thing played fine.

Boardwalk Bar part 30

 No bad weather today...yet.  Some rain is predicted for the region in the afternoon, but I plan to be on my way home by then, if not all the way there.  Got to the Studio today and saw a lot of cars in the lot, but also plenty of parking spaces, so no trouble finding one.  Brought my coloring materials in from the car as that is what I planned to work on today.  

What I did today was indeed color, adding yellows, more browns, some grays, and some of the orange.  This was mostly hair and clothing, but also included a few examples of architecture and such.  Again, took my time and care, so I didn't finish today, but no unwanted leaks either.  What remains is more orange, and all the reds and pinks.  Looking at it now, I realize that there is a good chance I have this finished next week and will be ready to move on the next print.  Meanwhile, below is a photo of what I did today:

So far I like what I am seeing.  Colors are slightly simpler this time, a combination of having learned some things from my practice copy, and a desire to simplify my color options as befitting a multi-block woodcut.  This isn't one, but I still think that way.  I am still making sure that any color is used multiple times in spread out locations, providing some balance.  Remaining colors will do the same.

For music today I decided to bring my Billy Childish disc with me, a loose one I have.  It seems I originally made it for my trip to Texas, but as has been written here, none were ever used there but became part of my Studio.  This disc (written about on the blog back in December of 2019 and other places) contains mostly material from a double disc compilation collecting tracks from his long history, plus some songs from a Thee Headcoats album I have.  My player there in the Studio didn't like the home burned disc, especially the early songs, but most of it played fine.  When it ended, it was about time to go home.  Got there without any rain, so it all worked out.

Boardwalk Bar part 29

 At home this morning I had a few concerns.  We had a big rain storm yesterday, and I know some flooding occurs sometimes around the art building and on the way there.  Also I had heard that there had been issues in Ocean Grove with electricity- today still not available in all parts.  However, I decided if I hadn't heard anything declaring that there were problems in the building, I should assume there were not.  And I had received no phone calls or emails telling me there was a problem, so I assumed the building was open, or at least open enough to get into my space.

Still, on the way there this morning I did wonder.  The part of route 35 that passes through Belmar has a history of flooding in heavy rains- I know because I have had to detour around floods a few times on my way to teaching workshops in that town.  However, I figured the rain had stopped by yesterday afternoon and any flooding on the road would have already drained back into the Shark River.  And it was fine.  I also knew that the area on the corner by our building used to flood terribly, but I also knew that they had finally addressed that problem several years ago, and since our building sits up a hill from that intersection, it was unlikely that any floods surrounded our building.  Sure enough, the lot was full and the gates open.  Lights on inside, too, so we had power.  Took the elevator down to the basement.  Saw a few things scattered on the floor and some small puddles near Bobby's studio.  Could there have been a flood in my space?  At least my framed art was off the ground, and everything I have was off the main floor and at least on the raised concrete platforms.  I opened the door to my space and looked inside.  No problems at all- no floods had hit us at all.  Good, time to get to work.

I took my latest proof off the wall, got my watercolors ready, and got to work.  I decided to start today with skin tones, so mixed up some various flesh tones and put them everywhere they needed to be.  Did a little bit of hair and other things as well.  A lot still remains.  I am taking my time with this proof, and so far nothing has leaked to where it shouldn't be.  That means I didn't finish much today, but I'm in no hurry.  Results of today's work can be seen below:

For music today I went with something I heard on the radio on the way there.  Every Beatles fan knows that today is Ringo's birthday, him turning 86 today.  That's even older than me, which makes sense since most of the Beatles history occurred before I was born.  To mark the occasion, the dj on my favored radio station played a Beatle track that Ringo sang on, something from the Help! album.  As it turns out, I have a home burned disc with the Beatles For Sale and Help! albums in my rock/pop book, so that's what I played today.  Had to take it out once and restart it, but otherwise every song played.  If this disc sound familiar, it's because I have written about it before on this blog, such as a mention back in September of 2019.  

It Was the Fourth of July

 Today is a special day for a number of reasons.  It is the Fourth of July, which is always the anniversary of the founding of this nation.  (That is to say the official signing of the Declaration of Independence, actual voting happened a few days earlier.) It is a national holiday, celebrated with business closings, picnics, and fireworks.  On this particular July 4th, it is the 250th anniversary of the signing of that document, a nice round number.  Our nation claims to be the first to end its relationship with its founding nation, and definitely inspired many others that followed.  Every nation that was once a colony of another nation or that overthrew its king, owes us for being an example. Happy to oblige.

But for me personally, this was the start and end of my biggest project, my The Fourth of July print series, 366 individual woodcut prints done from July 4, 1993 through July 4, 1994, a daily record of that year.  I have exhibited the complete set of prints 4 times, twice in Illinois (where I was living at the time I did it) and twice in New Jersey.  The prints always were shown in the form of a giant grid, the dimensions of which varied with the wall(s) provided for the exhibition.  It also exists as a bound photocopy book and an online blog.  I have two complete sets of the prints and that is all there will be, as many of the blocks were destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.  However, the blog is available to anyone with internet access, by clicking the link on the list to the right.

The blog includes individual posts of every print in the series, along with a short description of the event that inspired it.  Like all blogs, it is shown backwards, so the last print is the first one, and the first print is the last one shown.   Earlier today I looked through my bound version.  Cutting is somewhat crude by my current standards, but keep in mind I was producing one for each day, at the same time was doing other prints, taking classes, doing glass blowing, teaching classes, and drawing an animated film, plus all the things documented in the series.  And I finished it on time- very happy to be done with it.  

Above is a screen shot of the blog itself, but for me the best part was looking at the bound images.  I already know the stories.  Thanks to having done this series, I will never forget them, even the very minor things that happened over the course of that year.  I may have gotten that lesson from my friend Dave, who did a mini-conic story a few years before my series, also about a particular Fourth of July, which he will never forget having made a comic about it. 

Boardwalk Bar part 28

 For today they were predicting triple digit temperatures for beach towns in the area.  Definitely a day to get up to the Studio in the morning.  My space is in the basement, which is naturally a little cooler than upstairs, though you do have to be careful of the dampness down there.  No big predictions of humidity today, which helps.  Sure enough, the Studio was tolerable today, so a good day to get some work done.  As usual, I cleared off my table first, got the current proof off the wall, and prepared my watercolors.  I decided to continue with the blues today, so I put in that narrow piece of sky, then some of the blue colors that can be found on the bar patrons and employees.  Even a little bit on the televisions above the bar.  When that was done, I decided to go next to the greens, once again on the bar patrons, employees, and televisions, plus parts of the beer bottles.  After each color I let it hang from my table to accelerate the drying.  I decided that was enough for today so packed up, cleaned up, and took the photo below to document today's work:

I made a few obvious changes from my practice proof.  The standing woman in the lower part of the right panel now has a deeper blue dress.  And the bright green that had been seen in both panels of the practice proof was replaced with a more subdued color, a bluish green.   This may work better for the final version,  but I won't know until it's all done and I get a chance to see it all together.  Otherwise, everything is more or less the same as the first try.  And between thicker paint, and more careful brushwork, no leaks past the lines so far.

I had no plans for music today, so I just went through the rock/pop book until I found something that sounded good to me.  What I went with was the live album by X, Live at the Whiskey-a-Go-Go, which I wrote about in detail on this blog back in June of 2022 for those interested.  This is a simple home burned copy of the Studio, of a disc I have owned since I lived in Williamsburg, so a long time ago.  As with other home burned discs, at times the player I have there in the Studio had problems with some songs, but taking it out and restarting it did the job.

Boardwalk Bar part 27

Hot out today, and it is expected to get hotter later in the week.  But that doesn't keep me from working on a print.  More coloring today of the newest proof. I saw plenty of evidence that Molly had been in since the last time I was there, but the boom box was still set to CD.  However, Molly did have some influence on what I listened to, but I'll get to that later.

What I decided to do today was all the parts of the ceiling I didn't do last time, or the lighter areas.  I still had some of the shadow blue I mixed on a palette, so I just added some white and water to it to make some lighter hue paint.  Turning the print upside down (everything I was coloring was in the top half of the image), I worked from left to right.  I finished the left side (right panel) as I finished the paint I had made today, so I mixed up a new batch for everything in the other panel.  Got that done just about the time my disc was ending, so it all worked out well.  I let it hang from my table and dry for a while, then put it up on the wall and took the photo below:

Last week I got an email from Molly in which she wrote that she had just seen a performance of the Breeders at the Count Basie Theater, and thanked me for having some Breeders there in the Studio so she could learn more about them.  Actually most of the Breeders that I had in the Studio came home with me, but I used to have it there, and Molly used to listen it occasionally.   The disc I listened to today has the first 3 releases, and was written about on this blog back in January of 2020 if you want to know more.  Like many of my home burned discs, there were issues with some songs, but I remembered another thing that sometimes solves the problem- stopping the disc, taking it out, putting it back, and playing the song again.  Each time I had to do that it solved the problem, so I was happy.  

Boardwalk Bar part 26

 I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to work on today.  If my new proof was dry enough, I'd start coloring that. If not, start drawing the next block.  I brought materials for both options to the Studio this morning.   As it turned out, the new proof was completely dry, so I decided to go with that.  I put the new proof on the table, and prepared a bunch of the shadow blue- indigo, white, and cobalt teal.  Normally I go the traditional route and start with light colors, but I know I need a lot of the shadow color, so I started with that.   I put it on the ceiling where appropriate, and on the back wall. Below shows today's work:

This may dry a little lighter, but I won't know until the next time I am there.  I saw no leaks today, so that is good.  I did make one little mistake, starting to put some of the shadow color in a place between palm fronds, a place that should be light.  In the short term I used dry clean brushes to soak up as much as I could, and left it a light blue, which should be similar to the color that will go there eventually.  But that will wait until next time.   I left the piece to dry up on my wall tack board, put away everything else and headed home.  Around that same time I heard a huge noise from upstairs- it was the comedy/improv group that has taken over the building, at least according to Jeanne.  I guess they were taking a break for lunch.  Up on the first floor they were a crowd I had to push through to reach the front door, and my freedom.

For music today I was listening to a disc from my rock/pop book, Sonic Youth's breakthrough 1988 album Daydream Nation.  I wrote about this back on the blog in March of 2020 if you want to know more.  The reason I listened to this today was that last week I saw band founder/bassist/vocalist Kim Gordon on a late night talk show promoting her latest music.  Back in the 80's. Sonic Youth was pretty much a punk band, famous for noise and other highly amplified guitars, sometimes played with baseball bats and other unusual slide choices, but this new Gordon song was very subdued, and if I remember correctly, she had no guitar but just stood at a microphone.  To be fair, Kim Gordon would be in her 70's now, and maybe being a punk guitar god is a younger person's pursuit.

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.