Dock light print

I spent a wonderful night at Long Branch State Park in Missouri on my way out west, and I have two, maybe three, prints dancing in my head from that one evening sitting on a tiny private beach with a Great Blue Heron for company. This is the smaller of the two that I’ve started. Brown ink is the only ink I have out here, so it’s what I’m using to proof, but this won’t be the final color. I just wanted to see how the carving is going before doing any more. I sat and watched this one single light out across the water, and it reminded me of Gatsby watching the light from Daisy’s dock. I’m not sure if I’ll try for green or just leave it white, but I’ve got a little way to go before making that decision.

Here are the original sketch with color notes and the first of two preparatory drawings I did to work it out. I did this one and then decided I wanted it a bit larger. I’m using the largest leftover scrap of linoleum I had left out here, saving my two new big pieces for something else. I’m also posting the watercolor color study I did, on top of that larger drawing, to try to work out the color layers. This will be a super simple second block. The only white will be the light and its trail. Everything else will be either a light blue or a darker blue purple.