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Wednesday, July 17, 2024

New Gas Mains – Again

 

6/27 - 7/4/24 Maple Leaf neighborhood

A year ago, a huge utility project began in the ‘hood, and it took nearly that long to finish as it moved northward a block at a time. New natural gas mains were going in. This summer, the same utility has begun another project. This one is a bit more intrusive because the work is closer to home. Parking has been restricted, so a lot of my neighbors have to keep moving their cars, making it harder for all of us. It’s noisy, dusty and inconvenient, and sometimes the jackhammering feels like an earthquake, but I’m trying to make the best of it – and you know what that means!

I knew this story would go on for weeks (possibly months? I hope not), so I had plenty of time, but I wasn’t sure how to capture the equipment and action in a comics format. I could have filled up the spread in one day, but I thought it would be an interesting opportunity to work over time. I made these three sketches over the course of a week, keeping in mind different perspectives and overall compositions. It was surprisingly difficult for me to wait between sketches – I always feel compelled to fill up a spread all at once. It must be my natural inclination as a daily journal keeper.

I wish I hadn’t mixed brown and black inks for the frames . . . it was an experiment, but I think the spread looks less cohesive.

4 comments:

  1. Lots of activity to capture! I agree about the black and brown frames. Hope it doesn't last too long.

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  2. Yes, the brown outline of that one frame makes the whole thing look ghost-like and faded, even though what you sketched inside is very much like the other sketches.

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  3. The brown - maybe close enuf in context to red? - kinda says "look here" so maybe a way to draw (ha ha) attention to a panel in a group of similars? Just a thought :)

    Tabby

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  4. Thanks for your feedback, everyone! It's so interesting how a small change like the brown ink might change the look. It's always fun to experiment to find out! :-)

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