I've learned a lot about Middletown already, based on the various tourist signs placed strategically around town. (Thank you to whomever put the work into those). I've learned that Middletown has been around since before the revolution and has gone through it's ebbs and flows of prosperous times and hard ones. It's most prosperous was before the Revolutionary war when they were one of the main ports in the Colonies. Then when the war happened the town struggled until the industrial revolution hit and factories sprang up all along the river. Along came machines goodbye went the jobs. Middletown is now redefining itself with restaurants and art. Main street (on the North End) is a menagerie of amazing restaurants. From diner food, to fine Italian, to coffee shops featuring music and local art there's an option for everyone.
Now, to the doodle. Along with old towns come old graveyards. I love to visit graveyards-- strange sure, but let me explain. I love feeling connected to my past and the quiet calm that is somehow always enclosed in them. Even the one I visited in Middletown [it was right next to a busy roadway and an active railway] Still quiet and beautiful. And gravestones are so fascinating- from the carvings to the typography to the wear of the stone; love 'em.
This sketch is not an exact replica of any gravestone, more a compilation of several with features that stood out in my memory. On the next day that isn't raining, I totally want to go back and do some real sketching.
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