2-12-17 creek scroll 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

2:27 PM: this morning i painted over the drawing i did yesterday of 2/12/17 creek scroll 1. it's inspired by photos i took years ago, but my memory was refreshed yesterday on our stupa walk. we walked right by this landscape, which was snow covered as in the original photo, that allowed me to refresh my visual memory of the site and study the colors and forms. 

as soon as it warms up, i'll be beck outdoors painting plein air. looking through some of the paintings in gouache i made in 2009, i remembered the unique experience of sitting out there with my paints and spending time with the trees, rocks and water. there's really nothing like it.

looking back: ano kato 24 / 2 new creek scroll paintings /  by Philip Tarlow

i made the drawings for 2-12-17 creek scrolls 1 & 2. i didn't make drawings for the previous 9 paintings in this series, so lets see what the difference is once i start applying the gouache colors....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10:39 AM: today i plan on making 2 new creek scroll paintings. before i begin, and as i drink my matcha tea, i'm looking back at my ano kato series. this one, number 24 in the series, which is now at gremillion & co. fine art in houston, is based on photos i shot at MOMA.

the painting is 48 x 48", oil on linen. it's only recently that i discovered my passion for foreshortening. many consider painting figures at this extreme angle to be challenging. for me, it's totally exciting and therefore easy. as well, details such as the reflections shimmering on the floor, become a kind of excuse for abstraction and pure painterliness. 

BELOW: some details of the painting in process, february 2, 2015.

rembrandt drawing /  by Philip Tarlow

2:05 PM: this rembrandt drawing was made in 1634 and is titled the beggar speaks. his observations of daily life are always moving. you feel he has entered the world of his subjects, whether they are aristocrats or beggars. his use of line is free, lively and calligraphic. this drawing is in the collection of the dallas museum of art.

today i taped 2 pieces of rice paper to my wall, but, as often happens the first day back after traveling, i wasn't moved to paint. when i come in tomorrow morning, i'll be set to go. but it may be too dark, since we're expecting snow to begin tonight and continue into tomorrow.

so maybe i'll work on my long overdue presentation for my friend harwood at gremillion fine art in houston. he wants a short presentation of my ano kato series, with images and a voice over to use with clients.

when i've finished, i'll post it.  

a few more watercolors before driving home /  by Philip Tarlow

11:46 PM: this watercolor happened when i just looked down from the spot where i had been painting mikela. kat has great rugs!

so now, as the wind picks up even more and is gusting to gale force, it's time to load the car, go have my physical therapy session with the amazing merlon in vail, and drive home just before the next storm hits. tomorrow, back to the studio!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10:32 AM: as this weekends forecast snow moves in and the wind picks up, i begin making a few more watercolors. watercolor is for me, like drawing, a way of thinking & working out ideas. mikela, who sits opposite me at kat's big dining room table with her blue shirt, is the subject of the first one. let's see what's next.

edwards afternoon watercolors /  by Philip Tarlow

4:20 PM: this is the second, simplified watercolor of the same subject:

3:55 PM: we've been at the middle school all day & now we're back at kat's on a break till our next meeting with the TEDX youth kids at 5.i'm sitting at the dining room table making watercolors of the view towrads the large mirror, where mikela is at work on an application to speak at a conference, which is due today.

i haven't worked in watercolor in a while, so i'm a bit rusty. i'll try & do another one on this beautiful sennelier 24.5x10.5 cm. paper before we have to leave. 

plein air paintings from 2012 /  by Philip Tarlow

11-6-12 plein air  16x16"  oil on linen

this is a plein air painting done in 2012 at willow creek near crestone. i pulled it out just now to photograph it and send to a gallery interested in my work. it brought up many feelings. sadness was one. i miss painting plein air, and as soon as weather permits i plan to go back out to do another series. there's really nothing that comes even close. 

comparing 2 japanese papers /  by Philip Tarlow

this is the paper from ny central supply

2:30 PM: today i taped 2 japanese papers to my studio wall, side by side, to see which one works best for my creek scroll series. the piece from the roll i purchased on friday in denver is whiter in color and thinner in width. i don't love how it takes the color; it's less absorbent. the paper i found a few weeks ago, hiding in my studio, which i had purchased years ago at the now defunct ny central supply, has more of a cream color and takes the gouache colors in a much more painterly way. it's a bit more absorbent, so the brush strokes are more diffused and less precise. the problem is, the ny central paper came in packaging with only japanese letters, so i have no idea how to find it again.

next time we're in denver, i'm going to visit a store which specializes in japanese paper and see whether i can find something closer to what i got in nyc. since that's what they specialize in, i may find something even better. and it's possible, if i bring the packaging info with me, someone in that store may know how to read it.

mikela walked over a while ago & reminded me that i have a bunch of narrow strips of canvas, which are remnants from pieces i had cut for specific size stretcher bars. they're perfect for the experiments i want to do in oil on canvas. i want to see if i can find a middle ground between these more calligraphic paintings on paper and the landscape oils i made in the past, many of which have the thicker aplication of paint characteristic of oil. that would also allow me to use the tinted ground i learned about in greece; a beige colored overall color that allows, for example, the whites of the rushing water to pop and gives an overall tone to the painting that brings to mind byzantine prototypes.

back to work /  by Philip Tarlow

5:20 pm: in revisiting the final stage of 2-4-17 creek scroll, i now see that this is a perfect example of an overworked painting. the earliest stage, on the left below is where I should have stopped.

3:09 PM: this is stage 3 of 2-4-17 creek scroll. i'm stopping here for the day.

although it has a slightly different quality than the paper i've been using, i think i can work with it. it's slightly less absorbent, tears just as easily and reflects the subtlety of each brush stroke with a different but equally sensitive receptivity. 

once i've made a dozen or so of these creek scrolls on japanese paper, i may transition to oil on linen. that will obviously have a very different look and feel. it will likely be in early march. as spring approaches, i'm thinking i may venture out once again to paint plein air at the creek and renew my intimate relationship with the rocks, water and branches; a refreshing prospect.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1:37 PM: this paper is proving to be slightly less absorbent than the original paper i had purchased at ny central supply years ago. it's still too early to make a call as to whether or not it's going to work. here's stage one of 2-4-17 creek scroll, in gouache and chinese ink on an 11" wide roll of japanese rice paper cut to 54" in height.

 

 

 

 

 

12:12 PM: been meaning for months to get a dedicated 32GB thumb drive, transfer my music and have it permanently in the USB slot in our new car so that when we hit random, it can select from 9,800 songs! it will be done loading in a few hours.

found the rough equivalent of the japanese rice paper i've been using for my new creek scroll series at meningers in denver & bought a couple of rolls. I taped a piece to my studio wall and am about to try it out. on the right: this morning's breakfast, yoghurt with fruit & nuts. after a cloudy start to the day, the sun has emerged & i'm ready to get to work. 

at my 1 week follow up with my eye surgeon, i has the 1 remaining stitch removed. it had been distorting my cornea, causing blurriness and making me worry i'd never see properly out of my right eye again. thank god, i will, minus some peripheral vision loss due to glaucoma damage. in 3 weeks i'll have another check up, at which time the eye will have healed enough & settled down to the point where he can give me a new prescription for glasses.

the tragic story of this commisioned painting of andros and 2-1-17 creek scroll /  by Philip Tarlow

3:36 PM: i made another creek scroll painting today. 

In 1975 I was commissioned to paint this 2 meter wide oil painting by the late Avgoustis Polemis for his newly acquired ferry boat, Chrissi Avgi (Golden Dawn), which began service to Andros, Paros and Naxos in 1977. The painting represents the peninsula that constitutes the capitol of Andros, Chora, as seen from Paraporti. Tragically, on the afternoon of February 23, 1983, the ship, carrying 42 souls, sank in stormy weather, only 2 nautical miles from the island of Mandili. Only 14 were rescued. My painting went down with the ship, and rests on the bottom of the sea. One of the three crew members that survived, Mr. Simos Lavdas, second engineer, narrated to the website “En Andro” (www.enandro.gr) the shocking history of his rescue, mentioning in great detail the last moments of the ship. This is one small excerpt:

"We remained at the stern for a while. Fifteen minutes after the ship took a permanent inclination, a terrible explosion took place. The ship caught fire. The persons that we were at the stern started to fall into the sea in any way we could. As I was falling I looked at Evia. Andros was too far. Before I fall, I made the sign of cross and I said:

– Please God, help me. I came into your house today…"

More details can be found here: http://www.grafasdiving.gr/nauagia2.php?lang=en&id=62

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1-31-17 creek scroll s. (skinny) /  by Philip Tarlow

1:40 PM: i began another creek scroll painting this morning. i wasn't quite in my groove and it became way too busy. i was about to declare it a failure when i had an idea: save the most interesting part; a strip measuring 12 cm. in width, out of the 35 cm. of the full painting. i went back in and added a few necessary compositional elements and i think i may have saved it. as usual, i'll know once i bring it back to the house & put it up on the wall.

painting on this feather weight japanese paper in gouache is a bit like working in watercolor. you have to be in your groove, and get it right with every brush stroke. of course i could blame today on my still blurry vision in my right eye. but i won't go there. you have good days and bad days. 

just now i discovered that ny central supply, where i found this japanes paper some years ago, is no more. it was the oldest art supply store in the country. arguably, they had the finest and most diverse collection of paper from around the world : over 3,000 varieties of paper!

steve steinberg, grandson of the founder, who was a russian jewish immigrant, was a beautiful man who had amazing energy and a passion for art and art supplies. his clients included andy warhol, jim dine, rosenquist....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

BELOW right: 1-31-17 creek scroll before being made skinny. and on row 2, steve steinberg in his store, on the right, and a look at his amazing paper department on the left