stretching a new 38x32" canvas for #9 / February 1, 2018 by Philip Tarlow

3:07 PM: i started the drawing for motion 9 this afternoon. it's different than the others in that it's based on the details of one of the many photos i shot of aspens, while walking up the trail with mikela. patterns. i'll continue tomorrow, my friends. and now, hows about a walk up to tashi gomang stupa? waddaya say?

12:24 PM: today i'm preparing a new 38x32" canvas for landscape series 9. i don't kinow yet which images i'm going to draw on. that decision will come as soon as i'm done stretching the portrait linen. on the wall & to the left you can see the now completed landscape series 8, which will head over to the house as soon as it dries a bit more.

i wasted lots of time this morning dealing with a ridiculous issue while trying to order epson inks for my photo series printer. after an hour of hassle, i called & discovered I couldn't get into my account because they were having issues recognizing passwords. very frustrating.

motion 8: painting over the underdrawing / January 31, 2018 by Philip Tarlow

1:38 PM: my first foray into the new overpainting in oil was ok, but flawed compositionally, and read as an interesting but off balance drawing in oil.

i went into it with gusto, using 2 different palette knives and a variety of brushes, including my favorite fan brushes. the result, thus far is more satisfying to the eye, and reads more like a painting in oil, rather than a drawing. it has become suggestive of biomorphic creatures and has a level of movement not quite achieved in the original plein air oil, which you see below, to the left of landscape series 8. so much so, that, if it were hanging on your wall, you might be moved to anchor it securely!

the underdrawing peeks through just enough to create a graphic counterpoint, akin to what you hear in a bach fugue. bum-ba-BUMMM-ba-ba.....

BELOW is an early drawing by n.y. abstract expressionist painter philip guston brought to mind by this phase of the painting.

11:57 AM:just back from our brief trip to boulder/denver, where i had a root canal, my follow up appointment with my eye surgeon & mikela had an excellent actionlab meeting with our developer. for some reason, we're both very achy & sore, but we pressed into it, and mikela is doing some more great work on the curriculum, and i on the painting. today is the first day i'm painting over the underdrawing, which was turned upside down to avoid any attachment to precious elements. i'm working from a 2014 plein air oil on canvas.

below: the underdrawing on the left and the overpainting in oil on the right, which is in progress

motion 8, day 4 / January 28, 2018 by Philip Tarlow

3:56 PM: i brought the painting back to the house for evaluation, and now i'm certain this one wail follow the path of the previous paintings in this series and become the ground, or foundation, upon which an oil painting will be be built.

here you see todays version hanging above landscape series 6 in our tv room, as we watch the australian finals, with federer playing cilic.

notice how todays version comes off as an all over patterning, as opposed to the pop & punch of the one hanging above it.

the next stage, on thursday, will be very active. compared with the slow, precise mark making of the past 4 days. but i have to be in the right space. i'm hoping i'll be pain free at that point, and that my dentist's intervention will have been successful.

2:49 PM: i'm taking this under-drawing much further than i have in the past. i know i've said this before, but i have a feeling this "under-drawing" may end up being the final, resolved painting, with the possible addition of a few accents in oil. we'll just have to see how it evolves following my root canal, scheduled for tomorrow.

right now, from a distance of about 25 feet, it carries surprisingly well for a piece executed, thus far, in only colored pencil and crayon, with a bit of oil pastel thrown into the mix. patterns, patterns, patterns. my tooth hurts like hell, so i'm stopping early.

motion 8, day 3 / January 27, 2018 by Philip Tarlow

this was a short day due to an unexpected trip to salida this afternoon. i drew with the awareness that i only had a couple of hours. this actually helped focus my energy, and my hand moved swiftly and with certainty. this is probably further than i've taken any of the previous under-drawings. no telling what might happen tomorrow; something each of us can say.

BELOW: details

drawing for landscape series 8, day 2 / January 26, 2018 by Philip Tarlow

3:03 PM: today i continued work on landscape series 8. since i already commented on the purpose of this under-drawing in yesterdays post, i won't repeat myself, other than to reiterate just how tempting is sometimes is to develop this drawing to the point where it can be considered to be the final version of the painting. despite that, it's very likely this drawing will be painted over, as i have done with the others in the series, leaving only bits of it peeking furtively through.

the white cord you see around my neck is attached to my iphone. for about an hour, i was on the phone completing some paperwork. actually, i've found that talking on the phone while i work helps keep my mind out of the way.

day 1: landscape series 8, 38x35" / January 25, 2018 by Philip Tarlow

3:31 PM: this morning i started the under-drawing for landscape series 8. as this series has evolved, the "under-drawing" i speak of has become an essential part of my process. it is a precise, detailed drawing in colored pencil, oil pastels and crayon, and is based upon photos i've taken at the creek. it peeks through the over-painting, in oil. the over painting is inspired by one of the many plein air oil paintings, all 16x16," from 2012 to 2014. so i'm consciously making a very time consuming drawing, which has a delicate beauty of it's own with the awareness that soon most of it will disappear.. it is, however, an essential element in the final painting; the heartbeat of the final painting, one could say.

"landscape series 7" resolved? / January 24, 2018 by Philip Tarlow

12:14 PM: upon entering the studio this morning, i cast my quick-take glance at the painting. nothing jumped out at me that was disturbing the balance of the whole. on the contrary, i began noticing and appreciating the subtle balance of gestural/painterly marks and the delicate and more precise under-drawing in colored pencil and crayon.

yesterday i discovered a few boxes full of 16x16" plein air oils painted mostly in the spring & fall of 2014. i made a selection of the ones that seemed most promising as candidates for my landscape series, and will be launching into the next one today or tomorrow. here you see one of those i selected.

is "2017-18 landscape series 7" resolved? / January 23, 2018 by Philip Tarlow

10:59 AM: yesterday afternoon we went for a walk near our house. on the way back w estopped off in the studio to evaluate the painting. we both agreed that the green in the central area of the painting was a problem.

so i did something uncharacteristic. mikela returned to the house as the sun was setting, and i did more work on landscape series 7 under electric lighting; something i very rarely do. as i look at it right now, what i did is definitely an improvement, but the deep reddish color in the triangular shape in the center of the composition seems too strong & needs to be pushed back or changed in some way. so that's what i'll attempt to do before 1 PM, when we have to leave for salida.

BELOW: the painting before (left) and after removing the green area yesterday afternoon.

landscape series 7, day 3: getting messy / January 22, 2018 by Philip Tarlow

7:09 PM: after our late afternoon walk, we stopped at the studio and i took out the green in the center-right. in a rare 20 minute session under electric lighting, i worked at lightning speed, driven by the ever present need to find balance.

3:12 PM: after about 3 hours of continuing yesterdays process of drawing on the canvas with colored pencils, crayon & oil pastel, i cut loose a few hours ago and broke out the oil paints. working form the same plein air oil painting i used for the last one i did: landscape series 6, i allowed the meticulous colored drawing to become the underpainting, scraping, rubbing and painting over it, so that bits still show through.

although it's obvious that landscape series 6 & 7 are based upon the same image, they come off like 2 riffs on the same melody. there's a thelonious monk-ness about them that i like. todays version is more evocative of animal and plant life; a wolf here, a pooch or lion there. and, if you are so inclined, you will find a breast or two.

landscape series 7, day 2 / January 21, 2018 by Philip Tarlow

2:18 PM: i continued work on landscape series 7 today, and am stopping early for the day.

i'm taking it very slow, resisting any temptation to move from colored pencil to oils or oil pastel. this painting has such a delicate balance of tones that i literally dare not disturb it at this point. the shapes, derived from water & rocks, interact with subtle harmony, allowing the imagination to fill in the blanks. a cloudy, snowy day contributed to the meditative space in my studio, and i felt, as i worked, that this mornings 15 minute meditation continued unbroken.