painting over yesterdays 3 oils, starting fresh /  by Philip Tarlow

2:50 PM: yesterdays three oils were not successful, so i painted over them all and started fresh on a new canvas. i had a good conversation with my friend t.s., which somehow helped me in my process. in this new one, i’m working from one of my favorite creek photos, shot months ago on one of our walks. it has three distinct horizontal bands of activity, and the water has formed those white bubbles i so love, but a lot more of them than we usually see in the roiling creek waters created during spring snowmelt and runoff.

yesterdays experiments had all become far too busy and removed from my style of painting. i needed to have fresh white canvas showing in some areas and to be able to paint in the spontaneous manner reminiscent of fresco painting, as i love to do. we’re taking a trail walk soon, so i’m wrapping up for the day and will continue tomorrow.

split tree / ongoing work on my 2020 creek oils series: changes to 2020 creek oil 6 /  by Philip Tarlow

1:18 PM: i made some changes to 2020 creek oil 6 just now. BELOW upper left: how it looked before the changes; upper right: first round; lower left: 2nd round; lower right: 3rd round; BELOW: current version, following a complete scrape-down, wipe-down with solvent and the addition of more white bubbles. it’s as if the entire image has weathered a storm and come through the other side a bit less cocky, more empathic and rich with experience.

time to stretch 4 more 16 x 20” canvases.

2020 creek oil 6 following a round of changes & scraping, with addition of a few more white bubbles

10:06 AM: this morning we noticed one of the trees next to our driveway had split apart due to the seight of the 8” of wet snow that fell with the unusual snowstorm a few days ago. i appears there was a lot more snow up on the peaks, and we’re hoping this takes us out of severe drought.

i’m about to meditate and have my coffee & toast before continuing my 2020 creek oils series. will post pics when available.

plein air 3 weeks ago / continued work on 2020 creek oils / a word about dekooning /  by Philip Tarlow

ABOVE left: 2020 creek oil 7 right: 2020 creek oil 8

2:57 PM: just finishing up my day somewhat early, as we have to drive to town to pick up our produce. i worked on yesterdays 2020 creek oil 7, switching off between that and the new 2020 creek oil 8. while they are both evocative of the creek, neither is as descriptive as the watercolors.

2020 creek oil 7 after scraping this morning

12:56 PM: just now getting to work with my fresh start of day energy and unbounded dreams. i’m currently scraping into yesterdays version of 2020 creek oil 7. i like it a lot more in it’s current scraped over state than yesterdays version.

deKooning in his nyc studio with one of his woman series

why is that? well, are you familiar with deKooning? his aesthetic is evident here. take a look online & you’ll see what i mean. deKooning was known for constant scraping of his paintings, painting over them and repeating this until he was satisfied. he’s not really an abstract painter, as his core image, particularly in his woman series, was always evident. it’s all about the unexpected amd unpredictable. but, and this is very important, underlying is an exquisite level of draftsmanship. look at his early drawings of his wife elaine, and you’ll see what i mean. he was a great draftsman, and his skill is always evident, no matter how distorted the image might be.

9:13 AM: seems like 3 years ago, but just 3 weeks ago i was out at the creek painting plein air. in past years this fall season was the ideal time for me to be out at the creek. so once the weather clears and returns to normal, for the month temperatures, i’d liek to go back out and see what i do, after all the watercolors i’ve made latelt in my studio. it’s always fresh and new, being out at the creek, so it may be that next week i can venture out again. i’ll be a bit late getting to my studio this morning, but should make it by 11-ish, and post updates to the oils i’m currently working on.

BELOW: 2 paintings in gouache on arches paper made at the creek last month on august 15.

creek oil 7, day 2 / snow meditations /  by Philip Tarlow

BELOW: left: DETAIL of 2020 creek oil 7 center: at work this morning right: todays palette

3:34 PM: here’s what it looks like at the end of my painting day, as the skies again cloud over and we prepare for more welcome snow tonight.

9-9-20 2020 creek oil 7 1-11pm.jpg

1:08 PM: day 2, stage 2

BELOW left: todays palette, right: at work on 2020 creek oil 7

12:41 PM: still in the early day flow. here’s where 2020 creek oil 7 is at right now. more later my friends!

we had about 8” of snow last night. more expected late tonight.

the snowstorm and deep freeze / 2020 creek oil 7, stage 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

2020 creek oil 7 at 3:30pm

3:36PM: a few lightening scrapes before leaving fo the house. the white color of the canvas is a bit off because i was forced to photograph it in artificial light.

2020 creek oil 7 at 2:15 pm

2:37 PM: i’ve stopped working,as it has become much too dark with the approaching storm. precipitation should start momentarily as rain, turning to snow as the temperature rapidly drops. currently it’s 53°F, dropping about 3° an hour, predicted to reach a record 23°F late tonight into tomorrow morning. so i haven’t done too much more to 2020 creek oil 7, other than the darker indigo blue you see on the mid-right.we’ll see if it’s light enough to paint tomorrow. as most of you know, i prefer the natural light coming from my large north facing studio windows.

by the way, this particular canvas is the artfix extra fine portrait linen, which has virtually no tooth and perfect absorbency. so putting brush to canvas is really magical and very much determines the direction a painting takes. i’ve never painted on a surface quite like it. only the french could have produced it. it’s really designed to be used on smaller surfaces like this.

1:09 PM: about an hour ago, i started work on 2020 creek oil 7. before squeezing my colors onto the palette, i thumbed through one of my matisse books. i was struck by a painting i knew. but it was as if i was seeing it for the first time: violinist at the window, painted 102 years ago in 1918. what struck me this time was his certainty in the way he divdes up the surface, his limited palette, the way he painted the violinists head, as an empty white oval and his limited palette.

BELOW left: 2020 creek oil 7 and on the right, violinist at the window, by matisse

12:06 PM: srtaing in a few hours, we’re expectring sn unusually early snowstorm, with record breaking, for this date low temperatures of about 20-24° tonight through tomorrow night. 8-10” of snow are predicted for crestone/baca.

so, before meditating & getting to work, i made a quick run into town to get a few essentials: eggs for tonights omlettes, soy milk for our coffee and ice cream, for pure pleasure!

11/17/19 trail walk 1

DETAIL of the 11/17/19 trail walk 1 photo

i just printed out a new creek image from one of our trail walks about 10 months ago, and may start work on one of the 16x20” canvases i stretched yesterday. notice that there are no logs or branches? i wanted pure rocks and water for this one. the rich oranges excite me, as do the blick-ish dots on the rock on the lower left.

i will, as usual, post the progress of this new 2020 creek oil 7 as it progresses.

the completed 2020 creek oil 6, with mikela's favorite passage /END OF DAY WATERCOLOR 118 /  by Philip Tarlow

watercolor 118 10 x 13”

6:27 PM: so i stretched 2 canvases and cut the canvas for 4 more, leaving 8 more to stretch. (odd math but it makes sense). at the very end of the day, i couldn’t stand leaving for the house without making at least a few strokes, so i made this 10 x 13” watercolor 118. and as i was walking out the door, i added some grey crayon and green oil pastel, which means it’s no longer a watercolor and can be classified as mixed media. i had to flip it 180° for it to make sense to me, and when i did, all kinds of little duck-like characters began showing up, as well as what appears to be a freaked out horse.

DETAIL of 2020 creek oil 6

2:06 PM: how did it get to be this late? we walked this morning & i was late getting to the studio. yesterday just before leaving, i made a couple of last minute modifications to the painting. mikela looked at it and suggested leaving it for a few days and bringing it to the house, which we all know is the acid test as to whether a new painting holds up or not. here’s her favorite passage, and the completed painting as it looks today.

and now i’m going to begin stretching those ten 16 x 20” canvases so that i can continue this new series of oils. more later in the day.

2020 creek oil 6 as it looked this morning, following minor additions yesterday late aftenoon

continuing 2020 creek oil 6 /  by Philip Tarlow

2020 creek oil 6 at 4pm, after adding the mauves you see

DETAIL at 4pm

4:10 PM: we have to be somewhere for dinner at 5, so this is absolutely the last modification….for today! all the mauves are new.

3:25 PM: i said an hour ago that i was going to start stretching 10 canvases, but the more i looked at 2020 creek oil 6, i couldn’t resist doing a bit more work on it. so here’s how it looks now. what changes do you notice from the 2pm image below? do you think this is an improvement? why?

2020 creek oil 6 at 2pm oil on double primed linen, 16 x 20”

DETAIL of 2020 creek oil 6 at 2 pm

2:16 PM: i wasn’t satisfied with the results of the work i did yesterday on 2020 creek oil 6, so i continued working on it, taking breaks to assemble 10 16 x 20” stretcher bars. i had a couple of boxes of lightweight stretcher bars this size. when the paintings are so small, you really don’t need the heavier weight ones. and i have a fair amount of french double primed artfix portrait linen, which actually works best on a small scale.

i know from experience that once i stretch these 10 canvases, i’ll be able to go from one to the other like a drummer switching from a large drum to a smaller one and on to bones, bodhrán, bendir, cháracas, cymbals….literally playing on these canvases as you would on musical instruments.

so i may stretch some or all of them now, and see tomorrow whether i do more work on this one.

continuing 2020 creek oil 6 /  by Philip Tarlow

2:59 PM: we walked up the trail this morning. magnificent, as always. on the way down i tripped on some loose rocks and fell face forward, bracing myself with my palms. could have been a lot worse; just some bruising and light sprain to my wrists. just spoke with my grandson philip in athens, who asked “so how many times have you fallen recently?” he laughed when i responded i’ve lost count. another record breaking hot daqy today, with temperatures predicted yo be in the high 80’s. should be low 70’s this time of year. on tuesday we’ll get snow, with temperatures that night falling to 23F! go figure.

mikela warned me not to paint, and allow my wrists to heal. but i couldn’t restrain myself. i’d been thinking during our walk of some changes i wanted to make to 2020 creek oil 6, which i started yesterday on a 16 x 20” primed linen canvas. BELOW are yesterdays and todays versions. i’ve been looking at an art forum review of a MOMA show of the late joan mitchell, so there may be hints of a kind of hommage in todays work.

this painting is not resolved, so i’ll be doing more work on it tomorrow, as well as beginning to stretch a number of 16 x 20” canvasses which i’ll be using to continue this series.

morning sky / /  by Philip Tarlow

6:49 AM: view towards sisnaajini (Mt. Blanca) 6:30 and 6:45am. i’ll be back in my studio after our trail walk, about 11 am.

missing the sfumato=2020 creek oil 6 / local fruit and yoghurt /  by Philip Tarlow

2020 creek oil 6 16 x 20”

detail of 2020 creek oil 6

3:29 PM: this morning i was ready to get those damned wrinkles out of the newly stretched 26 x 78” canvas. no luck. it’s a very fine portrait linen, which is extremely difficult to stretch so that it’s completely smooth. just a few wrinkles screw it up. i tried removing 6-7 staples & re-stretching, wetting the back so that it would shrink them out….finally i said to myself, “fuck this shit,!” so i found an already stretched 26 x 20” canvas with the same super fine portrait linen i so love, set up a little makeshift table with saw horses & a piece of ply, and got to work! here’s the definition of sumato:

Sfumato (Italian: [sfuˈmaːto], English: /sfuːˈmɑːtoʊ/) is a painting technique for softening the transition between colours, mimicking an area beyond what the human eye is focusing on, or the out-of-focus plane.

i was missing this in making the 117 watercolors in my 2020 watercolors series. as well, i was missing the possibiltyof blending the colors & painting into fresh wet paint. i have accumulated lots of beautiful oil colors, which take years to harden & become useless, and many many brushes designed for oil painting. plus, working on this small a scale doesn’t present a problem for my still healing shoulder.

as a late lunch, i made myself a bowl of walnuts and local fruit with goat yoghurt.

tomorrow morning we’’ll be taking our trail walk. if we feel up for it, we’ll go about 1/2 hour further than normal, to a little bridge which, once you cross it, is the gateway to the rest of the trail leading up to the lake, which is about another 3 hour hike. we’ve been wanting to hike up to that lake for a couple of years and i’m hoping this will be the year we do it!