preparing new canvases / afternoon drawing /  by Philip Tarlow

3/21/21 afternoon drawing: the coffee corner

6:31 PM: today, instead of a morning drawing, i made an afternoon drawing, as mikela prepared the pizza with a delicious topping, including sardines.

our coffee corner is a subject i’ve never drawn. it’s a bit dispersed and certainly not the best of my morning/afternoon drawings. but what the hell; i had my colored pencils, we were just back fro our stupa walk, i had 10 minutes before the pizza was cooked, so why not?

ijust love drawing. anytime, anyplace. as soon as i could hold a pencil, i was drawing. in school i drew classmates, teachers…and came home to my uncle mort, god rest his soul, who was staying with us while he studies commercial art in nyc. he critiqued the drawings i had made that day while encouraging me to continue drawing and painting. thanks mort.

one of my many acropolis museum photos i’ll be drawing from when i launch into the continuation of new ano kato

i looked at the stretcher bars i have, and figured out what i need to order

2:46 PM: today i decided it’s time to get organized for future work. so i assessed what i’ve got in terms of stretcher bars and canvas, made a decision as to what sizes i want to work on, reviewed some of the phots i shot of the acropolis museum in 2009, and am getting ready to place an order for the supplies i’ll be needing.

i also reviewed the rolls of canvas i have and assessed what needs to be ordered

i also had a thought that, rather than calling this new series 2021 creek oils, which is a little cumbersome and no longer really accurate, i may simply call it new ano kato.

right now, my energy is strong around creating more work inspired by the photos i shot of the acropolis museum and environs, as well as the ones i shot at moma. most but not all of them are views looking down from above.

morning drawing / modifications to 2021 creek oil 4 /  by Philip Tarlow

3:23 PM: i made some additions to 2021 creek oil 4, which i think have made it a better painting. we had it in the house, on a very narrow part of our east wall. since it’s a very skinny shape: 78x16,” it worked well on that wall. but the more we looked at it, the more we both felt there was just too much, especially on the upper portion, that didn’t really hang together. it’s always tricky to go back to a painting you haven’t worked on for a whole month, but so far what i’ve done is working. in addition to the changes i made to the top third of the composition, i fleshed out the two figures quite a bit more. not yet sure if i want or need to do any more…let’s see tomorrow.

3/20/21 morning drawing

12:11 PM: this morning i made another morning drawing; the second one i’ve made inspired by cacti in our bedroom.

once i brought yesterday’s naked in the acropolis museum back to the house, it was like waking from a dream, and i realized what a lousy painting it is. so today i’ll paint over most if not all of it, as well as returning to creek oil 4. it’s been in the house for the past few weeks, and it just feels like it needs more work. so i’ll get busy and post when i’ve done some work.

naked in the acropolis museum /  by Philip Tarlow

naked in the acropolis museum 20x16” stage 3

3:18 PM: naked in the acropolis museum stage 3, 3pm. i added a third figure. in the photo i shot, it’s a man, but i like it better as a woman. i’m kinda cooked for the day, so i’m stopping here.

it reads well from a distance, and those light blues set off the flesh tones beautifully.

although the composition is more filled in than in the recent paintings in this s eries, it retains that air of mystery i love, mostly based here on the relationship of the naked figures. is the couple enjoying the view of ancient sculpture, or the woman directly in front of them?

1:53 PM: i did a bit more work on naked in the acropolis, filling in the formerly clothed body of the man standing next to the woman on the left, and putting the shadows under their feet, which have a unique quality because of the glass floor.

honestly, i don’t think i’ve had this much pleasure making a painting in a long time. if you strip away (no pun intended) all the negative and wierd associations we have with the human body devoid of coverings, you are left with awe and wonder. we are the only animals on the planet who feel the need to cover our nakedness. granted, i’m coming to this realization a little late in the game; but hey….

i’m going to continue working although, as with the previous paintings in this series, i’m leaning in the direction of leaving some area with just the drawing. for one thing, it emphasizes the point i’ve been trying to make: that this is not a painting of a naked couple in the museum. it’s simply a painting. marks on a surface.

3/19/21 Naked in the Acropolis Museum stage 2

naked in the acropolis museum 20x16” stage 1

12:51 PM: not sure of what i was going to do today, i spied a 20x16” canvas that had been recently painted over with a warm ochre tone, leaving a few spots of the underpainting to show through, as i am fond of doing.

i began making a drawing of a couple; the same couple that appears in 2021 creek oil 6, perusing the art in the acrolopis museum, athens. half way through, i was overcome with the desire to paint the couple without their clothes, in keeping with all the naked ancient marble figures they were surrounded by. i’m about 25% into it and, as i now gaze at it, i’m a bit shocked. naked figures in a museum? our attitudes towards nudity have changed since ancient greece. we expect nude figures at a nudist beach, not in a museum. at the same time, i find this image attractive. unencumbered by shirts, bras, belts, pants, these people are more likely to enjoy the richness of the ancient greek culture they’re observing.

i’ll continue working; let’s see where this takes me. more images as the afternoon progresses.

1:24 PM: i did a little research on the topic, and here’s something interesting i found:

Marina Abramović & Ulay
A Living Door of the Museum

“If there were no artists, there would be no museums, so we are living doors.”

Standing naked in the main entrance of a museum, facing each other while the audience passes sideways through the small space. Legendary performance artists Marina Abramović and Ulay 

the story of 2021 creek oil 2 /  by Philip Tarlow

1:47 PM: i had a bunch of stuff to mail this morning & didn’t arrive at the studio till just after noon.. i made a small collage, with elements (the snali) from a letter i received today from a dear friend.

it includes areas of watercolor as well as the collaged elements from her “snail mail” letter, sections of illustrations of minoan pottery as well as a secion of a map. after the fact, i can see that this collage brings to mind japanese paintings of dragons.

as i looked through my 2021 creek oil 2 file, i was surprised at the evolution of this piece. since i keep complete records of my recent work, i decided to post it today. it’s progress can be traced strtaing on the top row let & going down. when you click on the image, it will give you the date and time (when available)

continued work on 2021 creek oil 2 /  by Philip Tarlow

2:15 PM: i made quite a few modifications to 2021 creek oil 2 today, and i think there will be more coming. BELOW is a comparative view; how it looked before starting work today, and on the right: how it looked moments ago.

the changes i made to the two figures are obvious, if you click on the images and make them full page. on the lower portion of the painting, more subtle changes have taken place. beneath the transparent glass floor are ancient greek ruins. but it’s not like looking through clear glass; what you see below is a bit clouded. so i began introducing some of those elements in the area of floor beneath the figures, going all the way to the bottom of the canvas. i don’t want to make them too obvious, so i’m moving very slowly.

10:52 AM: our salida trip yesterday went well, but i did miss being in the studio. today i’m seeing the 4 new 2021 creek oils with fresh eyes, so that’s one of hte pluses of being away for a day or two.

right now as i gaze at it from about 20 feet, i can see it needs something to pop, so i’ll start working & update once i’ve done some work on it.

my morning drawing today was crap, but i’m posting the 2 stages it went through, just to show you what a crappy drawing looks like.

BELOW: 2 stages of a crappy drawing

3/16/21 morning drawing /  by Philip Tarlow

i won’t be in the studio today due to a couple of appointments. before leaving for those appointments i stole a few minutes to re-adjust the photo i shot yesterday of the four recent paintings, all of which are in progress, hanging on my east studio wall.

9:56 AM: today i made my morning drawing upstairs, looking down at some pots & pipes we have on a ledge overlooking our entryway.

morning drawing / tweaks to 2021 creek oil 2, 5,& 7 / just discovered painting /  by Philip Tarlow

2021 creek oil

2:58 PM: today i made tweaks to 3 paintings: 2021 creek oil 2 (left on the wall), 5 (3rd from the left)& 7( 2nd from the left)

2021 creek oil 2: my changes were mainly to the floor on the bottom 3/4 of the composition

2021 creek oil 5: i toned down the green jacket

2021 creek oil 7: flesh tones were introduced to the left arm of figure on the left and a few modifications were made to the geometric lines of the glass floor

i had intended to start something new today, but i think i’ll have to stretch a new canvas for that to happen. so that’s my next move.

at work on 221 creek oil 4, february 27, 2021

untitled oil painting on two attached canvases

SITE-3::15:21 morning drawing.jpg

8:56 am: today’s 8am morning drawing: colored pencil on archival paper. cacti: in the corner of our bedroom. and by the way they need water!

i’m thinking i’ll continue making these morning drawings and see where they take me. i might switch up the medium, so that one morning i use my flex nib fountain pen, then perhaps brush & ink….

this one hour time shift has thrown off my schedule, so i’m getting to my studio later than i used to. should be there today around 11 and will post today’s process as it unfolds.

i may do more work on 2021 creek oil 4, which i last worked on february 27 and considered complete at the time.

3:13 pm update: i decided not to do anything yet to 2021 creek oil 4. i’m going to wait a few days.

4:57 PM: as i was going through a stack of paintings leaning against my east studio wall, i cam across this painting, consisting of two attached canvases, each one 20x16”. it’s probably vintage late 2020. i remember joining the two canvases in what was then intended to be a horizontal composition. i was playing around with the idea of a fully loaded composition transitioning into a spare one.

i do remember working on the more spare one, on top, and extending the branch shapes and the blue colors into the adjacent canvas.

i could see doing a little more work on it. maybe…

snowstorm / morning drawings / /  by Philip Tarlow

4:14 PM: i worked on 2021 creek oil 2, which was a horizontal and hadn’t been touched since january 24. this is a variation on the theme of the acropolis museum, which we visited the year after it opened, in 2009. these figures of two girls interacting, their shadows falling on the magical glass floor, continues to enchant me. the juxtaposition of the stunning architecture with it’s geometric angles, with the figures of these museum goers is simply something magical for me.

i’ll pick up where i left off tomorrow.

the snow has stopped, and i think that’s it for this snowstorm.

shot at 8:45 am

11:57 AM: continuing my morning drawings before heading to the studio, today i made two. about to get to work, as the blizzard continues. looking like about 8 inches so far.

9:02 AM: the snowstorm started yesterday and will continue throughout the day. right now we’ve received about 4-5” of fresh snow, and may end up with 8” or so. at least double that on the sangre de christo peaks, which is vital for our snowpack, but may likely result in an active mosquito season, once it all melts & flows down to the valley, where they breed. i’m a bit disoriented with this time change, and probably won’t get to the studio till 11, after getting the snow off the car. i’ll post more once i get back to work.

another morning drawing / snowstorm / resuming work on 2021 creek oil 6 /  by Philip Tarlow

1:40 PM: i made a few tweaks to yesterdays work on 2021 creek oil 5, then moved on to 2021 creek oil 6, a very skinny girl, coming in at just 56 x 12”.

a new path is being forged. it’s not something i planned or intended; it just happened as a natural evolution of my ano kato series holding hands, as it were, with my creek series; both the watercolor/collages and the oils. the areas of drawing or sketching left unpainted on areas of the canvas is of course intentional. it reflects an ever present aesthetic dating back decades, but most evident perhaps in this 2008 oil, which was shown in my 2009 solo exhibition at skoufa gallery in athens.

BELOW: on the left: 2021 creek oil 6 and on the right: 2021 creek oil 5, both of which i worked on today.

BELOW: i made a second drawing in my morning drawing series. they will all be made in our bedroom, before leaving for the studio.

a snowstorm is moving in this afternoon, and is forecast to continue on and off through tomorrow. as usual, it’s totally up in the air how much we’ll get out of this storm, but there’s no doubt they’ll get a good boost to our snowpack on the peaks, above 12,000 ft.

BELOW are shots of the landscape at about 10:30, just before it began snowing.

starting my day with a drawing / continued work on 2021 creek oil 5 /  by Philip Tarlow

my east studio wall with the two new paintings i’m currently working on: 2021 creek oil 5 & 2021 creek oil 7

2021 creek oil 5 as it looks right now

2:48 PM: a painting can be a very fugitive thing. one scrape across the surface; one touch of red…cna make a big difference. once you do any of those things, you need to set it on the easel or hang it on the wall and step back ideally about 20-30 feet, depending on the size of the piece. furtive glances work best. that’s when you catch something that’s off. that’s when you hear it sing. that’s when you feel it transcend individual marks, colors, compositional elements, and gain an identity, have a presence.

is this a painting of a student working on her computer on the lobby floor? is it a painting of a water bottle? or none of the above?

post your thoughts by clicking on the comments tab at the bottom of this page.

12:06 PM: the wind is howling and a storm is arriving tonight. but it usually dies down right about when we like to take our stupa walk: 3:45pm. so we’ll plan on that & see how it goes.

i did a first round of work on 2021 creek oil 5 a little while ago, and now i’m going back in, probably to soften some of those harsh greens, and whevever else my brush wants to go.

11:05 AM: after my morning shower & before getting dressed, i glanced at the night table, where a sketchbook lay, open to a blank page. i took one of the pencils on the night table and made a quick drawing of what i saw on the table. this may become a daily activity; a kind of warm up for my day in the studio.

i’m about to get to work on 2021 creek oil 5, picking up where i left off yesterday afternoon. i’ll post pics as they become available.

here’s what it looked like at the end of the day yesterday. that red box was bothering both of us, so getting rid of it may be the first thing i do.