continued work on 5/9/21 creek oil and a few adjustments to 4/29/21 creek oil /  by Philip Tarlow

5/9/21 creek oil as it looked moments ago, after removing the lichen spots from the grey rock on the right

3:51 PM: i looked at 5/9/21 creek oil before leaving the studio for the day & i didn’t like the texture i put on the big grey rock . so it’s gone. here’s how it looked moments ago, and if you scroll down you can compare with the earlier version.

2:52 PM: i worked on both of these paintings yesterday. i didn’t get a great sleep last night, so i took it very slow.

first i made some major changes to 4/29/21 creek oil. i had worked on it yesterday and wasn’t satisfied with the result. there was a big violet blue shadow under the horizontal log which is now way lighter and has been broken up by collaged white pieces and a map cutout. i think it works, but as usual, i won’t know till tomorrow morning. that violet-blue shadow beneath the tree trunk was coming from my mind. as a result, it doesn’t work with the total composition, and just weighs the whole thing down. i’m finding that those pieces of collaged white paper with india ink drawings introduce just enough playfulness to take the eye for a magical ride.

BELOW: left: after today’s session and right: how it looked end of day yesterday

i did very little to 5/9/21 creek oil, focusing mainly on the big grey rock and the diagonal tree trunk on the right, which now has some characteristic aspen markings as well as a bit more light and shadow. most of what i did can be seen in the grey rock. it now has markings that are the result of lichen growing over many years and through many seasons. not yet sure if it works, as it is in stark contrast with the more abstracted areas of the composition. on the other hand, i like that contrast, serving as a reminder that this painting was inspired by the hundreds of plein air paintings i’ve made at our creeks over the past few decades.

BELOW: left: the painting after today’s session and right: how it looked end of day yesterday

modifications to 4/29/21 creek oil and continued work on 5/9/21 creek oil /  by Philip Tarlow

1:33 PM: i resumed work this morning on the newest addition to this series, which are all 26 x 78” on artfix quadruple primed linen. this particular painting is one the medium texture linen, as opposed to the other 3, which are on the extra fine surface. i’m finding that, in the future , i’ll stick with the finer surface, which is easier to collage onto since it has a finer “tooth.”

BELOW: top: current state, bottom: yesterday afternoon

5/9/21 creek oil after today’s work

5/9/21 creek oil as it looked yesterday afternoon

1:17 PM: i keep feeling that 4/29/21 creek oil is just too busy. yes, it had some beautiful passages, but sometimes you just have to sacrifice them for the sake of the whole. and this is one of those times.

so i did some work, mainly collaged elements, and will continue on and off until it’s resolved. as you know if you’re a regular, i love going back and forth between two or more paintings, which tends to keep it fresh.

BELOW: the image on top show the painting after the modifications i made this morning. on the bottom: the painting as it looked 2 days ago.

4/29/21 creek oil as it looked two days ago

BELOW: left: today’s oil palette right: some of my collage materials

continued work today on 5/9/21 creek oil / a 2016 facebook post of a gaze series painting /  by Philip Tarlow

4:27 PM: facebook sent me this 2016 post this morning. it was during the period i was fully engaged in my gaze series, which you can see on this page, or you can find it by clicking on the works dropdown menu & scrolling down to gaze. https://www.philiptarlow.com/gaze

this no longer exists in this state, but now that i see it, i realize i could have left it as is. makes me kind of sad, but that’s the nature of my work and how i go about it. if i were to keep every stage of every painting, i’d have to have a gigantic storage space.

on the other hand, i do keep excellent photo records, so there’s plenty of material for a book.

2:06 PM:

the collaged bit you see here is cut from a piece of white paper with a drawing in india ink of objects in the studio was made earlier this morning specifically for use in this composition, where i think it works well. as to placement, i leave that to my intuition in the moment.

i’m now busy stretching a new canvas and will continue work on this one tomorrow.

Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.

DETAIL showing on of the collaged elements

11:58 AM: picking up where i left off yesterday afternoon, i began adding collage to the composition. i am, for now, maintaining lots of white space. i’ve probably got another hour or so of juice. at the same time, i’m placing an order for more 78x16” stretcher bars as well as other materials.

here’s an example of one of the collaged pieces. if you click on this image, it’s easier to see the woman with the white scarf at the top.

5/9/21 creek oil,26x78” at noon today

7:14 AM: here i am at work yesterday on 5/9/21 creek oil, which i’ll continue working on when i get to my studio in a few hours.

a further modification of 4/29/21 creek oil / starting a new one /  by Philip Tarlow

2:58 PM: we’re going to attempt to take our trail walk in about 1/2 hour. hopefully we won’t have to turn back due to heavy hail, as we did yesterday!

i did a bit more work on the new 5/9/21 creek oil. i was hesitant to do anything because it was such a great start, but i knew it needed more work. so i’m progressing slowly, making sure i’m in the groove before doing anything, and i’ll continue tomorrow morning.

5/9/21 creek oil, 26x78” as it looked at the end of my painting day today

12:35 PM: i got the new canvas stretched over a layer of masonite to allow for collaging later on. this is the first stage. it’s so much more simple than the other three, it almost makes me want to make 3 more that are this simple. that could make it easier for them to be hung together as a suite.

let’s see if this one remains as simple as it is at the moment. right now i’m dreaming of having a dozen or so stretched canvases this same size: 26x78”. that would make it easier to continue in this simple, playful mode.

10:38 am: as i prepared to stretch a new canvas for the 4th in this series, i looked critically at 4/29/21creek oil and saw where i needed to make some changes, which i did. most of my changes were in the center and right portions of the composition. the large, unbroken area of white collaged paper covering the horizontal tree trunk was broken up; the slender vertical tree trunk just to the right of that now crosses over the horizontal trunk, and two strategic rock forms have appeared in what was a blank white space immediately above the center of that horizontal tree trunk. all together, these modifications make the composition easier and more pleasurable for the eye to navigate BELOW on top: after the changes; and below, before.

adjustment to 4/29/21 creek oil /  by Philip Tarlow

6:50 PM: we set off to take our trail walk at 3:30 pm. 20 minutes into it, we encountered a hail storm with lots of loud thunder, so we turned back and as we turned to face the valley, we saw this.

5:8:21 hail storm 1.jpg

12:16 PM: now that i made hte adjustment you see below, i’m moving on the a new, 4th painting in this series. i will update as the day goes on

12:09 PM: i just made a small but very critical modification to 4/29/21 creek oil. i removed the red shape in the center of the composition, which was drawing the eye to it, to the detriment of the whole composition.

BELOW: the before and after (top)

starting the adjustments to 4/29/21 creek oil /  by Philip Tarlow

4/29/21 creek oil after a day of revisions, at 4 pm

3:57 pm: and this is how 4/29/21 creek oil looked at the end of my painting day and just before my 4pm call

2:11 PM: here’s 4/29/21 creek oil as it looked moments ago. still working.

4/29/21 creek oil as it looked moments ago; still working…

10:53 AM: just finishing up re-stretching 4/29/21 creek oil so that i can begin making changes, mostly in the direction of simplification. i’ll update as the process moves ahead. here’s how it looks now, before modifications.

morning drawing / two of the completed paintings in this series of 4 are now hanging on my studio wall /  by Philip Tarlow

4/23/21 creek oil (top) and 5/3/21 creek oil (bottom) hanging on my studio wall.

2:28 PM: 4/23/21 & 5/3/21 creek oils hanging on studio wall. two of the four paintings for my denver gallery are completed, and i just now hung them on my east studio wall. this may be how they are hung once they enter the client’s space. i’m now preparing to make some changes to 4/29/21 creek oil, mainly to reduce unnecessary marks and allow it be be more along the lines of these two. once that’s complete, i can start work on the final 26x78 painting likely sometime next week.

5/6/21 morning drawing 10x6” colored pencil

9:41 AM: i have to go back to the house in 10 minutes for a zoom with our german friends at 10. be back around 11:30. do i continue yesterday’s revisions of 4.23.21 creek oil, or is it resolved….for now? when i walked in the morning, i was struck by it’s freshness, boldness of composition and, yes decorative qualities.

so now i’m looking more critically at 4/29/21 creek oil critically and comparing it with the other two. it has a beauty all it’s own, and i’m loathe to mess with it. let’s see how i feel when i return from our zoom.

in the meantime, here’s the morning drawing i made a few hours ago, before meditating, looking down towards our entryway from our 2nd floor.

preparing to do more work on 4/23/21 creek oil /  by Philip Tarlow

4.23.21 creek oil in the midst of a re-work.

4PM: in the midst of all the un-stretching and re-stretching canvases, i realized i could actually do some work on 4/23/21 creek oil by just laying it flat on my plywood makeshift table. so i started working, in spite of the interruption of about an hour in order to meet with the roofer. the horizontal log quickly found it’s way in, and i had to stop just now so we can go into town & pick up our veggies. he couldn’t bring them to the house as usual because he got covid. so, in short, a kind of wacky afternoon, but productive nonetheless. here’s what it looked like before the re-work started.

when i completed work yesterday on 5/3/21 creek oil, i took a look at 4/23/21 creek oil, which i had considered complete and decided it needed more work. it has no collaged elements, which add a lot to the two most recent paintings. so i’ve got to unstretch it and place the 26x78” 1/8th inch masonite underneath, then re-stretch so that i have a hard surface to press the new, collaged pieces onto. it’s a lot of work, but well worth it. so here i go. probably won’t get to do much painting today, but i’ll try. we have the roofer coming at 3, so i don’t have too much time. BELOW are the 3 recent creek paintings, with the one i completed on the left, and the one i plan to do mor ework on on the right.

continuing work on 5/3/21 creek oil /  by Philip Tarlow

6:04 PM: back from our walk, where i took these photographs, amongst others.

5/3/21creek oil 26x78” oil, oil pastel and collage on artfix double primed linen

DETAIL

1:05 PM: 5/3/21 creek oil has progressed quite a bit since yesterday. a horizontal log has entered the composition. one could say it’s an homage to the numerous logs in and around the creeks which, in many cases are more beautiful than their still standing brothers and sisters. more collaged maps have been added, and this one is beginning to have more of the feel of the environs of our creeks than any previous paintings in this series.

you may notice that, in the tag under the image above, i mention that this is painted on artfix linen. in this case it’s their portrait linen, however for others in the series i’ve used their all purpose linen. in my experience, their double primed linen, which i get in 84” x 5 yard rolls, far surpasses anything else on the market. how the brush reacts when it comes in contact with the surface is all important, especially for artists like myself whose technique can be called “painterly.”

11:08 AM: good morning. i’m about to continue work on 5/3/21 creek oil. i’ll begin by introducing a few more collaged elements, and post updates as they become available.

i just added my recently completed portrait of m.b. to the portraits page of my site. you can find it under the WORKS dropdown menu, or copy this link:

https://www.philiptarlow.com/portraits

portrait of m.b. gouache on paper 10x8”

final tweaks to 4/29/21 creek oil and completing stretching canvas for next creek oil painting & starting 5/3/21 creek oil /  by Philip Tarlow

3:54 PM: i stopped working for the day and will continue in the morning. i like the big white collaged shapes and how the sound of a flute painting underneath this new one peeks through. those marks have become much more exciting in this new context. here’s the link to my sound of a flute series:

https://www.philiptarlow.com/sound-of-a-flute

as a whole. it hasn’t yet jelled, but it has a direction.

DETAIL

5/3/21 creek oil at the end of my painting day today.

1:54 PM: i began work on the next creek oil, titled 5/3/21 creek oil. it’s being painted on top of one of my sound of a flute series paintings, which were all verticals, so this one, being a horizontal, takes advantage of some of the patterning designed for a vertical.

5/3/21 creek oil as it looked moments ago

12:28 PM: it’s raining, which is relatively rare here in crestone/baca. it’s falling as s now above 11,000 ft., adding valuable snow pack at the very end of the snow season.

as i worked on completing the stretching of my next 26x78” creek oil, i cast glances at 4/29/21 creek oil and noticed an area in the lower mid portion of the composition which i felt needed a little work. so i interrupted the stretching and made some tweaks.

4/29/21 creek oil following my tweaks this morning