Drawing at a Denver restaurant.
2 days away from the studio /
12:39 pm: I’m away from my studio for the next 2 days, which is rare. in the past, this has resulted in a fresh burst of inspiration once I’m back, so let’s see how it goes friday morning. I have a podcast with the director of the Hellenic museum scheduled from 9 to 11:30, which is about about the tsarouchis exhibition in chicago, so I likely won’t get to work till noon.
continued modifications to 5/22/21 watercolor/collage /
7:22 PM: our afternoon trail walk was splendid. i shot a bunch of photos; here’ one.
shot this afternoon on our trail walk
FOR MY LOYAL VISITORS: THERE WILL BE A BREAK IN THE FLOW OF MY BLOG POSTS STARTING TOMORROW THROUGH THURSDAY, RESUMING FRIDAY. THANKS ALWAYS FOR FOLLOWING MY POSTS!
2:23 PM: we’ll be going on our trail walk in an hour, so this is probably the last round of changes for today.
i feel good about the work i did today, and feel that it’s a more compelling, magical painting than it was when i entered my studio this morning.
before coming to the studio, i picked up the 87” by 5 yards roll of artfix quadruple primed linen i’ve been waiting for. this means i can start work on some new large scale creek oils!
DETAIL, after my most recent modifications
12:35 PM: still not satisfied with 5/22/2021 watercolor/collage, i did more work on it this morning. it’s definitely an improvement over where i left it yesterday. but now that i see the two together, i might do a bit more right now…
DETAIL
more work on 5/22/21 watercolor/collage /
5/22/21 watercolor/collage 11x15” mixed media and collage on arches paper
LEFT: or do you prefer vertical?
DETAIL
1:35 PM: i took a little oatmeal break, then scooted over to the house to bring some to mikela, then got back to work on 5/22/21 watercolor/collage. about 20 minutes ago, it found it’s voice and began to sing. i love that moment. just the right balance between white space and marks. just the perfect use of color and line. and the big clue in this one was choosing to use the side of a crayon to scoot over the rock shape on the upper right and the indication of water beneath. the crayon, used in that way, picked up the uneven surface below in a way that is reminiscent of bonnard. it differs from the rest of the flatter areas of color so that it creates a distinct melody. good job, philip. just kidding; the spirit is in charge here!
by the way, if you make the image full page and look carefully at the area adjacent to the blue triangle of color, you will detect the profile of an egyptian sphynx; it’s from a metropolitan museum brochure advertising a trip to egypt.
9:43 AM: i thought i had completed work on this new watercolor/collage, but after looking at it this morning over at the house, it still seemed like it was divided into 4 equal rectangles. didn’t hang together.
so this morning i arrived early at the studio so i could do a bit more work on it before returning to the house in 5 minutes for our bi-weekly 10am zoom with our friends in germany.
i may do a bit more once i’m back, around 11:30.
BELOW: yesterday’s version and, on the right, today’s
5/22/21 watercolor/collage /
3:51 PM: this is the final stage for today: stage 4.
those central black lines with the number 30 were, i felt, dominating the composition. all that’s left now is the number “0".” if you compare the two, i think you’ll find your eye moves more naturall around the composition which, while filled with interesting details, gives the viewer what i always strive for: a lively image filled with magic and painterly in it’s execution. thank you creek gods & goddesses for giving me such a strong and lasting infusion of inspiration! i know you demand nothing less than majik.
5/22/21 watercolor/collage stage 4 11 x 15”
2:59 PM: here’s stage 3. an improvement? let me sit with it for half an hour. the collaged horizontal mark did break up the compartmentalization of the composition into four roughly equal segments, but i fear rather than resolving the issue, it simply introduces another one. your eye can’t keep away from that just introduced element. so back i go!
2:03 PM: after a very productive one hour review of my 2021 creek oils (click on the dropdown menu at the top right of this page to view them) i continued work on this new watercolor/collage. here’s where it’s at now. i need to address how the composition seems to be split into 4 quadrants. that’s next; stay tuned!
5/22/21 watercolor/collage 11x15” stage 2
12:02 PM: another cloudy, windy day, with thunderstorms possible later in the day.
i started 5/22/21 watercolor/collage, using my larger watercolor brushes to make broad sweeps indicating rocks, and my fan brush to suggest the swirling creek water. a piece from an old oil palette indicates a diagonal log. i’ll update as this one progresses over the next few hours.
modifications to yesterday's 5/20/2021 watercolor/collage /
12:44 PM: a partly cloudy, windy day, but no rain forecast. we had a chance to look more critically at yesterday’s 5/20/21 watercolor/collage last night & this morning. i brought it back to the studio & did quite a bit of collaging, so that only traces remain of what i did during the tsarouchis exhibition zoom yesterday morning. it has a presence now that i don’t want to mess with. it’s one of those small works that could easily scale.
a flutter of leaves reminds us that we’re looking at something inspired by nature, as does the small swirl of blue creek water. the snippet of map of paris dead center, next to the number 12 leave us wondering, as does the breast on the upper right. the overall feeling is one of joy.
5/20/21 watercolor/collage 11x15” on arches paper
5/20/21 watercolor/collage continued / evening sky /
6:15 PM: no rain today, so we resumed our outdoor dinners. there was a beautiful late afternoon sky, and we could see the new additions to our snowpack from recent rains, which fell as snow above 11,000 ft.
2:12 PM: i was invited to participate in a zoom, which was a tour through the current chicago exhibition of my late mentor/friend/teacher yannis tsarouchis, this morning at 10 am. it lasted for 2 1/2 hours, after which i was exhausted but very grateful to have been included.
the session was brilliantly hosted by adam szymczyk. during the first hour, as i watched and listened, i continued work on yesterday’s 5/19/21 watercolor/collage, with the thought that this is what yannis would have wanted.
i was surprised at how much i learned during the zoom. things i had never known, and i know a lot about him. my belief that he is a world class artist was reinforced.
BELOW: 3 examples of tsarouchis paintings, in the center is a detail of a still life
yesterday’s 5/19/21watercolor/collage was influenced by the vibe of this tour of the exhibition. i made marks and used colors i wouldn’t normally use.
we’ll see in the morning whether more needs to be done, and i’ll likely strta a new one as well. still waiting for my roll of canvas to arrive so i can start a large rectangualr composition to fit into one of the two large, beautiful but heavy wood frames that have recently had the paintings they held removed.
mikela and did quite a bit of studio organizing yesterday, and will continue tomorrow afternoon.
there’s still a lot to do, but it’s looking better already.
5/19/21 watercolor/collage
starting 5/19/21 watercolor/collage /
2:43 PM: i started work on 5/19/21 watercolor/collage shortly after completing the drawing. so this is an early stage, which i’ll resume work on tomorrow, since i have a zoom at 3. it’s interesting to leave a new painting at this early stage.
12:26 AM: today, mikela’s birthday, i’m starting a new watercolor/collage. i’ve been making one almost every other day, so there are quite a few of them. the rule of thumb is that for every 10 paintings, there may be one or two good ones. and for every 100, maybe 1 great one. so i suppose i’m on track. here’s the drawing for the newest one.
5/18/21 watercolor/collage / 5/17/21 watercolor/collage as a vertical / snow this morning /
2:44 PM: after making a drawing, i started work on 5/18/21 watercolor/collage. it already has quite a few collaged elements, but it’s still in an early stage and will develop more tomorrow morning. right now i’m all outta juice, and mikela will be coming over soon so we can both spend a few hours organizing my studio.
making the initial drawing for 5/18/21 watercolor/collage
BELOW: 5/17/21 watercolor/collage
5/17/21 watercolor/collage at 11:37 am today
11:39 AM: 5/17/21 watercolor/collage has once again become a horizontal. after a number of collaged modifications this morning, and after turning it this way and that, i settled, a least for the moment on the original horizontal format as the most satisfying visually. while rooted in creek imagery, it has many many suggestive forms.
and now i’m moving on to today’s watercolor/collage; i’ll update as the day progresses. the snow has stopped, by the way, but it’s still overcast and chilly, at 37F.
10:03 AM: the sound of heavy rain kept me up at 1 am. it turned to snow and when we got up there was about 2” of fresh wet snow and the temperature was 29F.
when i arrived at the studio and was having my breakfast, it ocurred to me that this new watercolor/collage is much more interesting compositionally when viewed vertically. Since it’s not strictly representational, the eye accepts it.
5/17/21 watercolor/collage /
5/17/21 watercolor/collage
3:18 PM: having decided that the previous two were resolved, i started a new one: 5/17/21 watercolor/collage. once again, i’m not quite certain it’s complete, so back to the house it will go and we’ll peruse tonight & tomorrow morning. it’s different in that there’s now creek water; just a large fallen tree trunk, which has become more playful with the introduction of collaged elements such as maps, a pen drawing and a snippet from a magazine ad. does it work?
i’ll let you know tomorrow. in the meantime, of you have any comments or feedback, scroll to the bottom of the page and click on comments.