November 20, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

2:50 PM: after framing mikela’s surprise, I began painting study #6 for olympic celebration, using watercolors & a tad of gouache color where needed. it’s still at an early stage, and i’ll pick up where I left off in the morning.

tonight we get to have some of the wild caught alaskan salmon we got in boulder yesterday.

12:33 PM: we had a long day yesterday, making the 4 hour drive to boulder at 5:45 am and returning 12 hours later after getting our teeth cleaned & doing some food shopping at costco & trader joe’s.

this morning mikela let me know how much she loves study #5 for olympic celebration, so this morning I put it in a temporary frame & will surprise her when I go back to the house this afternoon.

once I completed the temporary framing, I completed the drawing for study #6 for olympic celebration, and I plan on introducing watercolors as soon as I post this. i’ll post pics when available.

modifications to study #5 for olympic celebration and to 11/17/2021 collage / November 18, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

4:06 PM: I can’t remember having such a difficult, frustrating time with a painting in a long time. I did start a new drawing, but I kept glancing over at study#5 for the olympic celebration series & making changes, mostly in the form of collage.

i’m still not happy with it, but it’s late in the afternoon & i’m wiped. so i’ll bring it to the house & see what mikela thinks when she gets back from alamosa in a little while.

I think the problem is the original photo I worked from. it’s interesting, but not inspiring enough to allow me to take flight.

10:32 AM: when I arrived at the studio this morning, it was 14° F. my in floor heating made it pretty comfortable once I got inside though. the construction crew showed up at 9, and I made them a fresh pot of strong coffee, which they appreciated a lot.

after gazing, over at the house, at the two pieces I was working on yesterday, I concluded they both needed work. so I dove in, working on both in tandem. i’ll see if there’s anything more I want to do before starting a new one, but I think my modifications work well.

BELOW: on the left, yesterday’s versions; on the right, how they both looked moments ago following my modifications

study # 5 for olympic celebration series / 11/17/21 collage / November 17, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

2:33 PM: yesterday’s olympics celebration study #5 has been collaged over and is now 11/17/21 collage. and there’s a new olympics celebration study #5, which is still in process.

BELOW left: is the transformed olympics celebration study #5. for the first hour or so, I kept some of the recognizable elements, which indicated that you were looking at a colorful figure doing a handstand. but after a while it became clear to me that this composition had a mind of it’s own, and didn’t want anything to do with the tokyo olympics celebration.

the white pieces of paper contain cut up studio ink drawings. there are traces of an art magazine article and some other scraps I had in my box of papers I draw from for my collages. this piece contains many layers of collage. I kept going over them until I reached what felt like a balance point.

on the right: olympics celebration study #5, a skate boarder participant in the post olympics celebration. there are a few collaged elements, including a piece of a reproduction of Vermeer’s the love letter on the skate board itself.

on the left: what used to be olympics celebration study 5 and is now 11/17/2021 collage.

i’m still unsure of where all this is heading, and I do have certainty that when I get to the larger stretched canvases, it will reveal itself.

olympics celebration study #5 / van gogh's reed pen drawings / November 16, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

5:15 PM: when i got back to the house a little while ago, i decided that this watercolor/collage makes more sense compositionally when it’s flipped 180. so here is is. and tomoorow, more white space will appear when i add a fe wmore collage dpieces. right now there’s too much pink.

this one has some beautiful elements & passages, but as is it reads as too busy, especially when compared with the previous 3.

ABOVE LEFT: olympics celebration study #5 at 3pm RIGHT: as it looked following modifications I just made

2:17 PM: I introduced watercolors and elements of collage to the initial drawing for olympics celebration study #5. i’m still not sure where or not i’m going to take it further; right now it’s very lively and provocative, and I hesitate to mess with it. on the other hand, when I got to a similar point with the previous 3, I unexpectedly broke through. but you can’t force it.

11:41 AM: this morning, following a delicious smoked salmon, boursin & capers breakfast on local toasted rye, I began the drawing for the fifth study for my olympic celebration series of oils. I started on one, but it wasn’t really grabbing me, so I set it aside & started this one fresh. i’ll start using watercolor as soon as I post this.

making the drawing for *olympics celebration study 5*

7:01 AM: i’ve been reading my van gogh drawings book over breakfast and studying his reed pen drawings. when he discovered how to make a reed pen, his life changed. the marks he was able to make could not have been made with any other instrument. granted, my store bought reed pen, made in japan, is nothing like his handmade one. but it does produce different results than any of my previous drawings.

BELOW: reed pen drawings i made at the creek on 11/12 and 13.

a new olympics studies watercolor / November 15, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

studies 4, 3 & 2 for the olympic celebration series

3:33 PM: so of course I did add a few collaged pieces. so it works now with the previous two, which you see ABOVE. it’s interesting how they’re developing. what they have in common is movement and pattern.

2:22 PM: I began a new watercolor in my olympics celebration series.

i’m not yet sure whether any collaged elements will be added; I need to sit with it for a while.

collaged additions to studies #2 & 3 for olympic celebration / November 14, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

12:59 PM: as I began expanding study #1 for olympic celebration series this morning, which currently looks like this BELOW, I glanced at studies 2 & 3 & felt drawn to do make changes to them.

*study #1 for olympic celebration* as it looked moments ago, after® beginning work on the right portion

so I started with study#2, creating patterning on his shirt & pants , filling in the flesh tones on his arms and finally adding a few collaged elements, treating it more like a composition and less like an illustration. then I proceeded to do something similar with study# 1, adding some checkered patterning to his pant leg, then adding some collaged elements to his right. so now this one too is more of a composition, lees of an illustration, and gives some indication of what may happen when I get to the larger oils.

i’m beginning to see this as a project that may extend over more time than I had at first thought; perhaps through the winter & into the spring.

3:23 PM: ps: just before leaving the studio half an hour ago, as i’m in the habit of doing, i made a change. i added a collaged piece of an old oil paper palette to the upper right area of study #2 for my olympic celebration series, which you see BELOW on the left. as with my changes to study #3, when i cast a sudden glance at it, i was able to see it with fresh eyes, as a total composition rather than as an acrobat standing on his hands. this action resulted in an unplanned, unexpected negative space just to the right of his yellow shirt, which balances the space to the left.

watercolor study 2 for olympic celebration / November 13, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

3 watercolor studies for the larger oils inspired by the celebration following the *tokyo olympics*

12:49 PM: I started a new olympic celebration watercolor study of a skater today.

i’m undecided as to whether or not i’ll take it further or leave it as is. I love the abstracted red & blue forms but i’m leaning towards doing a bit more.

continuing 11/11/21 study 1 for tokyo olympics celebration / November 12, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

*11/11/21 study 1 for tokyo olympics celebration* as it looked moments ago

2:27 PM: we’re about to take our afternoon walk up the trail, where i’ll likely make another reed pen sketch at our stopping point, about a half hour up the trail, beside the creek.

today I took yesterday’s watercolor study of the tokyo olympics celebration dancers a bit further, focusing mainly on the right side of the composition. it’s likely i’ll leave the left side as is. I think the empty spaces work.

i’ll likely start a new one tomorrow. work on my storage space will resume tomorrow, and we’ll see how that affects my painting time.

I mostly focused on this side of the composition

a new tokyo olympics watercolor / view of the front of our house with 4 paintings visible / 4 drawings by high school kids / November 11, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

stage 1 of *11/11/2021 watercolor/gouache*

3:25 PM: I began turning the drawing I made this morning into a watercolor/gouache. stopped for the day just now. the paper I chose to use is different than the watercolor block I used yesterday, which was an Italian made 300 lb. cold press watercolor block with a surface that’s very sensitive to the brush. the paper i’m using today was taped to a piece of board years ago, and thus I have no idea what it is. it’s ok, but I think in the future i’ll get more of the paper I used yesterday.

that said, I feel like i’m making progress in this, a very early stage in the development of my next series of oil/collages on stretched, quadruple primed french linen. exploring these dancing figures in watercolor allows me to familiarize myself with their bodies, their movement and the fabulous colors & patterns the Japanese designer used in dressing them. just today, I noticed that the wall behind them echoes the checkered patterns he/she has used on their clothing. very cool!

1:22 PM: I made this pencil study this morning & am ready to start using watercolor. the drawing was made on an old prepared watercolor paper surface I just found here in a box in the studio, which I had tinted with a tan color in preparation for a plein air painting, probably about 10 years ago. painting on a tinted ground is a carry-over from my years in greece, where it was common practice at the time amongst the athens school artists; an informal group who had in common their love for painting the everyday. I was a member of this group, with whom I exhibited and hung out. our predilection for earth tones and painting on a tan surface was directly influenced by our love for and emulation of the byzantine tradition.

you can read about my years in greece by clicking on the dropdown menu: greece, then clicking on overview. or, you can copy & paste this link:https://www.philiptarlow.com/art-created-in-greece

drawing for a watercolor study of tokyo olympics celebration

10:16 AM: view of the front of our house, with 4 of my paintings visible

10:47 AM: i’m trying an experiment this morning: getting right to work before eating anything. I just had a cup of hot chocolate, and will have my brunch in an hour or so, to capitalize on my fresh morning energy.

2 days ago mikela returned from her work with the HS kids, introducing them to our actionlab360 platform, & brought back these 4 drawings. each in their own way, I find them very interesting, even exciting!

this morning, as she drove to one of the schools, we were brainstorming about how to allow this creativity and individuality to spill over into their other areas of study: science; math; English language arts; social studies….

and most important, how to provide a space for this genius not to get lost as they grow older.

i’m about to launch into a new watercolor, which will include the acrobatic figure I painted yesterday, plus some other olympic celebration participants with him at that moment.

watercolor study for new tokyo olympics painting / sunset / November 10, 2021 by Philip Tarlow

1:45 PM: this morning I made the first in a series of watercolor studies for my next series of oils inspired by the celebration following the recent tokyo olympics.

I documented the progress of this watercolor, starting with the drawing, which I posted BELOW.

the celebration was extraordinary, with dancers & acrobats moving beautifully to the music, in richly colorful costumes.

the series of paintings I envision will reveal itself over the coming weeks and perhaps months. some of the figures will be athletes in action, including some shots from above. in my ano kato series of paintings: https://www.philiptarlow.com/anokato

you will experience my passion for views from above. so wherever possible the athletes and performers will be portrayed from this angle.

it may sound as if these will be more illustrations than paintings, but if you glance at my recent paintings series: https://www.philiptarlow.com/2021-recentpaintings

you’ll see how i’ve used the figures in semi-abstract compositions, employing collaged elements: newspapers; magazine articles; maps and pen & ink drawings cut into pieces.

it’s still a mystery what these new ones will be like. after completing this preliminary series of watercolors, and when I can get a local woodworker to make me stretcher bars that are not warped, like the ones i’ve been ordering online, i’ll commence this new series.