study #9 for tokyo olympics series / morning skies as snow approaches / studio storage room completed /  by Philip Tarlow

2:06 PM: I started working on tokyo olympics series #9. it’s inspired by photos of another skate boarder, arms flung back as he jumps with his board. this is phase 1, which will continue tomorrow.

I always love these early phases, where there’s lots of white space and it’s left to the viewer to fill in the blanks.

7:18 AM: our morning skies show some signs of approaching snowfall this afternoon and evening.

4:30 PM: BELOW: snow squalls began moving in mid-afternoon. we probably won’t get more than an inch, but every little bit counts when you’re in draught.

yesterday afternoon work was completed on my new studio storage space, after almost a month of on and off work. i’m going to leave the walls as is since it’s a storage space and i kind of like the patterning.

study #8 for olympic celebration /  by Philip Tarlow

3:03 PM: I made further modifications to study #8 for olympic celebration, adding some collaged bits to break up that curve on the upper left, which was dominating the composition.

the upper portion of the composition now integrates with the whole and allows it to breathe.

that may be it for today, and i’ll see how it strikes me in the morning. but i’ll probably bring it back to the house so that we can both gaze and give our reactions.

2:19 PM: i’ve been working on study #8 for olympic celebration since I last. posted, about 2 hours ago. work is being completed on my new storage room today, so there were a few interruptions. I introduced collaged elements when I felt I could take the watercolor painting phase no further.

the curved piece on the top left is critical to this composition, as are the red strip beneath his skate board and the map fragment covering his hand, on the left.

12:29 PM: this morning I completed study #7 for olympic celebration and immediately launched in to phase 1 of study #8 for my olympic celebration series. once again, we have a skateboarder, this time with red pants & a cool patterned hat. it’s easy to forget that these are NOT paintings of skateboarders! they are, simply, paintings. they are marks made with, in this case a pencil and watercolor brush. as always, the “subject” is space, color, painterly marks, creating the illusion of skateboarders.

completing study #7 for olympic celebration /  by Philip Tarlow

10:47 AM: a few more small but important strokes and yesterdays new watercolor, now a watercolor/collage, is complete. the small bits of red & blue beneath his skateboard are what I just did, along with the curved line defining the brim of his cap.

and now, on to my next one. stay tuned…

BELOW: yesterdays version is on the left

starting study #7 for olympic celebration /  by Philip Tarlow

2:56 PM: I started painting a new skateboarder, which i’ll continue in the morning. although, looking at it right now, it doesn’t really need a whole helluva lot.

a bit, a very small bit of collage may show up just beneath his skate board. we’ll see in the morning.

yesterdays creek walk /  by Philip Tarlow

7:20 PM: the colors were spectacular when we took our walk up the trail yesterday. ice had formed on the rocks, creating a beautiful pattern.

i made a 10 minute reed pen sketch before strating back down the trail with mikela.

study #6 for olympic celebration continued /  by Philip Tarlow

studies 2,3,4 & 6 for the olympic celebration series

1:30 PM: I continued work on study #6 for olympic celebration. collage was used to enrich the composition and introduce a note of playfulness, mirroring the energy of the entire celebration.

there’s a recurrence of checkered patterning throughout the celebration, both on the clothing designs and the background sets. this particular acrobatic figure had none of that, but I introduced it anyway when I determined that the blackness of her garment was taking away from the composition as a whole.

the acid test in this series is to place the latest one in process next to the others and see if it works, which it does. so i’m thinking this one may be resolved and I can move on to the next one.

later this afternoon we’ll be walking up the trail. i’ll have my reed pen, ink & sketchbook with me & will post if I make a sketch.

BELOW: left: how it looked yesterday afternoon and right: moments ago

at work today on study #6 for olympic celebration

study #5 for olympic celebration framed / drawing for study #6 for olympic celebration /  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 /  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 /  by Philip Tarlow

olympics celebration studies 1-5

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 /  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.