1/4/24 breakfast drawing/collage 6x9” colored pencil, oil pastel, ink & collage on paper
11:34 AM: i made a 2024 new years resolution to always have a drawing/sketch book at my side. so in keeping with that, i made a drawing/collage while having my breakfast in the studio.
2:35 PM: the yellows needed brightening up, so here’s the current state, at the end of my painting day and just before leaving to take our trail walk.
1:42 PM: after my zoom with my ukranian buddy this morning, i wandered about the studio aimlessly, searching for the book i was studying a few days ago, with an image that excited me. no luck. so about 12:30, which is the time my flow usually kicks in, i did more work on by the creek, which seemed to be asking for something more.
1:47 PM: this is yesterday’s momoyama tweaked.
i last worked on yang december 19th, but i didn’t get around to stretching it till this morning. it’s always so much easier to look at a painting when it’s stretched and doesn’t have that white border around it.
yang 37x35” oil on linen i stretched it this morning & it’s as if i’m seeing it for the first time!
momoyama, 24x26” at the end of my painting day today
2:45 PM: after completing work on by the creek, i found a 24x26” canvas sitting on the floor. it had been painted over and i can’t find a record of what was underneath, so i named it momoyama and began work on it after painting over the surface with the same yellow i used on by the creek. then ip proceeded to introduce 2 figures, and we’ll see what happens on the first day of 2024!
by the creek 37x35” as it looked at 1pm today
1:13 PM: i was intending to put by the creek aside and stretch some smaller canvases today. but, after reading another few pages of the unknown matisse last night, i had made a note to myself to check out le bonheur de vivre and when i studied that 1905 breakthrough masterpiece, i just couldn’t resist painting over that overloaded composition with yellow and working into it with some of my familiar figures viewed from above.
from a review of the book: This book tells the story with clarity and literary skill so as to make the book almost un-put-downable. It is mandatory reading for any layperson seeking to understand Matisse and his work. It is recommended reading for anyone seeking to know Matisse better than any other source will allow
a burst of energy took over, lasted for a little over an hour and now i’m going to leave it, since anything further that i do today will be coming from my head.
le bonheur de vivre, matisse, 1905 5.6x8 feet
by the creek, 35x37” as it looked moments ago following a few more adjustments. more in the morning.
2:46 PM: i toned down and or eliminated some of the brighter whites, which i was intending to do in the morning, when there are a few more adjustments i’ll make when i’m fresh. right now, i’m ready for our afternoon trail walk.
2:13 PM: this is by the creek at the end of my painting day today. i think i may eliminate or tone down some of the whites tomorrow.
12:48pm, stage 2 of the re-work of by the creek. much of the story of matisse’s early life and struggles, which i’m reading every night for 15-20 minutes before falling asleep is seeping into my consciousness. combined with my ongoing study of momoyama, a period in japanese art which lasted mid 16th to the beginning of the 17th century, a new, deeper self awareness is occuring. this quote from the great greek poet andreas embirikos was the latest thing to move and awaken me. it’s untranslatable:
12:53 PM: here’s the current state of by the creek, 35x37.”
by the creek, 35x37” stage 1 of today’s re-work
11:54: i’m in the early stages of re-working by the creek.
by the creek, 35x37” following today’s changes
2:41 PM: yet another recent painting, this one last worked on 12/6/23 was revised today. as my vision and perception chnages, i’m moved to re-visit recent work in keeping with those developments.
in studying 17th c. japanese handscrolls, i continue to discover and go deeper with that part of me that can closely relate to their colors, patterning and introduction of architectural elements that help structure the compositions. i’m still at an early stage, but every day i go deeper with my capacity to make what i observe and admire my own.
BELOW: before and after today’s work
the drummer 37x35” as she looked at the end of my painting day
3:07 PM: unusual for me to work so late, but i had to get her to this point before simplifying on friday. (i won’t be able to be in the studio tommow) she’s a tad congested, but awesome to observe. we’ll see what happens in 48 hours. let her breathe till then.
i’ve been working into the drummer, and here’s how she looks at noon. work continues; updates as they become available.
11:25 am: the drummer was last revised 4 days ago, when i went over the pick ground with a charcoal black, leaving a small area of pink on the upper left. i’m still not satisfied with it, and will do more starting in a feew minutes
10:49 just deleted my facebook & instagram accounts. so for info on my painting or other topics from now on, visit this blog.
3 recent paintings on my east wall today
the orchid 35x37” as it looked after my rework. BELOW are before & after images
1:42 PM: the more i gazed at the orchid, which i last worked on november 24, the more the ground color annoyed me. it took over the composition and didn’t allow the figures, which were too heavily outlined, to play their part in the composition. in short, it wasn’t working.
so this morning i placed it on my painting table and began reworking it. the bright pink ground is now a muddy pink; the new section on the upper right is inspired by 18th c. japanese scrolls i’ve been studying, as are the white verticals, and a faint reminder of the floor of the acropolis museum has appeared on the lower left. the woman with the red shoulder bag is new as well.
BELOW: Ithe orchid before and after today’s modifications
DETAIL of the reworked the orchid
argolid 38x36” as it looked at the end of my painting day today
2:38 PM: big changes otday to argolid. gotta run right now; miore about this later…
argolid, 38x36” as it looked ar rge end of my painting day today
2:09 PM: just wrapping up for the day after doing additional work on argolid, which is currently a creek-scape.
i kinda like the big tree trunk on the right of the composiotion, which has the markings of the bark without the color of the tree trunk itself. as i often mention, this is something that subtly takes it a step away from description and closer to meaningful patterning. i shoul say playful patterning.
that orange tinted rock has an even more pronounced color in reality, and the white-ish one is even whiter
this detail shows a few of the blues i put in on my second round of work this afternoon.
12:37 PM: after whiting over argolid 2 days ago and enjoying the sublties of what remained on the surface, i felt the urge to use a couple of my hundreds of creek photos and see what i do.
thus far, i’m having a very good time. although we haven’t been on the trail we walked when i shot these for maybe 3-4 years, i remember every detail. you might say i have a photographic memory for rocks, branches & water. but defintely not numbers!
