"celebration 28," day 2 /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration 28 as she looked at the end of my painting day

3:07 PM: it’s been raining pretty heavily most of the day and will likely continue through sunset. i continued work on the new celebration 28, and was obliged to use artificial light. it’s evelving and definitly looks like a sibling hanging next to the previous two paintings. the violet tree trunk shape up top needs to be somehow broken up, but i think the newly collaged elements enrich the composition. she’s beginning to sing her song but hasn’t yet figured out all the chords.

CELEBRATION 28, DAY 1 / tweaks to "celebration 26" / MY NEW KLEE BOOK /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration 28 32x36" oil on linen, on day one

3:58 PM: i started painting celebration 28 this afternoon, following the tweaks i made earlier in the day to celebration 26. it’s a rather more ambitious beginning than usual, and thus far it’s following in the footsteps of it’s two predecessors.

celebration 26, 36x36” oil & collage on portrait linen, as she looked following this mornings tweaks

12:42 PM: the central portion of celebratiopn 26 wasn’t working in the composition, so i did some work on it this morning, on this unusual rainy dark day. i collaged a piece of paper on which i had drawn, worked into the surrounding area with oils and added a basketball hoop just to the right of the jumping player in blue. i was surprised at what a difference that basket made, making the entire upper left area more coherent, giving the eye something to bounce off…pardon the pun!

BELOW; before (left) and after todays tweaks

BELOW: details of the painting

after all these years, i finally bought a book on paul klee. it’s rated the best, most comprehensive one, and i can’t wait to begin reading it.

simplification of "celebration 22" /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration 22, 32x36” following todays re-work.

3:43 PM: today’s work is part of on ongoing need to simplify some of my recent celebration series painitngs. in this one was attempting to be true to the elements if composition in the photo i shot of an acrobat performing in the 2024 tokyo olympics. the more i gazed at it on my east painting wall, the more i felt the need to simplify elements of the composition that seemed to take away from the 4 stages of flips this acrobat is performing.

i mixed a warm ochre and began working over it. as i did, i reworked two of the figures; the one on the left and the 2nd figure in from the right. it’s almost there, and tomorrow morning i’ll see what more needs work. see the before & after pics BELOW.

and as i gaze at it, my eye keeps shifting over to the the one i’ve been re-working over the past 2 days: celebration 26. i’m 50-50 on whether or not to simplify it, since the composiiotn is far more integrated with the figures.

BELOW: celebration 22 before & after todays changes

tweaks to yesterdays re-work of "Celebration 26" /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration 26, 36x36” oil & collage on portrait linen as she looked at 2pm, following some tweaks to yesterdays version

2:32 PM: i made some tweaks to the re-work of celebration 26. the blacks in the central area of the painting were too intense, and the blue leaf like shapes, also in the center, were a bit too big. i also made some improvements to the upper right area, adding leaf shapes which echo the ones on the left. part of my inspiration for the composition and colors is from a klee print i found, which i just can’t stop looking at!

celebration 26 re-work /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration 26 32x36" oil & collage on linen, following todays re-work.

i’ve been casting critical glances at celebration 26 since i last worked on it, september 2nd. it was too confusing to the eye, so today i decided to go back into it. the overall sienna gound is pretty much gone and right now, bold blue and green forms dominate, allowing us to go between the 5 main figures more easily, while listening to the music and harmony of the overall composition. as well, i added a collaged piece of paper with a calligraphic ink drawing on the lower right portion of the composition, hiding one of the uncessarily complex portions of the composition.

something new is happening with my paintings; something more bold….

BELOW: celebration 26 before & after todays work

celebration 27 collaged /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration 27 following the tweak to the lower right portion.

BELOW: before and after taking out the bit of drawing in the lower right

3:54 PM: i made one tweak to celebration 27 before ending my painting day today. if you look at the image of the painting i posted earlier, at 1:21, you will notice a drawing of the pelvis and legs of a female on the lower right. that was what remained of my original direction, which was to use a photo of a tennis player from the 2024 tokyo olympics about to serve. it no longer belonged in this new composition, so i took it out, revealing the blank white canvas.

1:21 PM: go with your gut is the way to operate as a painter. today, aftyer my all important first gaze, my gut said collage. so i made some new drawings with my black litho pencil, cut them up and began the colllaging process. where should each cut up piece go? try here, try there, go with your gut!

a few areas were too bright, so i went back in the a light grey, teasing the surface without making heavy marks. here’s how she looked moments ago.

next stage of “celebration 27” / portrait of a friend / small oil of my grandson philip /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration 27, 32x36” oil on portrait linen, as she looked at the end of my painting day

3:10 PM: i added that violet brush stroke to the right of the tennis player; otherwise everything is the same as it was in the earlier version i posted at 1:56 PM.

celebration 27, 32x36” oil on portrait linen, as she looked moments ago

1:56 PM: in other words, almost 2pm! i continued work on celebration 27 this afternoon, taking a few cues from klee.

portrait of a friend, 10x12” oil & collage on portrait linen, as she looked moments ago, at the end of my painting day

3:15 PM: i’ve been working on this 12x10” portrait of a friend for the past 3 days. i may have resolved her today, when i added the red & green stripes, added another tree to the ones already there in wang meng’s 14th c. calligraphic piece & tweaked the figure.

12:28 PM: i made this tiny oil portrait of my grandson philip in 2007, when he was 15 months old.

2007 portrail of philip, oil on linen, 8.8x13.4 cm.

celebration 27 continued /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration 27, 32x36” as she looked this afternoon at the end of my painting day

4:07 PM: i had taken steps towards a composition with multiple figures yesterday but today i found myself getting excited about a photo of one of the tennis players in the us open. we’ll see where she goes tomorrow.

re-visiting "words & worlds" /  by Philip Tarlow

words & worlds, 42x40” which was completed on april 20, ‘24

2:37 PM: i completed words & worlds, 42x40” back on late april. since then, being one of my favorites, it’s been hanging on my studio wall. this afternoon, i shot a few details of the painting, which you see here.

all morning i’ve been working on a 12x8” potrait of a friend here in crestone, which i’m not going to post for reasons of privacy. if he feels ok with me posting it, maybe you’ll see it tomorrow. this is just day one, and there’s still a lot to do. the portrait is from aphoto i shot of him a while back. he was kind of surprised that i was going to make this painting of him, so i explained that, during my 15 year stay in greece, i made quite a few portraits; many of construction workers from a site near my studio at the time. whevever i glanced at the printout of the photo, i felt a longing to paint a portrait. so i found a piece of portrait linen, upon which i had painted a dark grey ground some time ago, and transfered a tracing of the photo onto the canvas. let’s see where she takes me tomorrow.