"afternoon moonlight," day 2 /  by Philip Tarlow

afternoon moonlight, 42x18” as she looked moments ago

2:37 PM: since my 12:34 post, afternoon moonlight has radically transformed. what i had done this morning has been scrubbed out, leaving only faint traces, and 3 familiar figures have appeared on the glass floor of the musuem. the look & feel of the compositin is now more in alignment with what i’ve been doing over the past year, leaving lots of white or in this case off white space so that the painting and the viewer can breathe deeply.

every new painting is an adventure, a journey with destinaation unknown. over recent months, as i’ve said, a menagerie of figures, mostly viewed from above, populate the journey. this couple are players in that journey. they are integrated into an architectural compositiokn; in this case the glass floor of a contemporary museum, gazing at works of art while themselves are unwittingly the subject of such a work.

12:34 PM: afternoon moonlight, 42x18” has jumped from a rough sketch yesterday to an almost (?) complete painiting at noon today. i forgot all about my molar/gum pain as i immersed myself in this new one.

it has gone further than i expected today, and i ran out of steam about an hour ago, so now i’m gazing at it to determine what, if anything is next.

afternoon moonlight, 42x18”, oil on portrait linen

“Luck and Magic” stretched / “afternoon moonlight,” day 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

luck and magic, 32x38” oil and collage on portrait linen

afternoon moonlight, 42×18” on day 1

12:59 PM: this morning i stretched luck and magic, 32x38” which was completed april 7th of this year. it’s one of the more dynmaic paintings in this series. the two figures: the guy in blue doing a dance move and the guy with the checkerboard patterned sleeve doing a handstand have an unexpected (for me) relationship. the figure in blue seems to be observing the handstand figure with awe. they are interdependent.

the painterly brush strokes provide the figues an environment mirroring their movement; free and spontaneous.

late this afternoon i started `afternoon moonlight, 42x18”. it’s just a drawing with a few colors in crayon & pastel for now, and will evolve further tomorrow morning. it’s inspired by photos i shot this past tuesday while having dinner in salida.

2 drawings made 2 days ago in salida /  by Philip Tarlow

5:19PM: two days ago we were having dinner in salida and i made a couple of drawings; one of a dog who was very interested in everything going on in the restaurant and the other of a woman sitting next to us in a colorful blouse.

although these were made very quickly and are not as rich as some of my travel drawings, they’re meaningful to me as a reminder of just how much i love drawing. i don’t think, i just draw. my colored pencils, which are always with me, move over the white surface as if they were receiving directions from an unknown source; always listening and ready in seconds to change direction or pressure. most kids make beautiful drawings for exactly the same reason; they’re not thinking, they’re allowing the pencil, crayon, brush top go where it wants to go, for as long as it wants.

morning clouds over the sangres /  by Philip Tarlow

10:45 am: on my way to the studio i photographed these beautiful cloud formations over the sangres. this could be an early sign of the predicted afternoon thunderstorms.

8/17/25 salida watercolor day 2 /  by Philip Tarlow

2:53 PM: i’m taking it slow with this one, which has a very delicate balance. no collage on this one. we’ll be back in salida soon, and maybe i’ll revisit this restaurant and take a deeper look at the colors and composition.

8/17/25 salida watercolor 15x6 1/4”, day 2

"8/16/25 watercolor/collage", 15x16” becomes "study of 1966 Diebenkorn yellow collage" / 8/17/25 salida watercolor day 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

11:30 AM: i ‘ve had my Diebenkorn book open to this page for a few weeks now, and look at it every time i pass by the table.

so this morning, as i was working on the collage/watercolor i started yesterday, it unexpectedly transformed and became what you see here: a study of Diebenkorns 1966 yellow collage in crayon & pastel. i’m still in a bit of shock at what just happened, so give me time to integrate.


1:56 PM: this afternoon i started a new one, 15x6.25”, which for now at least is a watercolor, with no collaged elements. it’s inspired by a photo i shot a few months ago in a small restaurant with indoor & outdoor seating in salida, which is a one hour drive from crestone.

16x15” study in crayon and pastel of diebenkorn’s 1966 yellow collage.

"8/16/25 WATERCOLOR/COLLAGE", DAY 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

8/16/25 watercolor/collage, 15x16” on arches watercolor paper, as she looked at the end of my painting day today

3:20 PM: this morning i started a new one: 8/16/25 watercolor/collage, 16x15” on arches watercolor paper. thusfar there are only a couple of collaged elements. i’ll pick up where i left off tomorrow, although it’s always tricky to go back into something so fresh and vibrant! looking at it now on my East wall, it literally sings!

that said, i’ve learned when it’s time to stop, and that time is now.

"in Motion III" day 2 /  by Philip Tarlow

in motion III, 16x15” watercolor & collage on arches watercolor paper as she looked this afternoon

2:37 PM: in motion III has gone to the next level this afternoon.

BELOW: yesterday’s version on the left

"in motion III" /  by Philip Tarlow

in motion III, 16x15” watercolor & gouache on arches watercolor paper, as she looked moments ago

3:55 PM: this morning i got involved in rearranging some of my recent collages, displaying some of them on my North studio wall, beneath a row of cabinets. i’m considering showing them at some point, and wante dto get an idea of how they would look together., including the new, smaller one i started and completed yesterday.

finally, a few hours ago, i took a piece of 16x15” arches watercolor paper i had cut from a larger sheet last week, and, not knowing where i was headed exactly, began a gouache/watercolor inspired by the same photograph i worked from in making my two in motion paintings in oil on linen, last month. at first i thought i couldn’t create the play of light and shadow i did with the two oils. buut i was wrong. again. it’s only day one, but i think it’s coming along nicely. so i’ll pick up where i left off tomorrow.