final version: "2 girls with phones & muffins" /  by Philip Tarlow

2 girls with phones & muffins, 33x25” oil on portrait linen, as she looked at the end of my painting day today

3:23PM: earlier today i completed work on 2 girls with phones & muffins,I 33x25”

she reached this point and i tacked her to my east studio wall, thinking i’d continue working on her. when mikela saw her, she said it looked resolved to her. so i’m going to sit with it for a few days and see how i feel.

imust say, the white spaces are critical to the composition and i’m glad i didn’t fill any of them in.

tweak to "the musician" and day 1 of "2 girls with phones & muffins" /  by Philip Tarlow

2 girls with phones & muffins, 35x26”, oil on portrait linen, as she looked at the end of my painting day

2:48 PM: earlier today, i made a tweak to the painitng i made yeaterday: the musician, 35x26” by simply going over and giving definition to the colored pencil drawing of his legs, which was not easy to make out at a distance, with brown-ish oil paint.

then i got to work in the next 35x26” oil on portrait linen, titled 2 girls with phones & muffins. it’s kind of a silly title, but that’s exactly what the subject matter is! and yes, goldfish will eventually become a part of this composition, which i’m taking especially slow, since my first area of focus are the two girls themselves. they are, as you might expect, viewed from above, so the details of their clothing and the positioning of their bodies are critical; as usual, painterly strokes are all important, which involves spontaneous brush movements which, at the same time must define the figures, the light and shadow, their clothing and, of course their phones and muffins!

the muffins, by the way, will appear tomorrow.

BELOW: the musician, 35x26” oil on portrait linen, tweaked with greater definition on the drawing of his legs

12/5/25 the musician /  by Philip Tarlow

THE MUSICIAN. 35x26” oil on portrait linen, as it looked at the end of my painting day today

3:37 PM: i continued work on the musician, 35x26” which i started this morning. it contains elements of recent paintings in a new composition, featuring a street musician i photographed 5-10 years ago on a visit to athens, where my son & grandkids live.

12/5/25 the musician, 35x26” oil on portrait linen, on day1 at 1:30pm

1:28 PM: i started a new 35x26’ painting today. this is an early stage. it’s inspired by a photo i shot in athens about 5-10 years ago of a street musician.

"walking with goldfish", day 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

walking with goldfish, 35x26” oil on portrait linen, as she looked at the end of day 1

3 PM: today, a snowy, windy day, i started work on the second 35x26” piece of portrait linen i cut from the roll a few days ago. i referred to a photo i’ve used previously in another painting and painted over. but i like the figure, with her multicolored shoulder bag, and was moved, halfway in, to include the goldfish bowl i’ve used in recent work.

thus far, in comparison with my recent ano kato series works, this one has more vibrant colors and a looser composition. you can make out the beginnings of a different composition in blue, which i abandoned and was kind of aware it would come in handy when i painted a new one over it. i’m getting a lot of inspiration from the matisse biography i’ve been re-reading.

"woman with suitcase", day 3 /  by Philip Tarlow

woman with a suitcase, 35x26” oil on portrait linen, as she looked at the end of my painting day

2:47 PM: i got an early start today because mikela had to be in alamosa by 8:30. i got a lot done. the surfacew she’s walking on is completed, along with the mauve shadows. the figure has been brough to a stage of completion; i added the blue band on the right, which i think works compositionally; and i spent the last hour or so on the suitcase, which has gone through many changes….i think this verson works though.

we’re expecting snow starting late tonight into tomorrow, so i’m glad i was able to do as much as i did while the light was pretty good. i do prefer these dimensions, as oposed to the previos 25x25” compositions.

BELOW: 3 stages of woman with a suitcase.

"woman with suitcase", day 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

woman with a suitcase, 35x26” oil on portrait linen, on day 1

2:35 PM: i cut 2 38x30” pieces from my new roll of extra fine portrait linen and started work on woman with suitcase, 35x26”. it’s way too early to get a sense of it, but i feel it’s a good start.