my east studio wall, with 11 recent paintings in oil on linen
my south studio wall with 5 recent paintings in oil on linen. the one on the door is a study of vermeer, from 2020
4:49 PM: today i hung my recent work on the east and south studio walls, giving the studio visitor a sense of what i’ve been up to over the last 4-5 months.
2021 watercolor/collage
moonlight pizza, 25x25” oil on portrait linen, following this morning’s additions
12:08 PM: i made some improvements to yesterday’s version.
dinner on hockney’s deck, 38x48” was painted in 1987, in gouache on 4 pieces of paper. at the time i was living and painting in L.A., and made frequent visits to david’s studio. we had been introduced some years earlier by our mutual friend, the late henry geldzahler.
dinner on hockney’s deck, 1987, 38x48” gouache on 4 sheets of paper
1:52 PM: moonlight pizza, day 2, 3pm
3 PM: i took moonlight pizza to the next stage today
6:37 PM: as i was going through one of our bookcases, i came across this small book of drawings from 2022. i photographed them and put them in a pages document:
drawing for moonlight pizza, 25x25” colored pencil on extra fine portrait linen
2:51 PM: today i stretched another 25x25” extra fine portrait linen and began the drawing for moonlight pizza, where we ate yesterday following my periodontist appointment.
magique, 25x25” oil on portrait linen, as she looked after painting over then wiping that out…softer
3:57 PM: magique was a bit too intense, so i painted over it, then rubbed that out. so it’s now simpler, softer and easier to view.
magique, 25x25” oil on portrait linen, as she looked at the end of my painting day today
3 PM: i stretched one more 25x25” canvas this morning, and immediately got to work on magique. i was in a good space, and as i cast glances at it on my east studio wall, i kinda looks resolved. the figure of the guitar player derives from a seies of photos i shot, god know when. neither of us can recall who that guy was, but he was definitly a peripheral figure in our lives. the deep red i added at the very end makes it sing, which is the whole point, isn’t it?
9:33 AM: yesterday afternoon, mikela and i looked crtically at the modifications i made to girlfriends and guys walkin and concluded that the original versions were by gar superior. so, while the oil paint was still wet, i removed what i had done and brought them back to their previous state.
we both agreed, however, that the modifications i made to woman with suitcase were successful.
1:35 PM: today i modified 3 earlier paintings and brought them into alignment with the ones i’ve been working on over the past week. woman with a suitcase was simplified. i painted over much of the pavement she’s walking on and introduced the blues, pinks and yellows that have recently entered my palette. the same with guys walkin and girlfriends.
they all now work hanging side by side with walking woman, which i completed last wednesday. and man walking, which i tweaked yesterday.
woman with a suitcase, 35x26” oil on portrait linen, following today’s modifications
guys walkin 28x28” oil on portrait linen, following todays modifications
girlfriends, 25x25” oil on portrait linen, following todays modifications
12:36 PM: this morning i made some minor but important tweaks to yesterday’s man walking and musician and goldfish, and walking with goldfish. all 3 were bugging me as being too busy. following my modifications to musician & goldfish, the beauty of the woman with the suitcase was revealed. the black i added next to her arm allows that area to pop and the light pinkish grey surrounding her and the additional figure it hides gives the viewer breathing space, allowing the eye to take in the musician & goldfish bowl.
in walking with goldfish, the area above the walking man and his shoulder bag was greatly simplified. the blue shape in the upper right corner and the yellow vertical beneath it provide an elegant balance to the composition, as well as allowing the eye to absorb the painterly marks that make up the walking figure.
2/20/26 man walking, 25x25” oil on portrait linen, following today’s tweaks
musician & goldfish, 35x26” oil on portrait linen, following todays modifications
walking with goldfish, 35x26” oil on portrait linen.
BELOW: the 3 paintings as they looked before today’s modifications
