reviving "in flight" and "goldfish in tub" / PT WITH RECENT PAINTINGS /  by Philip Tarlow

2:45 PM: an odd day, i must say. my old macbook pro died, so i switched to this one; the M$ Pro, which has a larger screen and a much cooler liquid retina XDR display. why did i wait so long? just lazy, i guess. so when it finally bit the dust, i opened squarespace on this one and never looked back!

the other odd thing about today is that i painted over the two paintings you see here, turning them into really crappy pieces and when i got that out of my system, i scraped and wiped them both, returning them to their old selves, albeit with a bit of a faded look due to all that scrubbing.

OMG, this keyboard is so far superior!!

so here they are post-scrapping/rubbing and ready to do whatever it is i’m going to do tomorrow morning.

BELOW left: goldfish in tub, 15x17” and RIGHT: in flight, 12x14”

a recent photo taken in my studio with a grouping of recent paintings

ZOOM drawings with new fountain pen /  by Philip Tarlow

above is this is the only colored pencil drawing i made this evening during mikela’s zoom

6:20 PM: this evening mikela has a zoom focused on political issues. so i’m sitting in the room making drawings with my new Asvine transparent fountain pen, which was just delivered this afternoon and i’m already in love with!

at work on "In Flight" starting “walk & fly” /  by Philip Tarlow

2:26 PM: once i completed work on In Flight, i got started on walk & fly, which has the same dimensions: 12x14” here’s how she looks at the end of day one.

walk & fly, 12×14” oil on portrait linen, at the end of day one

In Flight, 12×14” oil on portrait linen, as she looked following this morning’s work

11:50 AM: this mornign i was moved to do more work on the 12x14” In Flight. reds, blues and blacks were added as well as ochre trousers on the dancing figure.

yet ANOTHER rework of "passing through" !!?? “in flight” continued today but as yet unresolved /  by Philip Tarlow

11:53: while listening to a series of BEETLES classics on youtube, i made more changes and improvements to passing though. here she is.

so how, how did she emerge? Dunno, but my best guess is that, over time ripening has occured; soul ripening. and along with that, the eyes see what they didn’t used to and the hand with the brush moves to the soul’s music, boom, batta boom, bam, batta bam.

know that yesterday my voice therapist recommended singing daily for 10 minutes. so i put on The Beetles on youtube, began singing along, did some more on passing through, …..

passing through, 12x14” oil on portrait linen, moments ago

6:36 PM: i did a bit more on in flight today, but, as small as it is, it needs more…on second thought, maybe it’s resolved!

yet another rework of "passing through" /  by Philip Tarlow

passing through, 12x14” oil on portrait linen, as she looked moments ago, at 12:30pm

12:36 PM: when i gazed at this painting upon entering my studio this morning, it wasn’t quite doing it for me. i just now completed yet another rework, and i’m waiting till tomorrow to evaluate. so far i think it rocks!

rework of “Passing Through” / man walking /  by Philip Tarlow

passing through, 12 x 14 1/2” oil on portrait linen, at the end of my painting day today

1:37 PM: before going out on our trail walk, i scrubbed out man waking, revealing passing through underneath, which i reworked and greatly improved, so that it has become one of my better recent paintings, despite it’s small size. reads really well from a distance, and confirms what i already knew: keep at it until you find the magic.

man walking, 12x14 1/2” oil on portrait linen

11:07 AM: i revised man walking, 12x14 1/2” this morning, which i painted over passing through.

UPDATING “passing through” and STarTING “IN FLIGHT’‘ travolta dances / next exhibition title: “Just Below the Groove” /  by Philip Tarlow

passing through, 12x14 1/2” oil on portrait linen

in flight, 12x14 1/2” oil on linen on day one

this morning i continued work on passing through, which i started yesterday. it‘s now resolved and will be stretched as soon as i order the stretcher bars.

i started work on in flight, which has the same dimensions as passing through: 12x14 1/2” i’ll continue tomorrow morning.

Pulp Fiction Legendary Dance Scene (John Travolta + Uma Thurman) click on the linkbelow and watch travolta dance

Boxoffice Movie Scenes


“passing through” / HIGHLY recommended Matisse bio!! /  by Philip Tarlow

passing through, 12×14 1/2” oil on xtra fine portrait linen

2:29 PM: thjis afternoon i started work on the first of the seven 14x15 1/2” pieces of portrait linen i discovered while cleaning up a few days ago. titled passing through, it was inspired by a photo i shot at least 5 years ago while looking down at wlking figures, from an upper area of a mall, likely in denver. it may be complete; i’ll know tomorrow morning when i have a fresh look at it.

i am re-reading this wonderful biography of Matisse, which I highly recommend!