12/20/14 preparing for parade 18, plus, a big surprise!! / by Philip Tarlow

1:24pm update: i was surprised when the fedex truck pulled up to my studio. normally we don't get deliveries on saturday in our remote area. i forgot they make an exception for the week before christmas. i hope they pay their drivers extra!

so my artfix L64U portrait linen arrived! i'm SO excited! it's just as fine a surface as the L84U, but heavier and more suited to larger paintings. OMG!! now i have to order more large stretcher bars & maybe i can start the first one of the 5x5' and 6x6' parade series before the new year!!

i've been combing through photos i took last week at lone tree mall in denver. previously i had called it cherry creek mall, but mikela reminded me it was lone tree. there are many factors which led me to settle on this particular shot. it contains just the right balance of textural interest, compositional and human components that get me turned on. as tsarouchis always said, this is what gets you through all the necessary preparatory steps involved in creating a painting in this genre, where preparatory drawings are necessary, etc. 

more later..........