day 2 of W-CUP 2 / December 27, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

2:00 PM: today was a big day; a day i’ve been waiting for. my construction friend and is now on his way to becoming a very exciting artist, had promised to build the shelving space i need in my new storage space, builtonto the south side of my studio last year.

well, the time has arrived, and he & his son, who is visiting for the holidays from the art school he’s attending on the east coast, came & did the job in just 3 under hours! mikela is in there right now organizing the paintings; something she’s very good at.

so i didn’t think i’d get any painting done today. but i did! their presence actually helped me get out of my head & do more work on day W-CUP 2. it now includes two dancing figures from the 2020 tokyo olympics final celebration, which have appeared before in recent paintings. they interact in unexpected ways with the horizontal soccer player above, who is heading a ball.

as of now the top 3/4 of the composition remains white. we’ll see tomorrow if that lasts.

day 1 of W-CUP 2 / December 26, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

2:57 PM: today i started workon W-CUP 2, which for now is inspired by the world cup finals last week. or was it two weeks ago?

i’m working on a piece of unstretched linen, and the image measures 38x18.” i had started working on this piece of primed portrait linen last month, and then for some reason i stopped, rolle dup the canvas & stuck it in a corner. found it this morning & cut it down to the new dimensions, then flipped it upside down. so now, at this early stage, it appears that this soccer player heading the ball is flying through space, having leapt off what appears to be a rocky cliff overlooking a body of water.

day 5 of w-cup 1 / December 25, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

3:16 PM: i made many additions and subtractions on day 4 of w-cup 1. it’s now more complex, yet simpler. something’s happening that could point towards resolution tomorrow, maybe. there’s now an overall cartoon-like feel, which i kinda like. i especially like the introduction, early in the day, of a creek branch at the bottom left, as well as a few suggestions of rocks & water. the yellows & pinks that have appeared at the top are mostly new additions, as are the tree trunks and blue sky.

the football players have pretty much integrated into the larger composition, although the one in the center with the blue stripes is still the main form. the vertical brown lines resembling drips, were inspired by the natural vertical markings in the silk that taiga painted on.

the yellows, blues & pinks at the top are what brings to mind the flavor of comics. and the soccer ball, while still visible, no longer jumps out as it did up until yesterday.

BELOW: yesterdays version is on the left

day 4 of w-cup 1 / December 24, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

2:27 PM: i painted over w-cup 1 again and returned to the world cup images, but this time i was painting them into the still wet grey oils. so there’s a unity that wasn’t there in the first version. the blue stripes, for example, appear less bold, and the players seem to be engaged as much in a dance as they are in a sport.

the player on the right, in yellow, is new to the composition. as of now, the main body of the composition, with the 5 visible players, is suspended between two areas of greyish, semi-transparent color, lightly masking the 2 underlying layers of the composition which, much as with the previous painting celebration, reveal a series of ambiguous, suggestive forms that help transport the entire composition to a higher plane.

*w-cup 1* as it looked at the end of my painting day today

day 3 of w-cup 1 / December 23, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

1:11 PM: gotta stop early today to get stuff done this afternoon. but it was a critical day in the evolution of this painting. i scraped it, then went over with foundation grey, scraped again and began working into the wet grey paint. it’s not there yet, but i think it’s pretty far along. and already has that layered, enigmatic look i’m loving so much lately. 2 new figures have shown up, both inspired by photos of the post-2020 tokyo olympics celebration.

day 2 of w-cup 1 / December 22, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

3:31 PM: i continued work on w-cup 1 today, moving it away from the specificity of the world cup final towards a harmonious array of forms & colors. the blue stripes of the central figure’s shirt are echoed in the blue stripes above & below him. the head of a third figure has appeared in the lower left.

now of course the question is: what will happen tomorrow? it might move in the direction of celebration, the one i completed a few days ago after painting over it with a light grey & then working into it. or it could remain as is: a rather bold and eye catching piece as i gaze at it from afar. or…..

STarTING W-CUP 1 / December 21, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

2:23 PM: this afternoon i launched into a new painting, w-Cup 1, 42x18 1/2” in oil on linen, inspired by the recent world cup games. it’s likely that much of it will transform & be painted over. but something will likely remain, as it transforms from a specific event in space & time to chen ching, or literally the real scene.

taiga / in the garden becomes celebration 42x15" / December 20, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

2:28 PM: i was not happy with in the garden,so i painted over it with a light grey and began working into it to take advantage of the still wet colors & paint into them, which is a very delicious thing.

celebration, as it is now titled, is exactly that, inspired by the celebration that took place following the 2020 tokyo olympics. previously, i made a whole series of paintings inspired by the same celebration. this one is more atmospheric and dream-like, at least for now. the painted over parts allow us to glimpse the colors and forms beneath just enough to create an atmosphere of mystery.

so now mikela and i are about to take our walk up to the stupa; about a half hour each way. it’s clouded over, but the temps are somewhat warmer than yesterday, hovering right around freezing.

see y’all tomorrow!

*celebration* 42x15" as it looked moments ago

11:28 am:

Taiga, View of Kojima Bay, 1749, hanging scroll, ink & colors on silk, 99.7x37.6 cm.

day 2 of "in the garden" / December 19, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

2:03PM: i got an early start this morning, and worked until now on the next stage of in the garden,” which is an oil on linen, 42x15.”

i made quite a few changes and additions, attempting all the while to maintain as much of the white space as possible.

glancing at it from about 20 feet as i type this post, i think it works, although i kind of miss the reds in the previous painting: skateboarder dancing.

there is an increasingly evident influence of japanese 18th c. taoist erotic paintings, as well as some elements of 18th c. landscapes by ike no taiga. the more i study his work, the more i am in awe.

tomorrow i’ll probably start a new one. i’m feeling on a roll.

starting "in the garden" / December 18, 2022 by Philip Tarlow

2:46 PM: upon entering the studio this morning, my first glance told me that , after removing the collaged elements at the very end of the day yeasterday, skateboarder dancing was resolved.

so i moved on to a new one, titled in the garden, 42x15”. it’s at the very beginning, so it’s impossible to tell where it’s headed, but that will undoubtedly become clear tomorrow, if i can get in a good days painting.