day 2 of "tokyo olympics 17" /  by Philip Tarlow

5:44 PM: when mikela got back an hour ago, i showed her what i had done, prefacing it by saying “here’s what i do on a bad day.”

she said “i think what you did today is magnificent!” and “i want it for myself!”

so go figure. she never lies, and has a great eye.

3:27 PM: today was kinda messed up. i had to walk back & forth to the house because the guys were caulking the new windows. so that interrupted my rhythm big time, plus mikela had to leave for school earlier than usual, at 7, which meant getting up to prepare & make her coffee at 5, but to be safe i got up at 4. so i’m pretty tired right now, andi have no idea what i did. it ain’t bad, but ….i’ll see how i feel about it tin the morning, but i can’t be in the studio tomorroow because of a dental appointment, so maybe thursday?

tokyo olympics 17 at the end of my painting day

starting "tokyo olympics 17" /  by Philip Tarlow

3:44 PM: this morning i started tokyo olympics 17, which at this point seems very similar to the previous one, which i completed yesterday. but as you all know things can change, and tomorrow is another day.

i’m still undecided as to whether or not to try and get my athens exhibition catalogue printed here or on athens. but i need to make a final decision in the next few days if i’m going to get it done in time. right now, i feel like i’d much rather spend my time on new paintings, so i’m leaning on having it done there, but i’m waiting to find out what the comparative cost will be. clearly it will be less expensive to use one of the online apps to get it done here, but that will be something i’ve never done before and i need to learn the ropes.

tokyo olympics 17 at the end of my painting day today

tokyo olympics 16, some small changes this morning / AND Major CHANGES THIS AFTERNOON! /  by Philip Tarlow

tokyo olympics 16 at 11am this morning

tokyo olympics 16 as it looked at the end of my painting day

2:14 PM: following the slight modifications to tokyo olympics 16 that i made earlier today, when it was still a horizontal composition, i flipped it 90° and began working on it as a vertical composition. it seemed as if the singer who was on the left deserved to be upright!

i took out much of the creek related marks, such as the flowing blue-green water and instead added a second singer with mike on the middle left portion of the composition. i also painted over most of the blacks, which were detracting from what has become a rather delicate composition. the reds & yellows carry the day now, with the only blue being the patterning on the shirt of the singer at the top, with a small blue accent of color remaining at the bottom right.

to my eyes, this painting is now refreshingly spare, allowing the viewer space to wander about at will without getting stuck on any unnecessary details or marks. right now, looking at the rest of the paintings in this series on my east wall, this has become one of my favorites. everything ging on just to the right of the new second singer was taken out not by collaging, but with a thick layer of white oil paint, applied with one of my palette knives.

11:44 AM: this morning so far, i’ve introduced a couple of collaged elements to break up the blacks on the upper left, which were too dominant.

day 2 of tokyo olympics 16 /  by Philip Tarlow

tokyo olympics 16 as it looked at the end of my painting day today

2:26 PM: i did some more painting on tokyo olympics 16 this morning, so it’s now more complex than it was, but hopefully not too busy. many patterns going on simultaneously…the clincher may happen tomorrow. morning, when i’m fresh.

BELOW: yesterday’s version with today’s

tweaks to "roiling creek 2" / starting "tokyo olympics 16," 15 1/2 x 37 1/4” /  by Philip Tarlow

3:10 PM: i collaged the paper i had taped to this painting yesterday afternoon to see whether it worked or not. when i came in this morning, it was clear that the painting improved with the collaged piece, so i proceeded to attach it permanantly. the straight line where the collaged map above the rock at the top of the composition was bothering me, so i broke it up. there are i few other things i’m just now noticing, which i’ll address tomorrow morning.

DETAIL of the green marks breaking up the straight edge of the collaged map


then i started a new one: tokyo olympics 16, which you see here in stage 1. while it has elements of previous oils in the series, thus far it has a beautiful, elegant simplicity that i’d like to maintain throughout the process. the yellows were inspired by an 18th c. japanese woodblock print.

tokyo olympics 16, 15 1/2 x 37 1/4” oil on triple primed portrait linen

"roiling creek 2" a major intervention today /  by Philip Tarlow

4:01 PM: i made a last minute change, which is temporary unless i decide tomorrow morning, to callage that piece of white paper on the left, which right now is just taped down and can be removed easily.

2:28 PM: when i entered my studio this morning & glanced at roiling creek 1 & 2, i realized immediately that my problem yesterday & the day before, when i did most of the work on #2, was that i was trying to create a companion piece to #1. in art, trying never works.

so, feeling free from the need or desire to create a painting that would look like it should be hanging next to #1, i got to work with a freedom and, dare i say, bravado that was missing over the past two days. i was, however, able to maintain some elements of the previous version, but for all intents and purposes, it’s a brand new painting.

i did a fair amount of collaging, using maps and drawings i had made months ago with the intention of cutting them up and using them as collage elements in a painting or paintings.

i also made some marks that echo japanese script, based on 18th c. japanese paintings. only one remains as of now, and it’s in the lower right corner of the composition.

what i notice, as i sit in my usual typing spot, about 25 feet from the wall where the paintingis currently positioned, in the space. whereas roiling creek 2 was jammed up, it now breathes; even sings!

BELOW: the before (left) and after

"roiling creek 2" tweaks /  by Philip Tarlow

10:57 AM: i had a little time in the studio this morning, but will be out the rest of the day.

ling creek 1iwhile gazing at roiling creek 2 last night, my eye caught something i wanted to tweak this morning. if you look at my post yesterday and carefully observe roiling creek 1, and the rocks in the upper central portion of the composition, you’ll see that the dominant ones have a dark ouline. i felt that would likely make a significant difference in roiling creek 2, so in the short amount of time i had, i made that addition, which i think works.

BELOW: before (left) and after my tweaks this morning

roiling creek 2 17 1/2 x 21" /  by Philip Tarlow

roiling creek 2 17 1/2 x 21” oil & collage on linen, as it looked at the end of my painting day today

3:28 PM: today i started what could be considered a commission. mikela has been asking my whether i could make a painting that could be shown next to roiling creek 1, which was painted last year and has been one of her favorites. I’ve been contemplating it for about a month, and finally i felt like today was the day.

because of the nature of roiling creek 1, i felt it was best to not use a fresh piece of primed white portrait linen. so i searched through my storage area and came across a 36x36” painting i had started about 4 months ago. i was not happy with it, so i painted over it with a thin layer of tan-ish oils, rolled it up & stored it.

so i removed it from the storage space and cut it down to accomodate a painting exactly the same size as roiling creek 1: 17 1/2 x 21”

as i worked this morning, i kept glancing over at roioling creek 1 to get a feel for the vibe, since it was painted so many months back & i’m now in a different space. so far, i’m feeling good about it. it has that same energy as the original, a similar composition and colors….i’ll know better when i look at it with fresh eyes on thursday, since i won’t be in the studio tomorrow.

BELOW: the original painting, roiling creek 1 is on the left.

tweaks to "cottonwood creek 2" / tweaks to “dancing skateboarder” /  by Philip Tarlow

once i completed tweaks to cottonwood creek 2, i decided to make some adjustments to dancing skateboarder, which i hadn’t worked on since 1/28/22, or almost exactly one year.

if you study the BEFORE and AFTER below, you will observe some subtle but important changes. look at the top of his hat, and you’ll see a dark blue line separating the hat form the background & making it stand out more. the same goes for his left sleeve, where the cuff is more accented. and finally, if you have a look at the red area above his head, you’ll see some shadows that weren’t there before. that’s it for now. i’ll cast gazes at it throughout the rest of the afternoon & see if there’s anything else i’m moved to do.

at work this morning on cottonwood creek 2 16x37 1/2” oil on portrait linen

111:02 AM: before leaving for school this morning, mikela stopped by to have a look at cottonwood creek 2. she gave me valuable and, i think accurate feedback on a few areas of the composiiton, which i’ve been addressing over the past few hours.

firstly, she observed that the area of black in the upper central portion of the composition was too much, and pulled the eye away from the rest of the composition. secondly, she felt that the area of red just below that somehow needed breaking up. and finally, she felt the area on the lower right, which was drawn in but not painted, needed a little something along the lines of the area of rocks & water on the lower left.

the BEFORE and AFTER can be seen BELOW

“cottonwood creek 2” day 2 /  by Philip Tarlow

cottonwood creek 2 16x37 1/2” oil on portrait linen, following today’s work

1:32 PM: i continued work on cottonwood creek 2 this morning, following the discoveries i made with cottonwood creek 1 a few days ago, which by the way feels like a few decades ago. a muted black, reds & yellows play a critical role in transitioning this painting from a creek-scape to a mystery-scape. the central blue form, derived from the costume of a tokyo olympics skateboarder, gives the eye pause; is this a windblown version of the tree trunks on the upper right, or….and what does “this image” refer to?

i love the way i’ve been starting these first two cottonwood creek series paintings, with realist elements inspired by photos i shot a few years back during one of my plein air sessions at nearby cottonwood creek.

the relationship between these descriptive marks identifying rocks, water & branches and the geometric primary colored patterning is left to the viewer to decipher. but that muted black is where the imagination keeps returning, taking the eye further back than the blue sky on the upper right, into an unknown territory.

a lifetime of observing and painting the landscape laid the groundwork for this moment.

today’s palette

at work this morning on cottonwood creek 2