tweaking shinkeizou & taking next steps with hu 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

2:53 PM: today, after our delightful morning trail walk, i made some tweaks to shinkeizou; specifically to the hair & blouse of the female figure seated on the left as well as the addition of a yellow vertical stripe on the upper right.

hu 1, which i whited over and started anew yesterday, has progressed substantially, although it’s still very much in a formative state. the white i used to cover the underlying hu 1 was still not dry, so it picked up whatever color i was applying today & kind of greyed it all. the walking, plaid shirted figure of the good doctor has once again twice entered the composition. however in the as yet partially defined figure on the upper right, he’s not walking, but rather interacting with his girlfriend, also ill defined for the moment. the swimming duck below is reflected in the water. it’s too early in the process for this new composition to have jelled, but it’s showing promise. so tomorrow, when the white will have dried more, it will begin coming together.

shinkeizou 38x20”/96.5x51cm. at 3pm

hu 1 38x20”/96.5x51 cm. at 3pm

shinkeizou continued / whiting over hu 1 /  by Philip Tarlow

shinkeizou, 38x20”/96.5x51cm. as it looked after this mornings work

1:18 PM: following our 2 day visit with friends in carbondale, i was back in the studio this morning, rejujinated and pumped to go. feels like we’ve been away for weeks, not days! somehow being in a completely different environment, sleeping in a different bed, having different conversations, allowed me to get back to shinkeizou with fresh energy.

i knew right away what i wanted to do, which is that pinkish reddish color above & beneath the figures seated at the table, as well as adding the last figure of a woman seated on the upper right.

but it still needs work, so the table with it’s diners will break up tomorrow, opening up the composition and making it more in alignment with the others in this series. see them by clicking on CURRENT in the menu bar or just going to this link: https://www.philiptarlow.com/current

DETAIL of the newly added figure

3:24 PM: this afternoon i decided to paint over hu 1 & flip it 360°. when i gazed at it next to the more recent series, it just wasn’t ding it for me. so here’s where it’s at now, which of course will change tomorrow morning.

BELOW: hu 1 before and after whiting over & flipping it

watercolor yesterday in carbondale wilderness /  by Philip Tarlow

carbondale wilderness watercolor 8/10/23

8:51 PM: yesterday my friend dan & i went to a remote spot he knows in a remote area of the carbondale, co. we found a nice shady spot. he brought a couple of really comfortable folding chairs and we both sat down side by side, took out our respective watercolors and began painting the landscape. there was a nice breeze & a perfect temperaturewe were silent except when i asked to use his fan brush, and after about an 90 minutes of painting, we stopped & packed up.

shinkeizou /  by Philip Tarlow

7:14 AM: i won’t be able to continue work on shinkeizou until this coming saturday morning. but in looking at it in the photo, i’m thinking i may leave it as is.

i was intending to extend the table with it’s plates full of food and add dditional figures in the upper right, painting over the blue oil pastel. but now i’m leaning towards not doing that, remembering that it’s a composition, and evaluating it in that light.

DETAIL of the area i was ging to paint over

it owuld be so cool if i had two of these, exactly the same. then i’d leave one as is and do what i was planning on the second one.

shinkeizou, 38x20”/96.5x51cm.

gained vision IV re-worked....again / shinkeizou stage 2 / “jazz 8” in sunlight /  by Philip Tarlow

7pm: about 15 minutes ago, the sunlight streamed in through one of our West windows, creating this magic on jazz 8.

4pm: i did a lot more to shikenzou, which for the moment is looking like a family dinner party. some of the underlying creekscape remains. the blue oil pastel marks to the right will probably be gone, which requires first rubbing them out with solvent. if i try to paint over them, the blue will smear into whatever color i’m using. but i could spray it with fixative, which would probably be easier.

shinkeizou, stage 2

12:31 PM: i continued work on shinkeizou. i’m gradually painting over the first layer of creek branches, and instead a dinner party is emerging.

9:56 AM: i whited over gained vision IV and began a drawing of a figure sitting on a rock at yialia beach, andros, gazing out at the sea. it’s still pretty wet, so i dragged it over to my storage room, propped it on some boxes and photographed it. it will stay there till it’s dry enough to work into tomorrow.

gained vision IV in my storage room following a white-over

revising "kosode" and "gained vision IV" /  by Philip Tarlow

gained vision IV 80x20” oil on linen, at the end of today

1:49 PM: i had considered these two paintings completed, but when i entered my studio i felt kosode was too busy. and when i brought the newly stretched gained vision IV didn’t work at all. that’s the value of bringing a newly completed painting over to the house. the big, open space with nothing else close by allows a much more definitive evaluation than when it’s in the studio, surrounded by other recent work.

kosode 38x20” oil on linen, at the end of today’s work

starting "shinkeizou" /  by Philip Tarlow

1:13 PM: i’m feeling that kosode is resolved, but i’ll keep glancing from time to time. this morning i stretched gained vision IV on the new aluminum stretcher bars that were delivered a few days ago. i won’t go into detail, but assumbling the aluminum bars was a bitch!!!

so here you see the newly stretched gained vision IV next to the just completed kosode, tacked to the wall.

i started work on shinkeizou this morning after my stretching adventure. it has the same dimensions as the previous two: 38x20”/96.5x51cm. right now it’s in the exploratory, anything goes phase, with the dominant feature being a large branch in the creek surrounded by foaming water and rocks. but a city view from above has snuck in, along with a HU musician playing his instrument…

at work moments ago on the new painting: shinkeizou

2:17 PM: shinkeizou 38x20” on it’s first day in the world

more work on "kosode" this morning /  by Philip Tarlow

11:12 AM: i got an early start today and got straight to work on kosode. i took out 2 of the figures, including the plaid shirted guy i painted in yesterday afternoon. i added in a guy who’s hard to see, but he’s just to the right of the dancing girl with the checkered shorts. he is inspired by a photo i shot of local workers installing our new windows a few months ago. if you look at the corner of the grey triangle you’ll see him crouching there. as well, to the left of the dancing girl is one of those windows, through which you can see the landscape looking out over the valley.

all that is well and good, but it’s the composition that i’m focused on, which is now doing some interesting, playing on spatial relationships. it causes the eye to jump from one plane to another and may give you the feeling that you just may tumble over the edge and fly down to a lower level. and that’s because there is a lower level! i riffed off the photo of our home’s interior, shot from the upper level. so that’s the origin of the crouching figure, seen from above. the diagonal lines just above the crouching figure are the iron bannisters running along the stairs going up to the top floor.

the yellow vertical stripe on the right has been broken up with a couple of red marks.

so, looking through the window you’re transported 40 miles across the valley to the san juan mountains. shifting your glance just to the right is our interior, seen from above. the seated figure on the lower left is the only one anchored on that yellow ochre triangle of floor , calmly observing it all.

BELOW: yesterdays version is on the left

"kosode" 38x20", continued /  by Philip Tarlow

3:47 PM: it was pretty chilly this morning, at 50 F, but it’s climbed up to 78F now so the studio is still comfortable, unlike last week when i had to stop working about 1:30 because of the heat.

today i did a lot more to kosode, so it’s pretty far along but probably not there yet. i also continued my studio cleanup/organization, so i’m doing a little each day.

kosode has a lopt going on now, but in glancing at it from 20 ft. to get a read, there’s a pretty good balance in the composition as well as the distribution and intensity of colors. the plaid shirted walking figure anchors it. and the hint of creek water & rocks on the upper right, above the crouching figure, transport us to crestone/baca and the nearby creeks. i was concerned it might appear too busy; instead all that’s going on creates a visual richness.

kosode 38x20” / 96.5x51 cm. at the end of the day

matisse study transforming /  by Philip Tarlow

1:19 PM: as has been happening on a regular basis, yesterday’s matisse study was whited over this morning and is transforming into a tarlow! i strated with my tried and true guy in the blue plaid shirt, and we’ll see where it wants to go tomorrow. gotta run….i’m driving with mikela to her dental appointment & while she’s getting her crown, i’ll go do some food shopping.