plein air watercolors today / 2 recent paintings on s. wall /  by Philip Tarlow

10-7-23 plein air watercolor 1

3:27 PM: this afternoon was such gorgeous weather, i decided to go out to the creek with my watercolors. it was hugely refreshing to be out painting plein air after such a long break! i had my usual bumbling-fumbling that happens when you’re trying to have your palette & colors close at hand, sit as comfortably as possible on a little 3 legged stool & stay out of direct sunlight. in addition, a newly married young couple & their friends decided that was the perfect place to shoot video. but i didn’t let that stop me from painting!

11:28 AM: just hung these two recent paintings on my s. studio wall. just getting to work….more soon…

walkabout /  by Philip Tarlow

BELOW: walkabout as it looked this morning, a few hours ago and, on the right, moments ago

12:01 PM: this morning i worked on a new painting titled walkabout, 16x16” which is painted over a previous piece i found in my storage space, date and subject unknown.

now that it’s still early and i have juice, i’m moving on to do more work on jazz 20, taking it to the next stage. i’ll post pics as when they become available in an hour or two.

2:40: i’ve been working for the past few hours on taking jazz 20 to the next level. it’s quite a bit brighter than before and has a clearer relationship to the previous paintings in my jazz series of 20 paintings.

at work on jazz 20 earlier today


BELOW: jazz 20 as it looked yesterday & today

walkabout 16x16” moments ago

jazz 20 continued /  by Philip Tarlow

jazz 20, 35x37” oil on linen, as it looked at the end of my painting day today

2:49 PM: i didn’t much like the warm grey i used yesterday, so i scraped into it and began adding new figures. i like where it’s going, and i’ll take it further tomorrow. although that grey is still there, it’s more broken up, and the new figures, inspired by the post-olympics dancers i’ve used in previous paintings, add a lot, even though they’re still in process.

this morning we took our trail walk and i made a drawing, to which i collaged a piece of map. i never know when that’s going to happen, but in retrospect, there’s always a good reason. it’s not that the drawing itself is weak; more that it’s calling out for something.

jazz 19 & 20 /  by Philip Tarlow

jazz 20 35x37’ as it looked moments ago

12:47 PM: more work today on jazz 19 & 20. both paintings now have a warm grey surrounding the figures. jazz 20 has a lot less ging on, allowing the figures to pop more and for the yellow/blue marks on the right to gain significance in the overall composition.

jazz 19 now has a drawing in black charcoal running through the composition, which was made while looking at the objects across the studio from where i stood; brushes in a container, my tripod & camera, etc.

jazz 19 16x40” as it looked moments ago

jazz 20, day 3 / further refinements to jazz 19 /  by Philip Tarlow

jazz 20 35x37” as it looked at the end of my painting day today

jazz 19, 16x40” as it looked at the end of my painting day

2:32 PM: thunderstorms this morning have given way to partly cloudy skies with moderate winds. it’s been an interesting day, starting with small but significant refinements to jazz 19, moving on to further work on jazz 19.

on jazz 19, i made adjustments to the central male figure, which seems, as i gaze at it now, to have allowed the composition to find it’s note. it sings.

on this third day of it’s existance, jazz 20 has taken a few leaps. two figures familiar from previous paintings: the 17th c. japanese female figure and the walking plaid shirted figure inspired by photos of the main character in the good doctor tv series, now dominate the composition. the japanese figure was painted over yesterday’s bird image, some of which peeks through. and the doctor figure was painted over the drawing of a violinist i made yesterday. the catfish is new, inspired by an edo period woodblock by an unknown artist. the catfish was associated in japan with earthquakes, which were believed to have happened due to an imbalance in the flow of chi between heaven and earth. the quirky cats surrounding the catfish, which you can’t see in the painting, may be trying to restore the cosmic harmony.

as far as it’s appearance in this composition, it’s serving a similar function, and is critical to the balance of this composition. we’ll see where she goes tomorrow!

JAZZ 20, DAY 1 / jazz 19 evolves /  by Philip Tarlow

jazz 20, 35x37” at the end of my painting day today.

1:59 PM: this afternoon, after working on jazz 19, i started the new jazz 20, 35x37.” it felt good to be working on a fresh, unpainted surface (jazz 19 is painted over several older layers of paint & collage.) this is day one, so it’s hard to tell where it’s headed.

jazz 19 as it looked moments ago.

12:38 PM: i removed one of the female figures from the composition, once again tossing the idea that i have to pay attention to what was in the original photo i was inspired by. what i have to pay attention to is my gut.

BELOW: yesterday’s version is on the left

DETAIL of the femaile figure after today’s work

jazz 19 goes pink /  by Philip Tarlow

1:30 PM: i was dissatisfied with jazz 19, particularly with the glass floor museum setting, with all those angles and reflections. i felt like i was falling into my own trap; focusing my attention of description rather than color, composition, paint application. so i went over most of it, aside from the 4 figures, with a pinkish color and removed the clothing from the female figures, leaving them standing naked, w ith a few remaining blue and green colors.

since this is an older painting, with elements of collage beneath, the surface is a bit uneven. the painting as a whole has become far more mysterious and enigmatic. what’s going on here? what’s the relationship between the two naked women and the two clothed male figures, both walking. more interesting for me are the pinks, blues and greens and the purple shadows these figures are casting.

jazz 19 /  by Philip Tarlow

jazz 19 as it looked moments ago, following today’s work

12:03 PM: i’m doing far more work on this one than i had imagined. the transparant floor in MOMA is magical in how reflects the light and the figures at the same time as it allows you a view of the lower floor. i haven’t yet fully captured that magic, so i’ll continue tomorrow morning. i have to stop early today.

BELOW: yesterday’s verion is on the LEFT

more work on jazz 19 /  by Philip Tarlow

jazz 19, 16x40” as it looked at the end of my painting day today, with a new figure on the upper right

3:35 PM: today i took jazz 19 to the next level. i introduced a 4th figure on the upper right, but it was towards the end of the day & i was running out of steam, so i’ll come back to it tomorrow and make adjustments allowing the new figure to join the crowd. and the whole thing needs to lighten up, and the figures need to pop more.all that is doable; i just need to do it when i’m fresh.