crops of "the last supper" /  by Philip Tarlow

3:18 PM: the last supper, 38x20” was last worked on in january. it takes it’s name from the original subject: a dinner with some crestonites who have since moved on. it’s been hanging on my studio wall for a couple of months. a dear friend sent me a crop of the lower portoin of the composition, the guy with the gereen shirt and a black & white patterning adjacent on the right. ever since then, i’ve been considering cropping it, and this morning i taped off the two potential crops. i’ll see how i feel about it tomorrow.

the last supper before the proposed cropping

tweaks to "KEEP IT FRESH" / dramatic changes to “celebration V” /  by Philip Tarlow

2:20 PM: i wasn’t happy with where i left celebration V on feb.18th, so i dove in, whited over, flipped it 360° and painted into the fresh paint; almost always a juicy move! in person your first impression, especially compared with the others in the series, is that old term technicolor. the underlying, faintly visible colors combine with the colors i just used on the over-painting, creating a warm blend of off white, pinks, greens & blues, with the yellow band of color across the top balancing the band of green i painted on the left. i may be about to make similar changes to the rest of the paintings in the series. i’ll know better in the morning.

BELOW: the before (left) and after

KEEP IT FRESH, 32x38” oil on portrait linen, following today's tweaks

12:53 PM: i lightened the geometric forms on the lower right, creating more balance in the composition, and i signed and dated it.

work on “cottonwood 1” and celebration VIII /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration VIII following todays work.

i continued work on celebration VIII, taking out the pink flowers and inserting a figure. on cottonwood I i surrounded the figures with tan and painted in some flower & leaf shapes.

cottonwood I following today’s changes

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day 2 of "keep it fresh" / modification to “celebration V” /  by Philip Tarlow

keep it fresh 32x38” , oil on portrait linen at the end of my painting day

1:59 PM : i took keep it fresh to the next levle this morning. on the top, the view out the window adds a cool dimension to the composition. the figures, some of which are partially painted over, let you know that this is not an abstract painting.

this extra fine primed portrait linen makes putting brush to canvas a delightful experience, and supports the painterly….as promised in the title, i’m keeping it fresh!

3:26 PM: as i gazed at the recently completed celebration V, it seemed to muddy. so, after working most of the day on keep it fresh, i went back in to it, using the same pink as in keeping it fresh. it’s looking better, but it’s not there yet. so tomorrow i’ll likely work on them both again & see if i can move towards resolution.

celebration V 14x18” following todays modifications

BELOW: celebration V before (left) & after today modifications

day 1 of "keep it fresh" 32x38" /  by Philip Tarlow

KEEP IT FRESH, 32x38” oil on portrait linen, at the end of day one

2:04 PM: mikela and i were playing around with possible titles for my april show in houston. one of them was keep it fresh,” which, whether i decide to use it or not, i’m naming this new painting on just stretched 32x38” primed linen. it’s the next to last piece i was able to cut from the 85” roll, so i’m ordering more.

so far, it’s blues, greens and sienna; no pinks yet. up top is a view out the high, north facing studio window.

modifications to celebration V" /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration V as it looked after rubbing out what i did this afternoon

5:18 PM: after leaving the studio i realized i had done too much to celebration V. so while mikela was preparing dinner, i went back to the studio & rubbed out everything i did today. a few other things were taken out along with what i did today. so i’ll go back in tomorrow.

celebration V 14x18” oil & collage on portrait linen, at the end of my painting day today

BELOW: celebration V on february 10 (left) and following todays modifications (right)

2:46 PM: i continued work on celebration V, which i last worked on 3 days ago. i think it’s more balanced and coherent now, and has some kinship with celebration VII. this may be a result of my collaging a few pieces of paper, one of which is a cutout piece of map. i did something similar with celebration VII.

celebration VII; letting go / celebration IV modifications /  by Philip Tarlow

12:25 PM: i was in a mood this morning. i grabbed celebration VII, which i had considered complete, and collaged a few pieces of paper i had drawn on for the purpose, as well as a piece of map.

the reason i say letting go” in the title of today’s blog post is that i had to enter unknown territory when i began collaging and painting over areas i had worked many hours creating. in the end, you have to sacrifice prized details and passages like that for the sake of the whole. so i let my brush take the lead, and simply followed where it was taking me, irrespective of whether i was painting over precious details.

there’s no road map for where i went. no process i could repeat. the result set me on my heels.

BELOW: celebration VII before (left) and after todays work

1:55 PM: on february 2, i had whited over the entire celebration IV, which i then painted over with some loose sketchy figures. just now i decided to go back into it. at the moment it may seem like a bit of a mess, but i’ll take it further on tuesday, since i won’t be in the studio tomorrow.

BELOW: celebration IV before (left) and after todays modifications