12:21 PM: i’m currently making my final selection of paintings that will be sent to gremillion on sunset, in houston, where my show is scheduled to open april 5. the gallery is currently preparing to include some of the works on their site: https://www.gremillion.com
crops of "the last supper" /
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.
tweaks to "KEEP IT FRESH" / dramatic changes to “celebration V” /
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
12:53 PM: i lightened the geometric forms on the lower right, creating more balance in the composition, and i signed and dated it.
more work on "celebration VIII," "cottonwood I" and "keep it fresh" /
2:19 PM: it’s always helpful for me to work on more than one painting at a time. today i went back and forth between 3.
work on “cottonwood 1” and celebration VIII /
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.
https://philip-tarlow.squarespace.com/config/website/pages/505103ebe4b0b2bc7caf0fb8
continued work on "keep it fresh" /
11:36 AM: getting a late start today and, as soon as i finish my breakfast, i’ll jump back in to keep it fresh.”
day 2 of "keep it fresh" / modification to “celebration V” /
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.
BELOW: celebration V before (left) & after today modifications
day 1 of "keep it fresh" 32x38" /
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.
tweaks to "celebration V" /
12:19 PM: i left celebration V in a post-scraping state yesterday, so i went back in and made some small but important tweaks to the two figures.
modifications to celebration V" /
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.
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.