"guests enter," day 2 /  by Philip Tarlow

guests enter 14x18” oil on portrait linen, following the work i just did.

3:12 PM: i made further modifications just now, breaking up the purple shadow behind the head of the figure walking through the open door & introducing some subtle patterning on the concrete floor .

1:51 PM: i gingerly renewed work on the delicately balanced guests enter (16x20”) . mikela hadn’t seen it in person, and stopped off on her way to school, as usual making some interesting and useful observations, and generally enthusiastic about the painting. so here it ia following the additions i just made.

BELOW: guests enter as it looked yesterday and today

“guests enter” day 1 / 14 of the new small works on canvas for my houston show /  by Philip Tarlow

guests enter 16x20” oil on portrait linen, day 1

1:53 PM: i started a new painting today, on one of the 16x20” canvasses i stretched a few days ago. it’s inspired by a photo from above that i shot a few years back, of mikela opening the front door for friends coming for dinner. i’m considering leaving it in it’s current state.

11:14 AM: these are 14 of the new small works on canvas (14x18” & 16x20”) i’ve been preparing for my april show in houston.

"THE LAST SUPPER I" and “THE LAST SUPPER II” stretched /  by Philip Tarlow

the last supper I 14x18” oil on portrait linen

the last supper II, 20x16” oil on portrait linen

12:12 PM: this morning i found the right size stretcher bars and stretched THE LAST SUPPER I & II.

although these canvases were originally part of a larger composition, they work better cropped as two indiviual paintings, in every respect.

THE LAST SUPPER I & II are a rather striking images, painted as it is on a black ground so that the figures POP dramatically. they both have a theatrical air, and would probably be best hung together in their eventual home.

the title derives from the original subject of a painting that has undergone many transformations. originally it was inspired by a series of photos i shot from above of a dinner at a friend’s house. this turned out to be the last time some of those invited would be together, as they were about to move out of town permanantly. although none of us realized it at the time, looking back it’s a moving moment in time.

tweaks to "celebration II" / starting re-work of “celebration VI” /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration VI in the first phase of a re-work, which will continue tomorrow. BELOW, see how it looked before & after

2:33 PM: once i finished working on celebration II, i began a re-work of celebration VI, which i had never considered resolved but put aside on february 5th to work on something else. since i’m in that re-work space now, i grabbed it from off my wall and launched in.

celebration II, 14x18” as it looked moments ago

11:04 AM: i didn’t like the female figure, so i’m about to change it.

1:06 PM: so i ended up doing more than just tweaking the female figure, which has become a variation on the woman with the red shoulder bag hwo has appeared in many recent paintings.

i basically worked on the entire composition, making it a much tighter, more interesting painting. the greens play a greater role; the white band at the top is brighter and extends further to the right, as well as down the right side, and the jacket of the guy on the right with the checkered trousers has a more pronounced pink.

BELOW: celebration II as it looked yesterday (left) and following todays changes

further revisions to "celebration II" / a look at my “interiors” series of paintings /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration II , 14x18” as it looked following revisions today

2:17 PM: i continued revising celebration II today. BELOW is yesterday’s version (left) and today’s

8:06 AM: this is the catalogue from my interiors exhibition in 2017. the painting on the cover was inspired by a visit to our dear friend’s beautiful home in maarssen, the netherlands. it’s one of a series of interiors i made during that period, some of which you see BELOW.

revision of "celebration II" /  by Philip Tarlow

celebration II, 14x18” following todays revisions.

2:21 PM: while preparing for my houston show,i’m reviewing the smaller canvasses and revising the ones i feel need it. celebration II was last worked on february 28. we both looked at it today and decided there was too much black, and that the entire left side of the composition needed work.

so i got into it a few hours ago, and here’s where it’s at. the before (left) & after are BELOW.

preparing for my houston show /  by Philip Tarlow

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

one of the works in my upcoming show: jazz 20, 35x37” oil on linen

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.