The Paintings of David Oleski The Studio Journal
Summer of the Year 1999
Previous issues: Spring 1999 | Winter 1999
See the Gallery for some exciting detailed images of the artist's work.
Tuesday August 31, 1999I celebrated the final day of August with two portraits of one of my most recognizable subjects, the Tabasco sauce bottle. First I executed a tiny painting featuring the bottle by itself. See the penny for a size reference.
Afterwards I executed another slightly larger painting of the bottle in an intimate dialogue with the coffee cup and saucer.
Both of these paintings were executed in a more polished and articulated fashion than most of my work. I was actually using an almost dry brush to smooth out some of the details to further sculpt the edges. It's always tough to know when this kind of painting is finished, as the marks of the human hand become so much more obvious when they've been obliterated from the majority of the piece.
Read on...to Fall of 1999
Monday August 30, 1999I just returned from an enjoyable weekend spent relaxing in the shade at The York Riverwalk Artshow. I returned to the studio armed with enthusiasm born from the praise and support of the many people who dropped by my booth. I was preparing to finally remove the two pears from the still-life table when I noticed what a lovely color they had turned. As a result, I executed yet another study of these colorful and shapely little pieces of fruit. The sun was much bolder today, allowing me to play with a much greater degree of saturation of light as well.
Thursday August 26, 1999I finished the second blue glass vase study. I was hoping to have duplicated the life and spontaneity of the previous painting, but this piece met the common fate of being resolved beyond the actual scope of the needs of study. I did continue to learn elements of transparency in an interesting range of intense blue as well as once again exploring the abbreviation of marks that can believably convey flowers, petals, stems and leaves.
Upon completion I was challenged by my little Jodie to execute a finished painting within the one hour deadline before my brother Daniel was to arrive to shoot some slides of this most recent work. I enjoyed a fast and furious painting session with two small pears as the subject.
I slammed out massive amounts of paint to carve out the depth of the red and green pairs while working wet paint on top of wet paint. I always enjoy the transition area on a piece of fruit that migrates from vivid green to piercing red without ever crossing the threshold into gray.
And of course, throwing huge amounts of paint around with wild abandon is always fun.
Wednesday August 25, 1999I finished a delicate little painting of some mums in a blue glass carafe. I am immediately starting a larger version of the same flower arrangement with a small pear as accompaniment. There is still something to learn within the muted yellows and greens of the flowers and leaves, and the blue glass is providing quite a challenge with the variations of saturation and transparency. Once again see the penny for size reference.
I decided to further investigate the cobalt blue glass vase in another study, this time larger and in the company of a small pear.
Daylight faded as the painting developed.
Saturday and Sunday, August 21st and 22nd, 1999
Havre de Grace, Maryland
My very first show and I win first place in painting (I didn't even know I was in a contest). When the coordinator walked up to hand me the blue ribbon Jodie and I just looked at each other in bewilderment. I wanted to ask, "Does everyone get one of these?" That went to my head like white trash to a crappy plastic seabird on a piece of driftwood.
It was nice to bump into some Maryland Institute alumni. Attending this show in such close proximity to Baltimore felt almost like a homecoming at certain points.
A special thanks to all of the people that helped to sponsor me in my endeavors through the purchase of my paintings and prints. I will strive to keep your investment alive through my ongoing activities both in the studio and here on the internet. Everybody's praise and complements are indeed a motivation to push even harder to embrace the fleeting light of day. On a side note, I ate the pear from the recent pear/lemon/cherry tomato sessions only minutes before somebody was buying the prints.
Tuesday August 17, 1999Today I decided to spiral down even deeper into the world of small things. First I pounded out a small (3 inches by 4 inches) but solid rendering of the pear from yesterday.
Strong painting. Little else to say.
Upon completion I wasted no time and immediately threw down one lonely lemon. I'll never forget the words of one of my professors from art school. Peter Collier would often say, "There's no such thing as a boring subject for a painting. There are only boring people who can't find excitement in what they are painting." I have never wasted an opportunity to verbally apply the same logic concerning any of a broad number of situations, the bottom line essentially is that, "being bored is only a reflection on yourself." With this sentiment in mind I struggled with great dedication to make an exciting painting out of a pale lemon on a white table cloth in front of a white wall. After beating myself on the head for almost an hour I found the last cherry tomato from my mother's garden (Jodie was so kind as to devour the rest of the colorful little gems in a voracious campaign of consumption). I carefully interrupted the soliloquy of the lemon. A merry dialogue ensued, although in my mind the success (or lack of) of this piece does still pivot on the poor initial arrangement of the actual items and will remain questionable. I have included in this image an actual American penny as a reference to the diminutive size of this painting.
On an added note,
I just heard this afternoon from the legendary H. Philip Lauer the Third about the recent passing of his grandfather, the first Henry Philip Lauer. It all slips away.
Monday August 16, 1999I re-entered the world of painting with a delicate little execution of a pear and three cherry tomatoes from my mother's garden. It is a challenge to render believable shapes on such a small scale with hands that can barely hold a brush, and brushes that can barely hold a point. Tomorrow I will attempt another small study.
Sunday July 25, 1999The return of the legendary H. Philip Lauer refreshed the meaning of frustration and angst like a red-hot cattle-brand against my face.
I grappled with this small painting. The session had to be cut short because of prior obligations, and this painting will only prove to be a painful reminder of how precious our time is, and how important it is to continually strive to preserve time through the act of painting.
H. Philip disappeared into the shimmering heat of the desert.
Friday July 23, 1999Yesterday the legendary H. Philip Lauer rode the iron horse through the desert and into the tiny jerkwater town of Mount Joy. As the sky caught fire in the sunset we washed down the hot dust with a few shots of Old Crow. We laughed like hyenas and fired our guns into the darkness around the campfire till dawn.
After a breakfast of black coffee and grits we settled down to a painting session. As much as I had hoped to bang out a crazy and lively portrait in only one day's sitting, I am happy that he will be returning on Sunday for another session. We will hopefully wrap this up in time for him to go to church.
Sad and lonely is the life of the unforgiven.
Friday July 2, 1999Completion.
Ah yes, I have finally figured out a few details that have made a great difference. For one, the well-rendered eye area appeared to be almost a half inch lower than it should have been, creating the appearance of a much broader forhead and harsher features. I scraped it out and in a few short strokes I had resolved many of the issues that had haunted me throughout this painting. I still had plenty of time to articulate many other details such as the hairline, the goatee, the ear and the collar on this final day of work on this particular piece.
I have gained a great education through this painting. As always I've been reminded that one cannot observe a subject enough. Only through re-approaching the piece repeatedly from varying perspectives can you really interpret the issues of drawing, proportion and composition.
Thursday July 1, 1999More angst and suffering.
After several more pounds of paint I feel I am no closer to a likeness than I was in the very beginning. I did acheive a general hightening of resolution of the complexity of the colors across the bulk of the painting. It has started to become an interesting painting, although it still looks like some harsh and grizzled Marlboro man instead of the delicate and finely chiseled features of a gentle lad such as Eric.
Wednesday June 30, 1999What a day. I am coming face to face with my shortcomings as a portrait painter. I continued the saga of the previous day by wallowing around in the basic elements of proportion and likeness, possibly not even having proceeded forward except for the application of a few more pounds of paint. At one point Eric suggested that I turn the camera on myself as my struggles were far more animated and interesting than anything else I could have been doing to the painting itself.
Very funny.
We will continue tomorrow.
Tuesday June 29, 1999I continued with the painting of Eric Pope. The sky was partially overcast with brief periods of brilliant sunlight. I managed to successfully build upon the rough foundation of the previous day's work. I continually grappled with some basic elements of drawing while I attempted to attain an evasive rough likeness. I felt that the painting was threatening to be prematurely articulated with incorrect details, so through careful observation I was able to take a few steps back in resolution while adjusting many of the areas to achieve a solid second day's effort. I also had a lot of fun just scrubbing around the massive amounts of paint.
Today Eric tasted stuffed grape leaves for the first time in his life (he's 25 years old without ever having had stuffed grape leaves).
He liked them.
Monday June 28, 1999The first painting of summer.
Today I started a large portrait of Eric, the charming and soft-spoken Alois' Restaurant waiter who has become a good friend of both Jodie and myself. The painting started in the standard sloppy and robust manner; the giant palette knife proved indispensable in slugging out massive amounts of paint. At this point I see this painting serving me well to be wrapped up in 2 more afternoon sessions. The weather might prove to be my adversary with the standard summer forecast of afternoon thundershowers every day. I am also painting directly on a white leaded canvas for the first time in many years.
If you find yourself hungering for yet more dramatization of the angst of a painter, see Spring 1999 for the previous season's struggles.
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