Bronx Crossing - Original gouache painting by Jerusalem Artist Chanan Mazal.

An emigrant's childhood memory of going to visit his Grandmas in the Old Neighborhood: Carsick in the back seat of the 1956 Oldsmobile; admiring the George Washington Bridge; Mickey Mouse' water tower, and loosing my hearing, while bumping over the cobblestones under the screeching Jerome Ave El train.

ציור גואש מקורי של חנן מזל, ירושליםזכרון ילדות
46 x 61 cm (18" x 24") on 100% cotton Arches paper 

Farewell to the Old Country - by Chanan Mazal

זיי געזונט, דער אלטער היים
George Washington Bridge, with the world's largest US flag on the New Jersey tower, and the Little Red Lighthouse (ah, memories of kindergarten) surviving under the NY tower.

Original gouache painting by Jerusalem Artist Chanan Mazal. 46 x 61 cm (18" x 24")
ציור גואש מקורי של חנן מזל, ירושלים. זכרון ילדות

One weeks work - original gouache paintings by Chanan Mazal, Jerusalem
46 x 61 cm (18" x 24") on 100% cotton Arches paper

 Original gouache paintings by Chanan Mazal, Jerusalem.
ציורי גואש של חנן מזל, ירושלים

Cypress Trees by Chanan Mazal

Original gouache paintings by Chanan Mazal, Jerusalem 31 x 41 cm (12"x 16") on 100%cotton Arches paper
ציור גואש מקורי של חנן מזל, ירושלים

Gouache 26 x 36 cm, by Chanan Mazal
Once again, I used my recurring symbols of olive trees, the round, teraced Judean Hills, the walls of Old Jerusalem and a flat yellow-orange sky, to experiment with patterns rhythms and enlivening musty colors. Alas, even after photoshopping, the colors are off.)
ציור גואש מקורי של חנן מזל, ירושלים

Ink Drawings
25 years ago, I knew that that india ink was my medium, but never devoted myself to it. I find the expressiveness of the flexible quill, and the warm black washes, to be close to my soul. And it is much less expensive than psychotherapy.
Back then, in my foolish youth, I used rapidographs - fixed thickness technical pens, for drawing. How awfull!

The model was set up by others in my drawing class and had a lot of drama: A somewhat androgynous wooden doll ( I made it more girlish) an rather overly macho plaster cast, and an umbrella handle.


My first ever drawing using white ink. Next time I will dilute the ink more. I wanted to redarken sections with black ink - but ran out of time.

New Giclee Prints by Chanan Mazal!
23 x 30 cm. Signed and numbered, edition of 200
Please contact me for purchasing. Available framed as well.
הדפסים חדשים של חנן מזל

Love Thy Neighbor

My new series of small giclee prints will be published this week. Most of my recent work has been on paper, and I completed many that I was happy with. Choosing which to print was hard. In the end, I chose mostly painting that I did several months ago.
The newer paintings, like this one incorporate lettering and very thick textured layers of gouache.

אלטע היים
"המולדת הישנה" ציור שמן של חנן מזל
The Old Country
Oil on canvas by Chanan Mazal
71 x 111 cm, 28" x 44"
George Washington Bridge, NY-NJ.
My signature circa 1961, is copied from the inner cover of "The Man Who Didn't Was His Dishes", by Phyllis Krasilovsky

Greeting Card Designs











My greeting cards are now distributed by Palphot Ltd. Last week, I completed a collection of 20 new cards, which will be printed within the next few days. I added this preview of a few styles. (Sorry, the blog program wouldn't let me add more to this post.)

I have been experimenting in abstraction, monochromatic palettes, large areas of color, and in general, breaking old painting habits. Alas, these canvases are hard to photograph in a way that looks half decent on a computer screen. Even when seen "live", subtle changes in lighting, can tun them dynamic, deep, flat, or just into a mass of shiny reflection. Sorry for not posting them, until I figure out what to do with the photography.

Yet, this work in oil paints has had a wonderful influence on my gouache illustration work:

Unlike aquarelle, gouache can be used in layers, taking advantage of the thick textured brush strokes and papers. When working with little water, the brush bristles only catch on the bumps and ridges, leaving the undercolor revealed in the little "valleys", as may be seen in the Bar and Bat Mitzva cards.

My use color had progressed as well. After a hiatus of several years, I had rediscovered the sophisiticated and quite beauty of muddy colors. When placed next to a bit of purer shades, they never cease to complement each other. And these neutrals are tricky chameleons: The same batch of color can look green when painted next to gray violet, an then rich purple when painted by lime green. We may not notice it happening, but the visual cortex in our brains tries to make sense out of it all. Quite engaging!

Amulet based on traditional folk art, gouache 31 x 41 cm.
"For he will give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all ways." Psalm 91



Mizrach
"From the rising of the sun, till the going down thereof, the name of the Lord is to be praised." Psalm 113.
Gouache, 31 x 41 cm

Layer 4


Layer 8

I have reworked this painting repeatedly. Every so often, my brain tells me that something is logically wrong with the composition, and patiently destroy its passion. They, after 3 sessions of progressively graying it. I though paint at it in a frenzy. These shots were taken after frenzy. It is currently still at Layer 8. I ain't 100% happy with it. I miss some of those black attacks visibly in Layer 4 .... but should I just leave it as it is? If I attack the painting with blue black, will I not know when to stop again?

On Thursday, I started a new one, based on the same little pencil sketch that this one was. I think that I will include the bunch of pomegranates that appear on the lower right of the earlier stages, and some of the curved motion.

If I Forget Thee O' Jerusalem



I painted this 2 or 3 years ago, but just scanned it now. Gouache on Arches Watercolor Paper, 35 x 50 cm, Framed.
Any buyers?

Commissioned Painting

After making many revisions, I am quite happy with the color balances and harmonies, the naive perspective and the clarity of the pattern filled surfaces.

Most of the interesting shades were created by combining opposite colors, especially sap green with carmine, and Naples yellow with purple. Actually, a bit of Naples yellow in everything. In the final version, I used metalic colors sparingly.

The Hebrew lettering remains to be applied. The painting was commissioned in memory of a lovely woman, who died suddenly in the prime of her life. The sellected verses reflect her noble character and values.

Jerusalem Hills 4.
Aquarelle, 51 x 36 cm
After doing the previous painting in this series, I decided to carry the idea of a "picture frame within a picture frame" and the dynamic arches of stripes to the extreme. I love the contrast of the static and moving elements. And indeed, in reality, the rigid verticals and horizontals of the man made buildings, and the emphatic verticals of cypress trees and date palms, do indeed contrast with the flowing curves of the terraced hills and valleys.

Jerusalem Hills 3
Aquarelle, 51 x 36 cm
I seem to be getting better at these. I have another one almost done. I'd like to work larger, but this size paper block fits nicely into my bicycle basket, and I enjoy taking them home to work in the evening.
I 'm working on another similar picture, in which I took these design elements to a greater extreme: I used the contrasts between the rectangles and curves; soft horizontals and strong verticals; framed images inside framed images, and angles of stripes, to make a wild painting.
Check the blog soon to see the results!

Self Portrait in Gray #1

Oil, 70 x 100 cm.

I painted this before and after sunset, on a top floor, next to west facing window. Ouch! The light and shadows danced all over my face, the first half of each session, the sun hitting hard from the left, and then the electric lights hitting softer from the right. But I stuck it out!

I also had a wonderful discovery: I had washed and forgotten my favorite brushes at my studio. So I "made do" with the ignored ones, including an unused soft round one. The lovely brushwork on the neck and chest was a gift that the brush gave me, in appreciation of the opportunity that I offered her, to proove herself. :-) Thanks Brush.

Pomegranates
Another small canvas. I am happy with the results.

Tzuf Devash
צו"ף דב"ש

The Tzuf Devash synagogue, belonging to the Moroccan community within the Old City of Jerusalem, survived the Jordanian occupation as a hollow shell. As it is hidded away inside a courtyard, the gem is not well known or visited.

I began the painting, both inspired by the beauty of building itself, the pioneering spirit of its builders, and with an ambition to make the acrylic paint do 3D pyrotechnics. I chose a very rigid symmetrical composition, to counterbalance the finger painting. The plants at the base were added much later, to provide a restful break from the symmetry.

Afula Synagogue
בית הכנסת הגדול - עפולה

The road to Afula plows straight though the Jezrael Valley. Very unusual in this hilly country. Hence, it is called the "Ruler Road" and Afula - "The hole at the end of the ruler".
At the very center of the hole, lies one of the most charming main streets in the country, with a wide avenue of huge palm trees and benches running down the center. So much love was given in Afula's building!
At the head of the avenue, stands the Great Synagogue, Bet Shalom. It was built in 1928, and hasn't lost a bit of it's beauty.
This small painting as one of my first on canvas, and I'm keeping it as a souvenir. I battled with the paint medium, as I had only worked with goache and aquarelle for many years.