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

Mizrach
Gouache, 26 x 36 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.

Bouncing On Jerome

Bronx memory. Bouncing on the Jerome Ave. over cobblestones and abandoned trolley tracks, in the back seat of th 1956 Oldsmobile. Uptown to Grandma Polly, downtown to Sadie. Getting a glimpse at the roaring intestines of the subway cars, after they belched forth from the depths of Manhattan.

דאס קליינער איז מיד
Dos Kleiner Iz Mid
The Little One is Tired
His temper tantrums aren't any milder today. Part of a series of Bronx memories, visiting both Grandmas. 1956 Oldsmobile - Two Toned. I just read that the paint colors were copied from women's underwear fashions. White roof, pastel body. How silly Americans are - I thought that cars were for going from here to there!
Oil, 60 x 70 cm

Pomegranate Rays

Oil, 120 x 140 cm, 47 x 55 inches, Dec 2008
I reworked this over months, finding that what interested me most was the relation between the foreground and background. There is a lot to learn from artists like Dufy and the Viennese, who freely moved between fine art and the decorative arts.

Jerusalem with Bird
Illustration work, gouache, 26 x 36 cm, to be printed smaller.
That dark green could never exist here, even if we had rain the past 5 years, and not this drought.

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?

Study of Feet


I need to draw more!

Shir's Hands


I thought that I would be drawing a full model. (I was making up for a class that I had missed, and sat in on another.) Little did I know that the challenge would be even bigger. Hands. This actor has the big expressive hands and toes like fingers

Sketches for a Shoah Memorial





Drawn in pencil and eraser, yellow "charcoal" pencil and white chalk

Softly Spoken - Experiment in Low Contrast



Oil on Canvas, 60 x 70 cm

Often the strongest statements are understatements.

I had to adjust this in Photoshop, to reach the quiet colors. The camera saw right through the grayish thin layers of paint, to capture the stronger shades below.

Les Boulevards de Paris
oil over acrylic antecedent, 70 x 80 cm

After writing my previous post, I decided to translate the name of this painting into French.
This is FINAL stage (oops, unsigned still).
Le kaki, c'est une couleur jolie, n'est pas?

Experimentation in Contrasts
Oil over acrylic undercoat, on canvas, 120 x 140 cm.
Folks, it's finally done.
This painting has gone through so many alterations and altercations. Or as the French would say, "boulerversements".
Big and graphic, with contrasting round red shapes, and angular green ones; fussy with warm cold contrasts within the reds; loss of contrast between patterned and flat areas; focus on the background purple "negative spaces"; refocus on the objects, the "positive spaces"; discovery of the contrast between the brilliant reds and the mud reds; muted contrasts; finally creating contrast between "big" and "small" areas of color.
I would post a slide show of the stages, if I could figure out how to.

Paris Streetmap
Oil, 70 x 80 cm
Reworked from an older "sampler" type painting. I had randomly, rapidly painted branches of pomegranates, and then placed a grid of masking tape over it. Each rubric was over-painted differently. But as usual, I didn't know when to stop, and the result was riotous and overly colored - but with no true color investigation. Yesterday, I worked and scratched, painted and etched, until the rays of khaki appeared, defining my Paris Boogie Woogie

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.

Self Portrait 7.10.2008
pencil, 35 x 50 cm
I started this intending to work in a very stylized, cubist manner. I skipped getting the proportions right, and tried to make my face look like a Frank Gehry building. Well, the final result may not look much like the Pritzker Pavilion in Millennium Park. That shimmering construction of metal got lost under the debris of eraser dust and pencil smudges. But I like it and the way I used the background so effectively.

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!

I drew this shortly before a trip to the Czech Republic. I am quite interested in Cubism, and how the movement influenced more popular art, design and illustration in the following decades. Then I hit Prague. The Czechs adopted the Cubist aesthetic with a greater enthusiasm then elsewhere - even if at times is was only hijacked by their special talent for surface decoration. Anyway, who would have thought that Cubism could be so charming? I Loved it!
If you do get there, go visit the Museum of Czech Cubism (Kubismus Cesky) on Celetna St in the Old Town. It is small and wonderful, with a lovely coffee house on the second floor. (Go for the decor, but be warned, for all of those with an affection for good European coffee, Czech coffee is lousy. We should send Israeli baristas there to give them lessons. Perhaps I should suggest that to my son?)