Look up at that Bald Eagle. A symbolic bird with a majestic presence.
The client and I agreed that the soaring Bald Eagle is a feast for the eyes. The bird is still, with wings proudly outstretched, gliding through the air at speeds up to 45mph. Power and grace.
It reminded me of the eagles from my youth in Pennsylvania, to the predator birds on my cross-country trip of Argentina, and of course the Bald Eagles of my annual summer trips to Maine.
Let’s take a look at how this commission developed…
A loose graphite sketch exploring scale and placement. Similar to Gaughin’s methods of drawing outlines in blue pencil.
Building from the process in my CMYK paintings I start with magenta. Positive and negative space.
Coming in with Cyan (blue) to divide the space even more, and start to tease out details of the eagle.
CMYK: Y is for yellow.
And K, is for “key“, better known as black.
Filling the foreground to establish a horizon in the background.
A blend of black on the water to accentuate a feeling of flatness relative to the flying eagle.
Now that the coastline is cohesive the space is really starting to be defined. I’m exaggerating the highlights on the eagle to pop it forward.
Using one of my favorite blues to fill in the atmosphere of the sky.
Building the ocean up with more realistic colors, in the final version you can feel the warmth of the red underneath.
Right before its finished the sea darkens with texture, the mountains crystalize out-of-focus in the background, and the final details are added to the Bald Eagle.
Soaring Bald Eagle (for CZ) | oil, acrylic, and graphite on canvas | 14 x 18 inches | 2011
Click image for larger image.
The final painting is a realistic portrayal with a signature painterly handling of the paint.
If you are interested in a commission contact me directly info@arilankin.com
The above piece is part of the WISH NYC benefit taking place tonight at Lavo to support the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
I’m very enthusiastic to be part of this worthy cause.
Join in on the fun, and help make dreams come true.
You can make donations here at any time.
EVENT DETAILS
Location: Lavo, 39 East 58th Street, New York, NY 10022
Date: Thursday, November 17th, 2011
Organization: The Make-A-Wish Foundation
Tickets: $150
Event Site: Toast To Wishes
+ - | ink on paper | 18 x 24 | inches | 2008
Click for larger image.
CMYK NYC is the culmination of an energy that was building inside of me for a few weeks. When I started this painting I was incredibly inspired to paint at this scale and ready to bridge together several ideas i’ve been working on.
CMYK NYC is in my painting exhibition at RL Fine Arts that is open until November 12th, 2011, in New York City.
For the process video I was lucky enough to work with multi-faceted grammy award winning artist Tony Black of Tony Black Productions & Orange Key. He wrote, performed, and produced “if i told you” – (The Ari Mix), while referencing the process video for inspiration. I feel this song intensifies the richness of the viewing experience by literally expressing a musical quality of the abstract painting. Because he did such an amazing job I am going to let the music and the video do most of the talking.
Lets take a look…
It starts with a white acrylic ground on cotton
I was working a lot with pink and black leading up to this painting, so I started with them.
Turning the organic more geometric.
Back to organic, perhaps utilitarian.
The entire space has been commented on and all of the colors are now present, CMYK.
Opening the space on the left, and closing it on the right.
It’s getting lighter in color and atmosphere.
Archetecture changes the way we live by altering our spatial awareness.
I was considering this state the final piece. It has the feeling of NYC, but it was too literal.
By altering landscape references, I change the feeling of gravity. The relationship of one form to another becomes more informative.
CMYK NYC | 48 x 60 inches | acrylic on canvas | 2011.
Click image for larger version.
You can see this painting right now at RL Fine Arts in Chelsea, see below for directions and images of the other works in the show.
Click here to preview the other paintings from my solo exhibition, “Windows of Self,” at RL Fine Arts Gallery until November 12th
Located in the heart of Flatiron/Chelsea:
RL Fine Arts
39 West 19 Street, Suite 612 (between 5 and 6 avenues)
New York NY 10011
tel: 212 645 6401
email:info@rlfinearts.com
gallery hours:
Tuesday to Saturday 11.00 to 6.30pm, Sunday 12.00 to 4.00pm
Exploring the unknown is one of the most exciting things about the creative process. Starting a work of art without a preconceived final image leaves room for discovery in any direction. With a piece like MagiKid it’s hard to tell when the creative process began. Perhaps it was a few years ago when my friend gave me a Scrabble board game that was missing some pieces. I saved it because I knew one day I could use it in a work of art. Or perhaps it was over six years ago when I acquired the Yoda miniature action figure.
The story continues when I was in Las Vegas with artist Borbay doing location and live painting in April. We decided to walk to our meeting at Vegas Seven magazine. The walk was a little further and off the beaten path then we thought. While walking in a half occupied industrial park I came across what looked like a discarded childs drawing in a parched leafless bush. It was a great drawing, so i folded it up and put it in my back pocket. The last ingredient was a magazine tribute to Michael Jackson that I saved since his death.
Las Vegas, April 2011.
Me celebrating the golden discovery. Shirt off because the desert is hot. Unlike a handful of other things, the drawing survived the Vegas trip, and a few months later ended up in this painting. MagiKid is another addition to the assemblage painting series I started in 2004.
MagiKid | assemblage and acrylic on canvas | 8 x 10 inches | 2011
Click image for larger version.
MagiKid has several obvious references which I will touch upon, and other ambiguous layers of interpretation I will leave for your discovery.
Words are spelled out: liv(e), jedi, magi, kid, magik.
The standard seven letters of a Scrabble game on the top row add up to the number 18. A special number in Judaism meaning life. It’s essential to keep a child’s spirit as one grows old.
What’s in a name? My middle name means Life.
What’s in the middle? The great wise man Yoda.
The Yoda toy is a third generation hand me down that i’ve had for at least six years. The rock around his neck is from a necklace that a friend broke in my company.
The childs drawing alludes to Luke Skywalker, and holds a double saber of red and green, or perhaps good and evil.
A young Michael Jackson photo is cropped to look like Darth Vader’s helmet.
Yoda, Luke Skywalker, and Vader, a magi of knowledge, and knowledge is power.
It’s amazing how this piece came together. For now i’ll leave the rest up to you and send it off with a quote by a great painter.
All children are artists. The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up. – Pablo Picasso
While walking home from a summer BBQ at a friends house in the middle of the night I stopped with a friend in Madison Square Park to see this years public sculpture. I was taken aback when Jaume Plensa’s Echo appeared perfectly lit in the thick night sky. We walked around Echo while enjoying the quiet NYC summer night. The sculpture appeared to follow us as we walked around the park. It feels alive in this location. I am particularly drawn to the scale of the sculpture. It is equal to the height of the trees and stretches towards the sky. It is definitely worth seeing in person. It’s up until August 14th.
A few days later I returned to the park to paint a literal landscape with a realistic surreal twist. People who have seen the painting without knowing about the sculpture think it is one of my surreal paintings.
Here we go…
I got there early and was the first to enter the newly opened gated area. After some pacing back and forth I decided on this vantage point.
A rough acrylic sketch in some primary shades to feel out the composition.
Jumping into the painting with oils now. Some dark greens to fracture the space. It’s only oil from this point on.
Now that I am certain I’m sticking with this composition I start adding the trees.
Testing how putting blue in the sky activates the green. Although I’m painting from observation, it’s all about what is on the canvas.
Removing the pink from the sky by adding blue. Every mark of creation is a mark of destruction.
The light is starting to set in the west, so I remove some shadow from the left side of the face. At this point I took a quick bathroom break. On my way to the bathroom I had a strange feeling I recognized every other person on the street. On my way back I thought I recognized a high school classmate while crossing the street. I turned around and said her name. Sure enough it was her. I’ll say it a million times, New York is the smallest-biggest city you’ve ever seen.
Starting to lock in on how I want to place the shadows. While painting outdoors the light is continually changing.
After spending a lot of time on the trees I turn my focus to the buildings in the background. I love studying buildings when I paint. There are so many things to notice, especially as you stand in the same place and watch the light change.
An action shot by the talented Larry Closs. It was nice chatting with you Larry, and thanks for the great photo. Notice I have one headphone in. I listened to Outkast’s Aquemini most of the day on repeat.
Time to change the pace as I add lots of details. Literally carving out the building on the right side by scraping the paint off the canvas with my knife. I also gave the sculpture a facelift.
Adding the lines denoting the sectional construction of Echo. It was very sunny, so notice the reflection of the grass on the chin of the matte stone surface. Keep in mind that color is traveling all around us.
Madison Square Park and Plensa's Echo | 14 x 11 inches | oil and acrylic on canvas | 2011.
Fine details and some whispy clouds finish the painting off. Go see this sculpture for yourself and grab a bite to eat at Shake Shack. It was tough smelling those burgers all day.
This is the perfect time of the year for painting on location. I am currently available for commissions, so if you would like to commission a location painting or anything else contact me directly.
What an amazing public work of art, great work Jaume! Plensa exhibits internationally, and is represented by Galerie Lelong in New York and Richard Gray Gallery in Chicago.
This is the second painting I did after the biblical flu that had me sidelined with a fever for 9 days. Between tripping out on a fever, lucid fever induced dreams, over twenty movies including the whole Twin Peaks series, and not being able to paint I was so ready for this painting to pour out of me.
As usual with my abstract work, I dive in without any preconceived image…
A big yellow amorphous shape, why not?
I kept it very loose and tried to surprise myself. Some strong lines to counteract the organic yellow shape.
New colors and shapes seem to have individualized spirits.
Two strips along the top and the bottom, allude to analog film. This was influenced by watching so many movies and my experience with photography/film. Aesthetically it holds the diverse forms from spilling out of the top and bottom of the canvas.
A canvas is a window to another world. Add light and the image dances. The individual forms start to gather together and a large central form develops.
At this point I’m exploring the organic forms and fleshy feeling. This is balanced by the architectural feeling of the crisp horizontal strips on the top and bottom of the canvas. The self, the brain, and our instantaneous digital connection to the rest of the world….oops, I was just thinking out loud.
There was a lot of destroying and rebuilding while making this painting. I had to take things away to see if they were needed. When I rebuilt them I already had a knowledge of the purpose they served. Also what was was missing in their absence. 
The lower forms are now shining through the strip on the bottom of the canvas. Some people wish their life is a movie. If you ask me, everyone’s life is a movie. Some people turn their projector light up brighter than others.
View With A Room | oil on canvas | 30 x 40 inches | 2011
This is the first painting I made after taking a few consecutive days off from painting. I decided to put hardcore painting on ice for a few days while I was busy working on some other projects.
Immediately after getting home from the Clipped reception after party I started painting. It felt so good to be back at it.
This painting is full of raw energy and excitement, some would even call it joy.
I call it Roarrr.
Let’s take a look at some of the stages and you can decide for yourself…
Diving in with pink, oh how I love pink. It’s almost like a guilty pleasure. Here I’m painting with brushes and fingers.
Introducing some primary colors with a strong linear quality. When I look at a line I experience a sensation of movement from one point to another. The type of line suggests the type of movement. I think it’s safe to say these lines are capricious in nature.
Utilizing the edge of the canvas I flatten the imagery with the picture plane.
New colors and new mark making breathe different life into the painting.
Around this time I’m starting to understand the life of this particular painting.
It’s crucial to harness this life power but not misuse it. That remind’s me of this anonymous quote: “Some say it takes two people to do a painting, one to do the painting and the other to tell you when to stop.”
Roarrr | acrylic and oil on canvas | 30 x 40 inches | 2011
Anything is possible with teamwork. One person made this painting, and the same person knew exactly when to stop. This painting is alive.
Click the painting for a larger image and watch the process video in HD.
While going through images over the weekend I realized I haven’t posted this painting from late Winter.
I started this on one of those winter days when it finally starts to warm up.
So with the sun out, and the windows open, I ripped into this 4′ x 5′ canvas.
Warm weather, and a big canvas is a great combination after a long winter.
Just looked at the time stamp on the photo and I started it February 14th at 2:36PM…oh, that special day
let me take you back….
Starting out with a slick thin black line. Felt great with all the freedom of a large canvas. Keep the paint flowing.
After bringing in some color I introduce 12″ x 12″ blocks.
Playing with the structure and using the blocks to literally build the composition. A big playful signature in the middle. Brush strokes are a type of signature.
Time to push the picture plane back with some white. The “X” in the middle pushes the other imagery back.
Break the grid by exploring each square, and merging them together.
A general cohesion is forming, but not for long…
Simplify and dissolve the geometry. The form becomes more organic.
Increasing surface area with folds.
Changing opacity to alter the depth.
Whats the difference between drawing and painting? Save that debate for another time. It doesn’t matter with strong mark making. More of that.
Getting rid of some of the black that held the painting together since the early stages.
Pink On The Brain | acrylic on canvas | 48 x 60 inches | 2011.
I hesitate to explain the imagery in my abstract paintings. It’s abstract for a reason, actually thousands of reasons.
Sometimes I feel a title can lead the viewer too much. Don’t let it.
Check out the video in HD, and click the finished painting for a larger image.
On July 14th the reception for Clipped, a group show featuring the work of Andrew Matsumoto, Michael Serafino, Jeremy Penn, Flip Skip, Ari Lankin and Borbay was held at Le Salon d’ Art. Orignally scheduled from 7-10pm this party didn’t end until about 1am. This is what happens when you get a great group of people together and a very large quantity of refreshments that kept being replenished by the many happy guests. We would like to thank all of our loyal fans and the many new ones that came out for great art, conversation, and NYC style revelry. We’ll see if the streak continues and anyone gets married from meeting each other at this show. Sparks were flying, art was consumed, and drinks were flowing.
All of the photos (except the first two and the last) are by the very talented Tessa Beligue Photography. When you are finished with these take a minute to check out more of Tessa’s photos. I particularly like her portraits, night shots, unique perspectives, and intense use of color.
Relive the glory, or experience if for the first time…
Ari Lankin, Jason Borbay, and Jeremy Penn pose for a picture a few minutes before the show starts with the always early art/entertainment guru G (in green). Photo courtesy of according2G.com, check out the link for his really cool blog. He is everywhere and sees everything.
Penn and Borbay lounging in the plush salon chairs before the doors open. Photo courtesy of according2G.com
Michael Serafino hanging out by Borbay’s home base.
Matsumoto, Victoria, Lankin, and Serafino pause for a moment. A camera in a photo, so real, surreal.
The ever alert Serafino, nothing gets by him. The lovely Ms. Wells and Penn chat it up in the background.
Sanpaku eyes gaze through the crowd as the party starts to pop. People getting locked and loaded.
Now thats how you carry a cell phone.
Matsumoto!
Lankin and Shiva Krishna in the middle of a formal discussion.
The vibe.
The view from behind the bar. Borbay’s Marilyn holding strong. Read more about his painting here.
Reflections, people reflecting, don’t blink, or rather blink twice and move along.
The Deception of William Murphy by Jeremy Penn.
Paparazzi started to get out of hand. Two photographer’s passing in the night.
Borbay’s work including his newly finished Old Bay painting hang above the mirrors.
James Serafino, a handsome fella, a good bartender, but a much better illustrator.
Full house.
Who could resist that smile? RED
Where’s Courtney?
More vibin’
Lankin and the always interesting Ms. Dubash discuss the art of staying young at heart forever.
Penn, Lankin, and Serafino. One for the ages.
Ed. Nuff said.
Just having fun.
A Penn, Victoria, Lankin sandwich. Hold the cheese.
Gallery/Salon owner Hans Kerremans and his spectacular wife Grace.
V is for Vogue.
Borbay, Jon-O, Ms. Grignon, and Lankin take a moment even Mr. Kodak would be proud of.
Shiva supports Borbay as he gives a rousing impromptu speech to the masses. Artist Paul Zepeda in the background.
How many speeches end with people high fiving?
Newly hitched husband and wife. Congratulations!
Chessa and Matsumoto. She is clearly overwhelmed, but rises to the challenge, with how to pose alongside the artist.
Stunning portrait of Christina. I love Tessa’s portraits. That’s why we hired her to cover our show.
Fedora, Shades, and Sanpaku.
Vibin’ continued….
A couple of rad fashionistas, Christina and Nigella.
Has anyone seen Edvard Munch? I demand answers! L, Z, and C hold a tribunal in the background.
Closing down the shop almost 3 hours after scheduled ending time. You know how we roll.
The End.
Thank you to everyone for coming out.
Watch the video in high definition.
Everything On The Inside, Out | oil on canvas | 18 x 24 inches | 2011 | Ari Lankin
A major body of my work begins without any preconceived image. They start with the action of painting.
I hesitate to put abstract pieces into words because they are activated by what the viewer brings to the experience of viewing.
With that said I am willing to discuss some of my feelings and thoughts while making this painting.
Non-objective-hallucinatory-relative-flow……. let’s go….
The first image was taken after two sessions with the painting. I liked the way it looked and almost considered it finished for awhile.
I took another look at the painting and laughed at myself for feeling content with it’s current state and decided to explore further. First thing was to get rid of the red because it contrasted the central form too abruptly.
The red is gone and now its time to expand the central form. Line, mass, point and color are the main ingredients. Personal mark making and colors rule supreme.
The forms felt congested so I excavated some unnecessary verbiage. Now its airy.
Back to the red, this time a little lighter. I’m letting the exterior permeate the interior. These two things are essentially the same thing to me.
Now that I’m feeling the inner structure it’s time to let it breath within the frame of the canvas, thank you orange/peach color.
I love my pinks and blues. Boy meets girl, girl meets boy, we meet world. Dance into the fire.
At this point i’m starting to construct elements that relate to one another in more simpler terms. Total cohesion.
Cobalt blue creates new temptations all over the canvas.
What kind of space is this?
Mind, body, eye, palette, flight
Creation in motion by destruction. Invisible mirror.
Potentially kinetic-kinetically potential.
Everything On The Inside, Out | oil on canvas | 18 x 24 inches | 2011 | Ari Lankin
A lot of my work is about growth and exploration. The nature of painting.
Paintings that allow us to live in the space.
I was born and raised in the same town where my parents still live. I have a strong feeling of a home base, and at the same time have a lust for exploring the new.
Viewing this work allows me to break through to realms of fresh thought and at the same time keeps an air of familiarity. Experience and memory.
Release, flow, decay, structure, grow, color, life force….
