Marcia's Blog

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I have put the 'Sunburst' painting on the back burner and will probably just lighten the bottom left leaf before calling it finished. I don't intend to define the leaves up top further.

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I will be at the following fairs in June.

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It would be a good idea to let this painting sit for a week and revisit it with fresh eyes. I am beginning to fiddle with it. In the meantime, I am going to start my last plumeria painting for the 2018 calendar. It will be a complicated one of the plumeria variety, Kauka Wilder.

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I added more of an abstract background, keeping it fairly loose behind the leaves, and will probably not do anything more in defining the leaves at the top. After finishing up the flowers, I will see what I have to do with the background in the lower areas.

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I am loving the bright yellow green against the dark pink petals.

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I started in on the background which will have very dark areas in the finished painting. The yellow under the green helps to give the greens a glow.

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Kaneohe Sunburst (different from Kaneohe Sunrise variety) plumerias are a dark pink with yellow centers. I have red added to the petals on the right which will be in shadow later.

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After letting 'Splendor' rest for a week, I decided that the white background was too stark. I gave it a more vintage look. I also went darker with some petal shadows and also the leaves.

    

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Trying to go bolder with colors from the very first layer. Darker shadows will be added later. This painting is 18x24" and I am using an 140# cold press Arches brand watercolor block. For those unfamiliar, a block is a pad of paper with adhesive around the sides to keep the pages together. You don't have to stretch the 140# paper like you would with a loose sheet. There is less sizing in the paper and the paint seems to go on easier. I wet the petals, one at a time, with water, then drop in the color.  The first layer was the yellow.  After the yellow dried, I went in with the dark pink. The background will have leaves and a darker background than the last two paintings. 

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I have finished the 'Splendor' watercolor painting. It is 22x30."

Only 2 more plumeria paintings to go for the 2018 calendar. I have a July deadline for a print order. The next one will be 3 plumerias up close. 

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I have decided to add a couple more flowers up at the top of the painting for a better composition.  There is a sketch pinned in the approximate location in this photo. This will involve removing the flower that is under that spot right now. (See previous progress photo.) Luckily, I had not gone really dark on that one.  

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I have a link on this website, Photos May Day Leis 2017, with photos of most of the leis at the Kauai Museums contest display.

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I am in the process of eliminating the leaf center top which should be barely visible in this photo. The Mr. Clean eraser works very well for this removal only if you are using 300# paper.  I had added it after the initial sketch but decided I preferred the white of the sky up there. The leaves behind the flowers will continue to be made darker so that the flowers in front of them stand out. A few of the flowers on the left along with the buds need more layers of paint.

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I will be at these fairs this week and in May:

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I found that I needed to deviate from the reference photo as far as leaf colors, shadows, and flower centers go, darkening all.  If I don't have any color in the background, I need to have darker leaves to allow the flowers to stand out. I am probably also going to add more leaves to the branch at the end. I want this branch to appear at the tree top and the white background gives it that feeling.  If I start to put any colors in the background, it pulls the branch down to where we are trying to figure out what is behind it. Those who are familiar with the plumeria tree will understand this well. We don't cut a branch or flower grouping to put in a vase. The sticky, white sap will drip over everything. Off the branch, plumerias are better used in a lei, blossoms in the hair, or just loose in a bowl of water.

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I felt the need to darken the shadows further on the flowers to the right. Then I started shadows and the first layer of pinks on the rest of the flowers and buds. 

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I added more color, especially to the shadows on the flowers on the right and decided to get going on the leaves. I paint the leaves section by section so it takes awhile to complete. Each leaf has 2-4 layers of color. The leaves on the left have only first layers down.

 

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I have the original 'Sunrise Bouquet' painting back from the photographer and 18x24" prints with be available on Thursday just in time for the Saturday fair. I will add this one to the third page of plumeria paintings on my website along with the one I call 'Misty Morning,' (Paul Weissich plumerias).

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