Marcia's Blog

I have added my "Contemplating Cat" giclee prints to my Gallery-Other Paintings page.
The prints are not fuzzy like the photo on the website.  My "big Wave," originally done in oil is also in the same gallery.  The prints are on archival paper. People are encouraging me to do more ocean paintings. We shall see.

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I added a couple of budding torch ginger stalks but will have to adjust the lower part of the leaf under the main flower. It is too distracting. Played around with faint leaves in the background where the sun will be bright.

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Developing this painting slowly.  Will have to go darker on that stalk where you can still see where the petals are behind it. The current plan is to have lots of light coming in from the left and over the torch ginger.

 

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I have added 'Cat in Tree' and 'Big Wave' in the website gallery under Gallery-Other Paintings. 'Eka's Jamaica Fire' can be found in Gallery - Plumerias 2.

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I was not liking the single torch ginger on the large page.  Could have cropped the paper or consider adding another flower but I have another painting to finish that has two torch gingers so decided to change the composition altogether on this one. Had to scrub out some of the petals on the right where a stalk will be added in front of that area.

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I have finally finished the first layer of the single torch ginger and will complete this painting before starting another.

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I just finished touching up an 18x24 watercolor painting that I started about 8 years ago while I was still living in California.  Couldn't resist taking a photo of this 'Cat in Tree' while showing property in Moss Beach.

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My next  fair is this Saturday, March 5, from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m.at the Veteran's Center in Lihue between the airport and Rice Street.  This is the building with the full-size airplane in front.  March 19 I am back at the Church of the Pacific in Princeville from 8 to 2.
There will be about 20 made-in-Hawaii crafts people.  Vendor fees are shared with the Marine Vets and the Church.

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I decided not to get too busy with the background so it would not distract from the flowers. Eka Budhi, an expert plumeria grower in Bali, will be gifted the 12x16"original and there will be prints in about a week on this website and at the fairs.

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Darkened petals and will work on their turning edges before returning to the background.

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Darkened the background more and will come back to it.  I need to get the petal edges much darker to be realistic before finishing the background. Can't have the petals merging into a too dark background.

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I added an opening bud on the right side for better balance but I am planning to have it be fuzzy to push it into the background. The leaves have been added lightly but these will also be muted and just an impression of leaves once I get the darker background in.

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Added a couple of buds which are very dark in this variety of plumeria and painted the turned up edges of the petals.

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Added a darker red layer with some details. Will be adding a few branches and buds
next, followed by the background, before going back to complete the flowers.
 

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Added a layer of red and will add a bluish red layer next. Reds are a staining color and difficult to remove so it is better to add many thin layers rather than to go too dark right away.

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The first layer of orange is in. The main thing is to remember to preserve the yellow centers which is what makes this variety pretty special because of the contrast to the darker red orange edges we will end up with.

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This painting will be 12 x 16" with 3 large blossoms and a muted background (probably). The Jamaica Fire is a gorgeous red orange plumeria with a dark yellow center.

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I just returned from almost a month in Bali.  Loved the island, its culture, and its people. We also visited a plumeria botanical garden in Denpasar. My favorite city was Ubud with its cultural activities, restaurants, museums, and galleries. Took a lot of photos of monkeys and ducks and kept walking by a house with dogs on each of 4 stairs every day. They did not wait long enough for me to get my camera out and I kept hoping I would catch them in the same pose again. It might still be a great painting someday.
I visited with a Facebook friend, Eka Budhi, in Jimbaran, and have started to paint his Jamaica Fire plumerias. Will give it a separate post. Am puttiing the torch ginger on hold again.

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It occurred to me that some of you may not have seen a torch ginger flower so here is a photo. It is very large and grows on a stalk straight from the ground. Other stalks have leaves. It likes shady areas.  These are often used in local flower arrangements because it is so spectacular.

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Have applied a few more glazes of color to darken existing petals before I move on to finishing the rest of the flower. I had to darken pencil sketch lines where they had faded over the three or four years since I last worked on this. Discovered that I had flipped the original photograph so that the flower would tilt inward instead of outward. Had to figure out what colors I had used back then as well. This painting will be done with a limited palette of pink, purple, and yellow (to make orange). The torch ginger here on the island is pink or a dark red-orange. Mine will be somewhere in between and less realistic in color. I may add a little green later in the background but like the softness around the flower so it would be just an impression of leave(s) if I decide to have any.  Won't know until the flower is done. I see a bit of a watermark on a petal on the middle left so will have to fix that. That happens when you add paint in an area that has started to dry. It is not wet enough to blend the new layer of color in and it is not dry enough to add another layer without disturbing the one under it. 

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