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Burnt Umber Real Color Wheel in Pigments Permanent Green Light
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Venetian Red Yellow Green Opaque
Yellow Oxide
Naples Yellow Light Green Gold Transparent
Magenta Rembrandt Rose Cadmium Red Medium Cadmium Orange Indian Yellow Gold transparent Cadmium Yellow Medium Cadmium Yellow Pale

Jacaranda 2013, Makawao, Maui, School Crossing

20x16.25 Acrylic on Masonite Hardboard, #994, 5-31-13

JACARANDA TREE AT SCHOOL CROSSING ON MAKAWAO AVENUE. #994

It's beautiful up here in Makawao, this tree is two blocks from my home. I think I'll put in the school crossing guy, he sits in the same place each day waiting for the kids to get out of schoo. I spent 1.5 hours doing the drawing, I didn't start until noon because I wanted to see what the afternoon light would look like. I drove by the tree at 10:30 yesterday and I liked it. This is going to be a morning painting. Trees take at least as long to draw and paint as portraits do.

I think this painting will be done with the new Opera Acrylic paint I made as the magenta primary, I might as well just use three colors, Opera is a compound pigment, PR122 & BV10, PY100 Tartrazine transparent yellow and PB15 Thalo Blue. I think this will make the last ten full color painting in three primary colors only.

Day1

Day 0, drawing. Day 1 painting, 10 to 12. No problems, maybe that's because I painted without my glasses on. I did get about 95% coverage. Irene painted with me today. The Tartrazine yellow bled when I covered my dried palette with white, this is the first time using the tartrazine transparent yellow acrylic paint, the opera did fine. I'm not sure if I will keep the afternoon guy with the stop sign, he wasn't there this morning.

Another problem, since it's a good idea to wash the dirt off the painting before adding more paint, I washed it when I got home. I got both yellow and opera on the wash rag. I know it will lock in when I coat it with the urethane but it's an unnecessary problem I don't want.

Day 2 painting, 10 to 12. I lost the sun for the second hour. I lost half the color because the Opera and Tartrazine washed off, today I decided to forget the opera and tartrazine. I am so far behind, the painting looks washed out and I have to put in new color just to catch up to where I thought I was already. I stopped using this acrylic transparent yellow, I'm afraid the acrylic tartrazine just lost a big battle in the paint wars. Tomorrows another day..

Day2

Day 3 painting, 9am to 11:10. It was windy today but sunny.

TIP: when painting trees it's like painting a human, the trunk and the main branches are the bones, paint them in first. Then the foreground foliage. Then the smaller branches. Last the background foliage and finish up the small branches. Mark the time so all the shadows are the same.
In this painting the sun was traveling from 3 o'clock to 9 o'clock and I was positioned at 6 o'clock. That made the shadows change the fastest in my view. All of this was happening with the sun about 100º from the horizon line so I was getting the full effect of the moving shadows from 9 to 11 am. From 11 to 12 the sun is pretty much directly overhead and from my position hiding the shadows. This is when the tree is most brilliantly lit up. I moved the starting time back from 10 am to 9 am, more sun, less wind.

Day4


It was raining a little when we left, at 10:45 it was raining hard enough to leave. Windshield wipers on for the drive home.
I got the back of the tree in, finished the foreground purple blooms, added some to the big bush. Tomorrow I work on the branches and the foreground bush. My painting is wet, all over from the rain.
Tonight I should white in the railing, poles and stop sign to give them straight edges. Remember, it takes two coats of white to cover completely. Don't add any color if your not on location.
When I got home and the painting was dry I noticed the dried rain drops left an iridescent color film on the painting instead of drying clear. The iridescence wash off.

Day5


Day 6, 9 to 10:30, 5-27-13, It was sunny when I got here at 9am, by 10 the sun was gone and I didn't want to add any of the wrong color so we left. The stop sign was moved to a view more to the left so it wouldn't be centered in the tree trunk. I think when I set up it was there and I moved to be in another trees shade. The tree is losing a lot of the flowers, I'm glad I got them in already.

TIP: One of my 1/2" blitz fitch brushes has worn down too much so I filed a grove 1/8" down from the top of the ferrule all the way around with a small triangle file. Removing the extra piece and washing the brush in alcohol gave me a new brush. Badger hair brushes don't last as long as a sable brushes but they paint well.

Day6

Day 7, 5-28-13, no sun at 8:00, 8:50 there was sun, 9:10 painting on location. At 10:53 started to drizzle so I packed up, wipers on. Worked on the bush and railing, added some branches and wires and trees across the road. It was a good hour and a half.

Day7Original Mastake

Day 8, 5-29-13, 9 to 11am, one hour sun. It was a good day, moved the background trees farther back with arial perspective. Started working on the road. I don't have to be on location to white out mistakes, I can fill in the background colors at home to get ready for tomorrow. It takes 2 coats of white or the lower color will show through. With mastic oils, which are more dense but not as fluid, the next day you can just over-paint. WN acrylic colors are a bit more heavily pigmented than Liquitex paint but nothing beats the Liquitex white "jar" fluid paint for general work.

Below are the white-out and the fixed versions.

White-outfixed

Day 9, 8:45 to 9:15, one hour sun, worked on road, background trees, branches. The tree has 50% less flowers on it now. For the exact detailed work like the yellow wire guard for the telephone pole and the lines in the road I used chalk first, brushed it off with a feather so there would be no chalk clumps and painted them in with white paint twice first.
I met Julia yesterday, we are going to paint the jacarandas by the library, I should finish this one tomorrow. I want to paint the next one in the after noon. The light is more steady, less clouds. It was great getting the bright white morning light for this one though. I just have to add some leaves in the bush and do the branches.

Day 10, 9 to 11, 45 minutes of sun but I didn't need any new color so I could finish up.

Day10


TIP: In acrylics, wet the area you plan on overpainting, that will lighten the dried colors to match your wet colors. Acrylics dry darker, watercolors dry lighter.

We didn't paint in the afternoon, 8 Am tomorrow morning is scheduled.
I was sunny, the trees shade left where I was sitting. I did a fast watercolor so tomorrow I'll move so the shade stays with me.

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JACARANDA PAINTINGS FROM 2002 TO 2013
5-20-2 Early Spring Jacaranda Acrylic
6-5-2 Highest Jacaranda 4,000 Ft. Oil
6-15-2 Jacaranda and Driveway 3,500 Ft. Oil
6-20-2 Knife and Brush paintings
3-21-3 Silver Oak and Jacarandas 2,000 Ft. Acrylic
#897 4-24-3 one Acrylic three Knife Oils
4-29-3 to 5-7-3 Oil
4-11-3 Acrylic 30x22
5-21-3 3,000 Ft. Acrylic
5-22-3 knife painting w/ Tom Booth
5-27-03 Keokea Church, acrylic
4-26-5 mastic and wax
May 2005, 2 Oil, 1 Mastic and Wax, 2 watercolors
June, 2005, Kula, Copal Medium, Oil Medium, Water Color Medium
4-26-6 Mike's House Acrylic
Past Kula 4-29-7 to 5-9-7 Oil
5-10-7 to 5-20-7 Holy Ghost Church Acrylic
5-10-7 to 5-20-7 Kula Post Office Jacaranda Acrylic
Jacaranda Seabury Hall 2008, Maui, HI
Jacaranda at Makawao Library, Maui, HI, 2008
2009 Jacaranda Lower Kula
Jacaranda at Makawao Post Office 2010
Jacaranda and Bougainvillea, Lower Kula Hwy, 2010
5-10-11 Jacaranda, Lower Kula Hwy, Watercolor.
5-20-11, Jacaranda, Upper Kula Hwy, acrylic
6-19-11, Jacaranda, Kahakaloa Head Bkg, Chem-trail. Upper Kula Hwy. Acrylic, #979
6-27-11, Jacaranda, Makawao Liquor Shack, Acrylic, #980
3-2-12, Jacaranda Lower Kula Rd., Acrylic, 15x11, #984
3-30-12, Jacaranda Makawao P.O., WC, 22x15 #986
5-30-13, Jacaranda Makawao School Crossing, Acrylic, 20x16.25 #994
End of Jacaranda paintings 5-31-13