More Plums

 

3/27/23 Maple Leaf neighborhood

Dawning frosty and 33 degrees, Monday was tempered by sunshine and blue skies all day. On my walk around Maple Leaf and Green Lake, I stopped twice for ornamental plums, all of which have popped open in the past week or two.

Also called thundercloud plums, this variety captured my interest during the first pandemic summer long after their blossoms were gone. For a short time, I was obsessed with finding colored pencils to best represent their dark red, nearly black foliage. It was only during this color hunt that I learned that they have tiny blossoms in spring, and they’ve been on my pink calendar ever since.

3/27/23 Green Lake neighborhood

Near Green Lake, I found a whole street of plums (at right). Close to noon, they were top-lit from where I stood. As I had discovered the day before, backlighting isn’t a bad strategy for pale-colored blossoms, since their shaded color can be easier to capture. I used a Viarco ArtGraf water-soluble pencil for their dark undersides.

As for other media, these took an interesting mix. In both sketches, I started with a Uni Posca paint marker, which is one of the opaque media I trialed in preparation for pink season. But almost immediately, I gave it up for my pink Supracolor pencil. The Posca is opaque enough, but not as vibrant as my test seemed to indicate, and its bullet tip always feels too . . . marker-y. Yes, I realize it is a marker, but like someone in a bad relationship, I keep wanting it to change. When I sketch blossoming trees, I’m not after only their color; I’m also trying to capture their ethereal quality, and that blunt bullet tip doesn’t do it. The Posca is not going to change; time to give it the boot.

Still searching for the right pink.

A thundercloud of tiny blossoms!