Poppy Fields

Half way through July we visited the Rhythms of the World festival in Hitchin. On the way we passed the most wonderful field of poppies near Pirton, bright red against the ripening wheatfields. The following week we went that way again, and this time I had my camera ready - but - no poppies! they'd finished flowering, but the impression they made on me was so strong that I quickly snapped a few shots of the wheatfields for reference, and also some poppies on Harpenden Common which I could use as a guide. Time was short (we were about to move house) so I laid down some loose washes and left the painting alone to see what would happen.

initial washes and source material
© Teresa Newham 2011

It looked quite effective, so I pulled out some clouds with kitchen roll, painted up some grasses using the four colours I'd used for the washes (cerulean blue, ultramarine, cadmium red and raw sienna), and scattered a lot of water around the centre of the painting, dropping in some cad red as I did so.

overpainted, but not finished
© Teresa Newham 2011

Next, I touched in some shadows and the centres of the flowers with ultramarine; and when all that had dried off I spattered cad red, cerulean and ultramarine across the raw sienna wheatfield.  The finished result is hanging in my Open Studios exhibition right now.  Oh, and the theme for September's Photos on the Run is reflections in windows.  Hope you enjoy them!

Poppy Fields
© Teresa Newham 2011