self portraits at speed

It's an interesting exercise, drawing yourself.  The model is always available, and does what she's told; that's one of the reasons I tried it in the first place.  But the main aim was to have fun, and hopefully learn something along the way!   The first sketch was drawn standing in front of my bathroom mirror using Zig pens. It took about five minutes, and looked quite like me; an encouraging start . . .

 first thing in the morning!
© Teresa Newham

Not all the portraits turned out to be so accurate, but I wasn't too concerned about getting a likeness - the important thing was the practice.  The problem with staring at yourself in a mirror is exactly that - staring - and several goggle-eyed versions later I managed to produce the drawing below.  At least I'm not in my bathrobe this time:

properly dressed  . .  .
© Teresa Newham

My sole effort in pencil demonstrated another pitfall of self-portraiture: I'm looking fairly grim-faced here because I was concentrating so hard -  possibly because pencil is not my favourite medium.  It really wasn't as harrowing as you might think  . . .

my 'concentrating' face
© Teresa Newham

I had several trial runs with chalk pastel pencils before I produced anything I could share.  I took my time over this one - around half an hour.  Not quite in the spirit of producing a quick impression, but it's my favourite and arguably the closest to how I really look, although I have slimmed my face down a bit:

playing with pastels
© Teresa Newham

At this point the whole project ground to a halt because I developed pneumonia.  As a result I didn't touch a pen, pencil or brush for nearly two months, until a few days ago, when I dashed off the pen and wash below in about fifteen minutes. At this point I should reassure the squeamish that although I'm still recovering, I don't look quite this bad;  I could put the result down to my drawing being a bit rusty, or maybe I was just channeling how I felt about my recent illness . . .

speedy pen & wash - well, I have been ill . . . .!
© Teresa Newham

So I won't be putting myself forward for Sky Arts Portrait Artist of the Year just yet, but, as I thought, I've had lots of fun making these quick sketches, which is what it's all about.  I love playing!

painting the park

My favourite painting amongst those I've produced this year has to be Rothamsted Park.  Like much of my work, it started with a feeling and a photo, and took almost a year to bring about.  The photo was taken at ten to nine on a lovely early September morning in 2013.  In my previous life I would have been halfway to London on the train; yet here I was with sunlight streaming through the leaves and not a soul about.  I've taken many photos of the park since, but I'm most fond of this one, largely because of the way I felt when I took it.

initial photo of Rothamsted Park
© Teresa Newham

It was July this year before I got round to making anything from the photo; I started as usual with a couple of wet watercolour washes and let them dry more or less as they wanted, runbacks and all:

first washes
© Teresa Newham

I didn't want to stick too closely to the photo, so I added in some fairly random splodges of green and red to suggest where the grass and the path might be.

adding colour
© Teresa Newham

Now for the trees - to get the effect of sunlight I blocked these in using yellow and red first, and hinted at the first of the fallen leaves beneath them.

blocking in the trees
© Teresa Newham

The next step was to firm up the trunks of the trees and give them some leaves, without losing the effect of the sunlight.

trunks and leaves
© Teresa Newham

Finally I added the shadows at the base of the trees, which gave the painting the atmosphere I wanted!

Rothamsted Park - the finished watercolour
© Teresa Newham

This painting makes me smile every time I look at it; I've shown it at Herts Open Studios and the Harpenden Art Club's annual exhibition.  I hope it's had the same effect on everyone!

Another walk round the corner - August, September, October

So . . . having finished the photo diary of our walks across local fields, I find we are still taking the walks and I'm still taking photos.  Seems a shame not to share them!

the first field - August
© Teresa Newham

The August walk took us through fields of ripened wheat bordered by lush hedgerows.

the old oak - August
© Teresa Newham

Everything was waiting for harvest and the summer skies were full of fluffy white clouds:

the second field - August
© Teresa Newham

While the blackberries faded in the hedgerows, new berries were to be seen - heralding the Autumn soon to come.

first of the berries - August
© Teresa Newham

By September, everything in the first field had been cut down to stubble!

the first field - September
© Teresa Newham

The oak tree was still in full leaf at the far side of the field.

the old oak - September
© Teresa Newham

They were ploughing the second field; we could hear the tractor going back and forth as we took our walk, and the driver gave us a cheery wave!

the second field - September
© Teresa Newham

We spotted this tiny snail basking in the early Autumn sunshine - it was still quite warm:

snail on a fern - September
© Teresa Newham

October, and the first field is looking somewhat unkempt.  I wonder what the farmer will be doing with it next?

the first field - October
© Teresa Newham

The leaves on the old oak are thinning out - earlier than last year, I think.

the old oak - October
© Teresa Newham

The second field, all ploughed, with ferns and bracken collapsing at the entrance:

the second field - October
© Teresa Newham

And finally, deep in the ancient woodland at the far point of our walk, we found some fungi pushing up through the leaves:

fungi - October
© Teresa Newham

pen & wash: Asters

So, #HertsOpenStudios 2014 is finally over! The feedback I've received this year has been "you really should make more pen & wash pieces", and my final demo piece was exactly that.

no asters were harmed in the making of this drawing!
© Teresa Newham

I brought some asters in from home and tried various ways of drawing them in pencil, until I was satisfied I had the right approach - quite graphic and not too detailed.  The essence of the aster, you might say!

adding more and more colour to the drawing
© Teresa Newham

I went over the drawing in pen, then coloured in the flowers, using a thinner wash to portray the lighter areas. I did the same with the stems in sap green, then added some of the pink to the stems, referring back to the original flowers all the time (I popped the flowers back into water as soon as I could, and they made it safely back to their vase at home with no ill effects).

asters - plain background
© Teresa Newham

One visitor, peering over my shoulder just after I'd painted the flowers, reckoned I could have finished the picture right then, and although I felt that was too early, I was tempted to leave well alone once the stems were completed.  But there was still one Open Studios session to go . . .

adding colour to the background
© Teresa Newham

In the end I decided to add a background, just to see what the effect would be, and after laying down a yellow wash with lots of water sloshing everywhere, I dropped in some of the original pink and green to add more interest and tie the various elements of the painting together.  I rather like the result, and have found a mount for it already!

the finished piece, as it will be mounted
© Teresa Newham

A huge thank you  to the two hundred or so visitors who came to see our exhibition at Artscape and to meet us during our #HertsOpenStudios sessions - and to Gurmeet and his staff at Artscape in Harpenden for making it possible!

cats, cows and conversation

Hillary, Sue & Pauline giving demonstrations at Artscape during #HertsOpenStudios
© Teresa Newham

What exactly do people think when they see our demonstrations for #HertsOpenStudios?  Do they wonder why the results don't look like the art on the walls?  we're always keen to discuss our work with visitors and they often have questions, so any demo needs to be easily interruptable; which rules out anything requiring deep concentration.

 

visitors - we like visitors!

© Teresa Newham

Sue uses watercolour sketches to plan out future paintings, Pauline demonstrates her restoration work, Judi shows how she prepares glass for firing (and then has to clear it away to take it home!), while Hillary weaves paper into textured sheets and baskets or colours  her graphics on a tablet.  I prefer to use the time to try out new media or practice my drawing skills.   And, if we're not chatting to visitors, we chat amongst ourselves.

animal crackers . . . my first cow
© Teresa Newham

- I took these lovely photos of cows near Redbournbury the other day, I'm going to try drawing one.  
- She's got a thing about cows, you know . . .
- Animals can be tricky things to portray.
- Yes, I once painted a sheep which looked more like a dog. Not sure about cows . . . 
- You need to discover what makes a cow a cow.  Its essential cow-ness.  Then your drawing will look like a cow.

And this advice worked - eventually I drew a cow which looked like a cow.  I usually avoid portraying animals, but, emboldened by the success of the cow, I decided to try a cat:

first attempt at a cat ~ in pencil
© Teresa Newham

Perhaps because I'm more familiar with cats than with cows, making these drawings felt more natural.  The pencil sketch took up one complete Open Studios session.  Next time I moved on to using chalk pastel pencils.  I've only just started using these regularly, and enjoyed exploring the various ways they could be used to express long and short fur.

second version of cat ~ chalk pastel pencil
© Teresa Newham

With half an hour left at the end, I dashed off the pen and wash sketch below.  Ironically this quick little drawing is my favourite - I like the way the colour has dried on her face - to me, it has the most character of the three.

ten-minute watercolour cat
© Teresa Newham

At the time of writing there are still four Open Studios sessions to come at Artscape: we'll be there between 1pm - 4.30pm on Friday 19th & Saturday 20th September, Friday 26th & Saturday 27th September at Artscape, 8 Southdown Industrial Estate, Marlborough Road (off Southdown Road), Harpenden AL5 1PW.  Our exhibition in the upstairs room is open during shop hours unless there is a class on. Do come along and see us if you can!

All set at Artscape!

my linocuts, watercolours & photos
© Teresa Newham

Our exhibition at Artscape is finally open!  we spent most of Saturday in their upstairs room, hanging art on the walls and displaying pieces on tabletops, in a glass cabinet, and in browsers.  As usual I thought I wouldn't have much to exhibit; and as usual I had plenty - so much, in fact, that I thought I wouldn't be able to fit everything into my display:  framed and unframed linocuts, watercolours, acrylics and photos - plus cards, gift tags, and bookmarks.

Sue's watercolours
© Teresa Newham

Sue Wookey is showing her mystic watercolours inspired by nature, symbols, dreams and inner journeys: along with unframed originals, photos, prints & cards.  As you can see, she has two browsers of delights for visitors to look at!

some of Hillary's canvases and drawings
© Teresa Newham

Hillary Taylor's display includes her popular line drawings of local landmarks and her latest mixed media tapestries, some of which incorporate calligraphy.  She also has cards and smaller items available.

some of Judi's glass and Pauline's raku ceramics
© Teresa Newham

Judi Menges has some colourful glass bowls and wall art on display, along with glass jewellery and cards; while Pauline Ashley is showing her delicate raku pottery and some jolly ceramic frogs.  Pauline also undertakes amazing restoration work.

miscellaneous pieces
© Teresa Newham

The exhibition will run alongside Herts Open Studios, which starts this Saturday 6th September; you can find information about the whole event here.  At Artscape Arts we are running eight Open Studios sessions, during which you will have the opportunity to meet us and watch us at work.  And while you're in the area, why not drop in on some of the many other artists taking part in and around Harpenden? - see details below.  Hope to see you there!

Artscape Arts Exhibition  1st - 27th September 2014
Artscape, 8 Southdown Industrial Estate,
Marlborough Road (off Southdown Road)
Harpenden AL5 1PW
9.30pm - 4.30pm ~ not Sundays or during classes
we regret that the exhibition does not have wheelchair access
Artscape Arts Open Studios sessions:
Saturdays 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th ~ 1pm - 4.30 pm
Thursday 11th ~ 1pm - 8pm
Wednesday 17th ~ 1pm - 4.30 pm
Fridays 19th, 26th ~ 1pm - 4.30 pm

Download the Harpenden Art Trail brochure below for full details of participating artists in and around the Harpenden area:

flowers, flowers, flowers . . .

During my recent watercolour frenzy I decided to make a flower painting based on an exercise in one of the art mags I subscribe to - not my usual style at all, but I thought it would be worth a go.  The subject was pink geraniums in a vase, so I turned them into red geraniums in a pot, which resulted in this:

geraniums in a pot
original watercolour by Teresa Newham

Good enough, I thought, to make into a greetings card, or mount up for Herts Open Studios!  so ideally I needed a couple of similar paintings to go with it.   Taking a vase of sunflowers off the dining room table, I laid down some initial washes:

early washes for 'sunflowers in a jug'
© Teresa Newham

And, using a similar set of processes, turned them into this - which is arguably more my style:

sunflowers in a jug
original watercolour by Teresa Newham

 For my third flower painting, I started out with a rough idea based on a photo I'd taken earlier in the Summer.  I had no idea where this one was going . . . :

early washes for 'poppy meadow'
© Teresa Newham

. . . .and it ended up as a rather abstract rendition of some poppies!

poppy meadow
original watercolour by Teresa Newham

Which also works cropped down for the greetings card:

'poppy meadow' cropped for a greetings card
© Teresa Newham

It was great fun to experiment in this way, and I ended up with three mounted pieces and designs for three greetings cards - not bad for a few days' work!

heat and light

An intense burst of creativity towards the end of June into July has resulted in a number of watercolours!  Here are two scenes based on some of my favourite holiday memories.

photos at Panteli Beach, Leros
© Teresa Newham

As reference material I had photos and the odd sketch made on the spot of the things that particularly struck me.  In the case of Panteli Beach, this was the tiny fisherman's chapel overlooking the bay, and the castle and windmills on the skyline:

sketch of Panteli Beach
© Teresa Newham

I incorporated these into a sketch layout for the painting, editing out detail as I went.  As the main focus for the painting was to be the chapel, I knew that once I started painting, even more detail would have to go!

sketch for the painting of Panteli
© Teresa Newham

The Kos harbour painting would also need to be severely pared down, as I didn't want to detract from the fish seller and his wares - it was his umbrellas which had originally caught my eye:

photos taken at Kos Harbour
© Teresa Newham

On looking at the sketch and the photos together, however, I decided that the painting would need some context, perhaps the suggestion of some boats in the background.

sketch of the fish seller
© Teresa Newham

I had photos of the fish seller standing up and sitting down, so I was able to choose what he should be doing in the painting.  I decided to show him keeping the fish cool by hosing them down with seawater:

sketch for the Kos Harbour painting
© Teresa Newham

The two paintings are a joyful reminder of a happy holiday; in painting them I was reminded of things which delighted me while I was there!

Wayside Chapel, Panteli
original watercolour by Teresa Newham

The cross next to the chapel is a sailing mast, and the blue sails and stripes on the umbrellas at Kos Harbour echo the Greek flag:

Kos Harbour, 9am
original watercolour by Teresa Newham

In these paintings I have tried to capture the warmth and brightness of the Dodecanese Islands and the Aegean, choosing a vivd palette to counteract the way bright sunlight drains the colours from a photo.  This is how I remember Kos and Panteli.  I wonder how much of that is memory and how much is to do with the way I feel about them?