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| Millennium Cross - watercolour © Teresa Newham |
Recently I decided to add to the palette of colours I use. It's all too easy to get into a rut, and I was looking for a little inspiration - so I pored over the Winsor & Newton colour chart and ordered myself some new paints. Then I made my own chart from the old and new colours and put it in my paintbox.
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| my personal colour chart! © Teresa Newham |
Keen to try some of the new shades out, I took as a starting point a photo taken at the Millennium Cross in Rosedale, North Yorkshire. It was a favourite place of my mother's, and we'd made an emotional visit to it in August - I wanted to capture the atmosphere and how I felt when I was there.
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| the original scene © Teresa Newham |
Still in the spirit of experimentation, I'd also bought some 640gsm Arches watercolour paper. I'd never used such a heavy weight of paper before - it didn't even need stretching, and certainly soaked up the initial washes. I wet the sky with my new spray bottle to create some clouds, before layering on more vivid colours to depict the hillside.
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| getting the right colours down (eventually) . . . © Teresa Newham |
I immediately regretted my choice of Perylene Maroon for the heather, but it didn't matter - this paper is so good that I simply wiped the offending colour away and replaced it with Quinacridone Magenta (the other colours I used were Sap Green and my beloved Raw Sienna and Cobalt Blue).
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| wiping out a ghostly cross! © Teresa Newham |
This grade of Arches is popular with many artists because it will take a lot of punishment - just as well, as I needed to remove some of the hillside in order to paint the cross itself. The effect was quite ghoulish for a while!
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| the cross taking shape © Teresa Newham |
A little more work to the foreground, and I had the painting I wanted. This picture takes me straight back to Heygate Bank and that lonely cross on the moors. I really enjoyed playing with the new paper: and as I have a few sheets left and some unopened tubes of paint to explore - watch this space!
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| the finished result © Teresa Newham |
This is a lovely picture - a fitting tribute to a very meaningful spot. I particularly like the way the sky and the heather have been captured.
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