what happens if . . . ?

Hyacinths II
original pen & wash by Teresa Newham

A number of mounted watercolours have been knocking around in my browser for a few years now, and are starting to look a bit tired.  What would happen, I wondered, if I tried to tart them up a bit?

Hyacinths I - before the makeover
© Teresa Newham

My least favourite is Hyacinths - the composition and colours have never felt quite right to me.  I thought perhaps a bit of cropping might be in order, but that wouldn't help with the colours . . .

selecting a crop
© Teresa Newham

I needed to practice on something, so I wetted the painting and carefully took off as much of the original colour as I could.  When it had dried, I mixed up strong washes of Transparent Yellow, Permanent Sap Green and Permanent Alizarin and threw caution to the winds.

have I gone too far?
© Teresa Newham

The result was intriguing - the green granulated wonderfully and a beautiful orange appeared as the Alizarin mixed with the yellow.  I painted the leaves with the green wash, added Cobalt Blue to a few of the flowers, and left the others as pale as possible.

leaves and flowers adjusted
© Teresa Newham

I'm pleased with the final result and keen to try again with a different painting.  I have specific ideas for revamping one or two others, so I'd better not let my enthusiasm run away with me!

cut down and mounted
© Teresa Newham

The Dawn of Time

The Dawn of Time
© Teresa Newham

For some months I've wanted to make another rock salt painting along the lines of Cosmos - something simple and tasteful in Raw Sienna and Cerulean Blue, perhaps with a touch of Cobalt Blue and some gold printmaking ink. I even had a name for it: The Dawn of Time.

the most difficult part - getting started!
© Teresa Newham

This week I gave it a go, using 300lb Arches watercolour paper.  I lobbed on a lot of water with a big brush, plenty of colour, and a great deal of salt.  Then I added some more water with a spray for good measure, and walked away to let everything dry off.

the first layer
© Teresa Newham

When I scraped off the salt the next day, I realised the Cerulean Blue didn't work on its own, but would add depth to any washes on top of it; so I added more water, more Cobalt Blue and so much salt I could almost taste it . . .

more Cobalt Blue and salt
© Teresa Newham

Once again I left the painting to thoroughly dry overnight.  When I prised off the second layer of salt - not an easy job, as it was clinging tenaciously to the paper - I realised a transparent green was needed. The only one to hand was Viridian, so I wetted the paper yet again, added colour, salt and spray, and stood the painting upright for a while to see what would happen.

Viridian enters the mix
© Teresa Newham

The following day I applied another, weaker Cobalt wash and did a lot of spraying and waving the whole thing about to get the final effect (no need for printmaking ink!). The original title, The Dawn of Time, is vague enough to mean almost anything.  So I kept it -  because I have no idea what this painting is about . . .

the final result
© Teresa Newham