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| Poppy Summer original watercolour by Teresa Newham |
This Summer has been all about poppies! The entry form for the SAA's Paint a Poppy challenge in partnership with the Royal British Legion dropped onto my doormat a couple of months ago. The idea is to "paint, donate, remember" by sending in mini paintings 125mm square, which will be collated into an exhibition to mark the 100th anniversary of the end of the first World War.
I painted Pink Poppies several years ago, inspired by some oriental poppies which used to grow at the end of my garden. They have long since been replaced by a summer house, and I thought I could brighten up the original watercolour sketch and see if any of it could be used for the SAA's challenge.
I took the loose colour out by wetting the painting and blotting it with kitchen roll, then added a wash of Winsor Yellow Deep and some splodges of Quinacridone Red to get things going. It was starting to look better already.
The leaves of the oriental pink poppy are not the same as those of the red poppies growing in our fields. This made it easier to cut up the renovated painting, as I loved the new colours and almost didn't want to take a knife to it. But I did, and trimmed it into two entries for the Paint a Poppy Challenge:
Inspired by the success of the renovation, I decided to make a new poppy painting based on the colours I'd used. I laid down some washes on a piece of Arches 600 gsm with plenty of water, and let them flow where they pleased. Then I had to make myself walk away until the paper was completely dry again.
I took some clouds out of the sky with kitchen roll and painted several layers of poppies and grasses in the foreground. It's a simple piece, hastily titled Poppy Summer. And I have no intention of cutting this one up - I'll be showing it at #HertsOpenStudios!
The deadline for entries to the SAA Paint a Poppy Challenge is 30th September, and you don't have to be a member of the SAA to join in. So get painting! For further details, click here.
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| the SAA Paint a Poppy Challenge © Teresa Newham |
I painted Pink Poppies several years ago, inspired by some oriental poppies which used to grow at the end of my garden. They have long since been replaced by a summer house, and I thought I could brighten up the original watercolour sketch and see if any of it could be used for the SAA's challenge.
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| Pink Poppies original watercolour sketch, and with colour removed © Teresa Newham |
I took the loose colour out by wetting the painting and blotting it with kitchen roll, then added a wash of Winsor Yellow Deep and some splodges of Quinacridone Red to get things going. It was starting to look better already.
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| renovating the no longer pink poppies © Teresa Newham |
The leaves of the oriental pink poppy are not the same as those of the red poppies growing in our fields. This made it easier to cut up the renovated painting, as I loved the new colours and almost didn't want to take a knife to it. But I did, and trimmed it into two entries for the Paint a Poppy Challenge:
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| cut up for the Paint a Poppy challenge © Teresa Newham |
Inspired by the success of the renovation, I decided to make a new poppy painting based on the colours I'd used. I laid down some washes on a piece of Arches 600 gsm with plenty of water, and let them flow where they pleased. Then I had to make myself walk away until the paper was completely dry again.
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| base colours for the new poppy painting © Teresa Newham |
I took some clouds out of the sky with kitchen roll and painted several layers of poppies and grasses in the foreground. It's a simple piece, hastily titled Poppy Summer. And I have no intention of cutting this one up - I'll be showing it at #HertsOpenStudios!
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| the new poppy watercolour © Teresa Newham |
The deadline for entries to the SAA Paint a Poppy Challenge is 30th September, and you don't have to be a member of the SAA to join in. So get painting! For further details, click here.
Exquisite poppies! You can feel them blowing in the breeze!
ReplyDeleteSorry I read this and for some bizarre reason forgot to comment on it! These are lovely and delicate - I especially like the new watercolour.
ReplyDelete