screens and scribbles

playing with colour
iPhone drawing © Teresa Newham

I suppose it was inevitable.  The moment I put down the David Hockney art books my husband gave me for Christmas, with their pages and pages of drawings made on an iPhone and iPad, I reached for my own devices and started playing.

cartoon faces
iPhone drawings © Teresa Newham

Hockney's images are, of course, little masterpieces, often crudely drawn but always with a real sense of the subject.  My efforts are basically doodles made while working out how to use the Brushes app.

playing with layers
iPad drawings © Teresa Newham

I started with patterns and imaginary faces - cartoon-like line drawings or more considered layered images, as I tried to build volume and shading.  The thought of being able to dash off a quick sketch on my iPhone, any time, any place, anywhere, was exciting.

loving Vincent (night)
iPad drawing © Teresa Newham

Another Christmas present - a DVD of the amazing animated painted film Loving Vincent - had me doodling away in a rough approximation of the style of Vincent van Gogh.  I was surprised at how effective the daytime picture turned out to be, despite the speed with which I laid it down.

loving Vincent (day)
iPad drawing © Teresa Newham

More recently I've been following in Hockney's footsteps again, by dashing off quick interpretations of items round the house.  At some point I will get back to "proper" sketching, but for now the digital version has me hooked!

loving Hockney
iPad drawings © Teresa Newham

a backwards glance

watercolour of Sara Baras, 2008
© Teresa Newham

As the studio reorganisation continues, I've been looking through some old watercolours - some even older than this blog. The first piece, of the flamenco dancer Sara Baras, was made from a photo as a demo during my very first Open Studios, and includes some spectacular granulation.

watercolour sketch of a lily, 2007
© Teresa Newham

Next, I came across two paintings of lilies, made three years apart.  The first one is a quick sketch, drawing straight onto the paper with the paint, while I remember putting more work into the second one.  Years ago I would have told you that I preferred the sketch, but looking at them now I think the other one is my favourite.

lily, watercolour, 2010
© Teresa Newham

I love this red tulips picture because it includes two of my favourite vases - a cream Edwardian milk pitcher which still sits in the kitchen of my current home, and the small yellow glass jug which was my grandmother's, and which lives in my studio.

red tulips on the kitchen windowsill, 2010
© Teresa Newham

The snow scene was an experiment based around the idea that white is rarely just white.  Here, it's purple, green, yellow and blue.  It's another piece which I appreciate more now than I did when it was first painted.  But then I rarely like anything when I've just finished it - my favourite is always the next project . . .

a snow scene, 2010
© Teresa Newham

Finally, a painting made from a holiday photo.  I'd also made a quick watercolour sketch in situ, so the subject wasn't entirely new to me. I loved Rome, and the pines, so this brings back happy memories!

a view of Rome, 2008
© Teresa Newham