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| the finished painting - or is it? © Teresa Newham |
I'm not sure why this one was such a a struggle, but the signs were ominous from the beginning: trying my chosen four colours on a piece of scrap, I found the French Ultramarine and Winsor Blue (green shade) indistinguishable, and the Cobalt Turquoise far too green. As I was almost out of Cobalt Blue, I dashed to Artscape and picked up some Cobalt Turquoise Light at the same time. It wasn't a good start . .
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| I took a while to choose the colours © Teresa Newham |
I wetted a piece of 300gsm Daler Rowney watercolour paper and taped it to a board. It dried thoroughly, and I laid down an initial wash of Cerulean and Cobalt Turquoise. But somehow everything became too wet - when I added the rock salt, it started to dissolve.
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| initial washes . . . © Teresa Newham |
So I did something I almost never do - chucked the painting in the bin and began again. I used Arches 600 gsm (no stretching required), laid down the initial wash for a second time, and sprinkled on the salt. I can't recall now what I didn't like about that attempt, but it ended up in the bin with the first one . . .
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| . . . with salt added © Teresa Newham |
Number three ran into trouble almost immediately - but Arches is expensive and I couldn't bring myself to throw it away. Besides, the bin was full. So I wiped off the paint and let the paper dry - which gave me a chance to calm down and remember that salt painting requires patience. I turned the paper over, determined to let things flow.
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| salt on the second layer of washes © Teresa Newham |
Finally I managed to get the colours down and the salt on without any drama. When the paint dried, I removed the salt and added washes of Cobalt Blue and French Ultramarine. I sprinkled on more salt, and took that off when the whole thing was dry. I assume the painting is finished - I don't want to touch it again. And I'd welcome any suggestions for a title - so over to you!
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| once everything dried, I removed the salt © Teresa Newham |
