Mixing it up

Pussy Willow
watercolour & metallic printmaking ink
© Teresa Newham

I first noticed the contrast reflected in the television screen, of all things; the stems of pussy willow in the copper jug next to the fireplace were positively glowing against the red tablecloth behind them.  As I took some photos, the ideas were already forming for an experimental piece using just a couple of colours: include the pattern of the Turkish kelim on the floor and perhaps the flowered cushion, too?

source photos and initial layout
© Teresa Newham

I sketched out a design one morning while I was taking a turn stewarding at Gallery32, and soon realised that the vivid Quinacridrone Red background would be a lot easier to create behind those pussy willow stems if I masked them off.  Now, masking fluid and I don't usually get along - I've ruined more promising work than I care to remember while attempting to use it - but it occurred to me that I'd never tried it on the heavy Arches paper I've grown to love. So perhaps it was time to be brave . . .

masked - and unmasked!
© Teresa Newham

And it worked! So well, in fact, that I felt somewhat foolish that I hadn't thought to try it before.  Or perhaps I was just lucky.  Either way, I hadn't ruined an expensive piece of watercolour paper and I had in front of me exactly what I needed to progress.  I began to build up the painting with more of the red and some Burnt Umber, feeling my way into it as it's not in my usual style; it seemed appropriate to add texture to the rug and the pussy willow so I just carried on and hoped it would all work out!

making it up as I go along
© Teresa Newham

Finally I painted in the jug using Schminke copper printmaking ink mixed with pearliser, with some plain copper ink on top for good measure.  You can't see it in the photo, but that jug has a definite metallic glow.  And I'm already thinking about my next venture into the world of mixed media!!

the finished piece
© Teresa Newham

Festive Fun

Blame the holly.  Or perhaps Geoff Kersey's demo in the December issue of Artists & Illustrators. Either way, for the last few weeks I've been making watercolours, just at the time of year when I should be concentrating on getting ready for Christmas!

a watercolour experiment with masking fluid
© Teresa Newham

As regular readers of this blog will know, masking fluid and I don't get on, but I'd been meaning to give it another go.  Geoff's article had me reaching for a piece of scrap paper almost as soon as I'd finished reading.  Besides, it was a pleasant distraction from all the other things I was supposed to be doing, such as designing and printing my 2013 Christmas card. . . . this is the smallest watercolour I've ever produced, but I was delighted with the result, and resolved to keep trying with masking fluid.  And because the painting was small it was quick to do!

light on the lake
© Teresa Newham

Next, having practiced and practiced my holly demo for the visit to Manland School (see last blog post), I suddenly got the urge to paint some holly in the way I really wanted to - in layers which could be left to dry while I got on with something else.  The holly painting took a couple of days, but the time actually spent doing it was probably only a couple of hours:

how I wanted to paint the holly all along!
© Teresa Newham

At this point I realised that these small paintings could form the basis for some Christmas card designs - and that I should take advantage of the festive atmosphere around me to create some more, perhaps with a view to selling them at art fairs.  My next attempt was a tree.  I'm not sure where the little girl and her dog came from, but now they've arrived, you may well see them again!

branching out (not the name of the painting!)
© Teresa Newham

My most recent finished painting (yes, there are more in the pipeline!) is a robin.  I hadn't painted a bird since the Swan in 2009, but he's turned out quite a cheeky little chappy - just like the one in my garden!  (of course, some holly had to make an appearance too - and so did the masking fluid . . .).

watercolour of a very portly robin
© Teresa Newham

This is such fun, and it's good practice too.  At approx 7 x 5 inches each, none of the paintings are large enough to prevent me doing what really needs to be done in the way of Christmas preparations.  So I've decided to keep on with these little card designs for as long as the Christmas spirit moves me!

colour and light

I've never got on with masking fluid.  No matter how careful I am, the surface of the paper always gets damaged, whether I'm using it neat or diluted.  Nonetheless, in a continued spurt of post-Christmas enthusiasm, I decided a couple of weekends ago to have another try with it, drawing the outline of a dove holding an olive branch.  To create a really vibrant background I dampened rather than wetted the paper, and dropped in large amounts of pure colour.  Then I spattered some water over the  whole thing, just to see what would happen.

dove of peace
watercolour & ink
© Teresa Kirkpatrick 2011

The result was a fabulous range of colour, softened in places by some sublte runbacks.  But when I peeled off the masking fluid, a little of the surface paper came away with it.  The paper I use is extremely soft, which explains the problem (on the other hand, you can soak it several times without it complaining at all LOL)  I further defined the dove with a pen, but on the whole it's rather unsatisfactory. Still, the success of the background had made me keen to try again - but without the masking fluid next time!

Accordingly, last Sunday I carefully drew a pencil outline of a dove, then rubbed most of it out, dampened the area outside the outline and lobbed in even more pure colour than I had with the previous painting.  After it dried off a little I spattered some water to see what would happen.  Then I left it alone for several hours before painting in the dove with a backlit effect (I should 'fess up right here that I pinched the idea of the backlit dove from a Christmas card I got several years ago).

Spirit
watercolour
© Teresa Kirkpatrick 2011

This produced a far better result - although the dove is a bit wonky, the backlighting gives a lively effect.  I'm really pleased with the intensity of colour. And, as last Sunday was the feast of the Baptism of the Lord, when according to the gospel of Matthew, the Spirit of God descended on Jesus like a dove, I've called it Spirit.

Finally, this week my latest order arrived from Great Art.  I've decided to liven up my colour palette and introduce some of my experimental techniques into other areas of my painting.  So - more paper, a new porcelain palette, several new tubes of watercolour paint in shades I haven't used before; oh yes, and I must get round to doing some more linocutting . . .