Sketchbook started!

 

Coffee at Emilio's
pen & wash sketch by Teresa Newham

A chilly Spring is my excuse for not starting my Moleskin sketchbook (a Christmas present) until May.  Flags put up for the Jubilee caught my eye on an early walk to the local shops one morning.  I took several photos - the view I wanted involved standing on the zebra crossing so I couldn't do anything in situ - and worked up the sketch at home.

Southdown Jubilee
pen & wash sketch by Teresa Newham

Better weather encouraged me to try some plein air sketching in Rothamsted Park.  I chose a suitable bench, laid out my equipment, including an old watercolour palette, and got to work. To my surprise several people I knew came past, with one stopping to chat, which certainly got me over any shyness about painting in public!

the new fitness centre, Rothamsted Park
pen & wash sketch by Teresa Newham

It seemed like a good idea to make one sketch a week, and the next was a view down Station Road from the seats by the fountain outside Pizza Express in Harpenden.  I became so absorbed in the drawing that the sun came round and I had to beat a hasty retreat, adding the colour when I got home. People came and went, so I put one of them into the picture to liven up the scene.

view towards Station Road, Harpenden
pen & wash sketch by Teresa Newham

Was I being too optimistic when I took my sketchbook and pen to Childwickbury? I did find time to make a  line drawing of people enjoying refreshments in the seating area by the old stable block. It made for a restful interlude in between looking at all the art. I added the colour later and managed to restrict my palette, which looks effective.

the side of Childwickbury stable block 
pen & wash sketch by Teresa Newham

My favourite is one I made while sitting on a bench in the shade of the big tree outside Boots in the centre of Harpenden. It shows one of the snack vans and some of the customers.  Once again I got engrossed and had to finish it later because I ran out of time.  Since then, heatwaves, holidays and Covid have prevented me from doing any more.  But there's still time before Open Studios starts in September . . . 

detail from Coffee at Emilio's
© Teresa Newham

Asters revisited

Asters (revisited)
original watercolour by Teresa Newham

Following the successful revamp of my Hyacinths painting, I turned my attention to Asters.  This is a favourite of mine, made as a demo at Open Studios a few years back, and I didn't want to alter it drastically; I wondered if simply remounting it would do:

trying the original version in a new mount
© Teresa Newham

I came to the conclusion that something more was needed.  The background looked distinctly wishy-washy and there was too much yellow; so I removed as much of the original colour as I could and strengthened the background with Permanent Sap Green and Permanent Alizarin.

playing with the background
© Teresa Newham

This worked well; I re-did the flowers with Permanent Alizarin, and they started to sing against the green.  The leaves and stems were going to need similar treatment.

bringing out the flowers
© Teresa Newham

The end result in the new mount looks subtly different to the original - so subtle that I sometimes have trouble telling photos of the two apart.  Which means I haven't ruined one of my favourite paintings!

the revamped painting
© Teresa Newham

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

Cravells Road

Cravells Road ~ pen & watercolour wash
by Teresa Newham

I can't remember the exact date.  But it was definitely January 1987 when I moved to the Southdown area of Harpenden, just a few days after passing my driving test (the thought of having to re-take it on a new set of roads concentrated my mind wonderfully . . . ).  Which means I have lived here now for thirty years!

source material ~ photos, sketches and layout
© Teresa Newham

What better way to mark the occasion, I thought, than by doing a painting of Cravells Road, where I first lived in Southdown?    As you drive over the brow of Piggotshill Lane opposite, the Victorian railway workers' cottages seem to cling to the side of the hill below the railway line in the most picturesque fashion, especially at dusk.

pencil undersketch
© Teresa Newham

I chose a more prosaic vantage point outside The Carpenters Arms, one of  six local pubs when I moved in, now sadly reduced to four.  The George IV, opposite, had a bad reputation in those days - it's since reverted to a private house - and round the corner the Rose & Crown is now a block of flats. At that time Harpenden, along with St Albans, boasted the highest proportion of pubs per head of population in the country!

the pen drawing
© Teresa Newham

These side-by-side georeferenced maps show Southdown (or Bowling Alley, as it was originally known) in the late 19th/early 20th century, with the cottages in Cravells Road clearly visible both below and above the railway bridge.  Not long after I moved in, somebody remarked to me (only partly in fun) that I was living on "the wrong side" of the railway.  Needless to say, I was delighted; and have lived on the wrong side of the tracks ever since . . .

choosing colours
© Teresa Newham

The day I moved in, I watched in fascinated horror as a man worked on the roof of the house opposite - I was convinced he would fall at any moment.  But not at all - it turned out that he was a fireman getting the place ready for his wedding, and well used to heights.  He even ate his sandwiches up there!

adding washes, little by little
© Teresa Newham

The day I moved out, I watched again in fascinated horror as a riderless white horse galloped down the road, having thrown its rider on the Common at the top.  The horse turned right at the roundabout at the foot of the hill without causing injury to itself or others, and was recaptured, appropriately enough, outside the bookies in Grove Road . . .

not quite finished
© Teresa Newham

In between there were a host of crazy happenings and great friendships made: and though I was only there a few years, Cravells Road holds a very special place in my heart.  I've tried to portray some of that affection and the quirkiness of the place in my painting - it's a long time since I've worked in such detail, and I enjoyed every minute of the making!

the magic of shadows!
© Teresa Newham

Cherry Blossom

cherry blossom ~ pen & wash
© Teresa Newham

A few weeks ago my neighbour's cherry tree started to bloom.  It's at its most interesting before the blossom comes fully out, when there are buds as well as flowers on show, and some leaves starting to emerge:

the inspiration for the painting
© Teresa Newham

Luckily, I was able to get something down on paper while the tree was still covered in blossom. I made the design, inked it over, and laid down a couple of washes in Alizarin Crimson and Permanent Sap Green.  Then I spattered more water onto the paper to create some pale areas:

initial sketch & wet washes
 © Teresa Newham

Once the washes were dry I began to fill in the branches and flowers using the same two colours . . .

the first colours
© Teresa Newham

. . . and picking out the leaves.

painting the leaves . . .
© Teresa Newham

I painted the flowers using the Alizarin Crimson and Titanium White:

. . . and the flowers
© Teresa Newham

Then I double checked the tones by photographing the painting in black and white.  This told me I needed to make the centres of the flowers darker.

checking it out in black and white
© Teresa Newham

Finally I added in the stamens of each individual flower using one of the Elmers paint markers I was given for Christmas, and popped a mount over the top to see how it will look!

how the finished painting will look in a mount
© Teresa Newham