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| blue geranium original watercolour with watercolour pencil Teresa Newham |
It was my own fault. Tempted outside by the hot weather, I spotted the blue geranium flowering brightly in its shady corner and decided there and then to make a watercolour sketch. What with the dazzling bright sunlight and the colour drying on the paper faster than I could apply it, it wasn't surprising that the result left a lot to be desired. It would do, however, as the basis for a slightly bigger flower painting which, of course, was bound to be far more successful. Wasn't it?
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| the geranium and the sketch from life © Teresa Newham |
Next day I set to work despite a stinking headache from the previous day's sun. Needless to say, things didn't go well and by the third day - when I didn't have a headache at all, just a stubborn determination to finish the dratted thing no matter how bad it looked - this painting was clearly destined for the bin. Even a few scratched-in leaf veins once it was fully dry couldn't rescue it.
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| working up the bigger picture - or should that be over-working? © Teresa Newham |
And yet - I just couldn't let go. There was a better painting underneath somewhere, and I found myself rinsing off all the excess colour under the tap. I'd never tried that before, and it was cathartic; I taped the soggy sheet of 300gsm Bockingford crudely to a backing board and walked away. By the following morning it had dried into something far more hopeful, and - just as importantly - completely flat.
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| all washed off! © Teresa Newham |
Some tonal contrast was called for, so I cautiously painted in some deeper green and waited for another twenty-four hours to give myself time to decide what else was required. This turned out to be a little further definition with watercolour pencil - I stopped myself from doing anything more to it at all.
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| cautiously enhanced © Teresa Newham |
The finished piece looks best with a square mount, although it will also work as an A6 greetings card. You know what they say - you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear. But you can try . . .
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| trying out a mount © Teresa Newham |
