Putting a lid on it - 2 (The Challenge of Sandstone cuttings)

In my most recent post just before Christmas, I described the landscaping of the area above the helix. That work continues. I'm currently covering the area with static grass before a fairly ambitious reafforestation program which will be implemented progressively over the next few years.

The biggest challenge to date has been a realistic presentation of the sandstone cuttings. After several trips up and down the M1 cuttings south of the Hawkesbury River as well as looking across to the Cowan bank on Short North, I have tried to identify the key elements of a cut sandstone face, the horizontal sedimentary layers overlaid with vertical weathering from a combination of mud washed down from above combined with grime from exhaust fumes.

I have used several colours to differentiate the sedimentary layers. There was a fair bit of experimentation but I settled on two basic shades of yellow, a yellow ochre and light yellow applied horizontally. These were overlaid with several vertical washes of burnt umber to represent the weathering.

I'm comfortable with the ochre but just as I finished, Bevan Wall Productions put a video of a cab ride through 10 tunnels just east of Lithgow on YouTube . ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlcnIO26FLU&t=952s ) I appreciate that different locations have different sand stone colours but it confirmed my earlier suspicion that the light yellow is not quite right. To my eye, it should be lighter, have less yellow and, perhaps, with a hint of light brown.

 

Some areas are more pronounced than others. I'll experiment a bit more but I feel I'm getting bogged down (no pun intended) in this area when there are other locations, like the Hunter River bridge area demanding attention. Consequently, the cuttings may stay as they are for the time being until other jobs have been completed. In military terminology, it could be called a 'bypass policy'!