Here's where it went wrong. I decided to mask all the leaves, and try to get a graded wash of several hues.
The edges, after 2 -3 washes, started leaving oozy marks from the stapled areas, leaking onto the painting area. I tried a desperate rescue attempt. I used a large, flat, soft brush to remove all the background I had done. It was removed reasonably well, but so was the sizing! I tried [no choice, really] to go very dark, and I did, but I don't like it. I will try again, changing the format a bit, making it narrower, and apply the lesson learned - MASK FIRST. |
Love your title -- I often feel the same way!
ReplyDeleteWhat a challenging flower to attempt in the first place! I think the colours you have used on the flower are lovely! Isn't it just so frustrating though when we make a mistake that can't be corrected? Still, it's those mistakes that make us better Artists in the end and that's the way to look at it, right? :0D
ReplyDeleteMaybe I am easy to please, but to me it doesn't look disastrous ....but you are the artist and you know your standards. The good thing is that you learned something new due to this mistake.
ReplyDeleteNice start and yeh not as happy with the finish either. Still we always learn by our mistakes and I find those are the lessons we remember. Looking forward to your next project.
ReplyDeleteI love your slide show at the top of the blog, nice addition.
Personally I think it looks beautiful. But I know how you feel. And I've always wondered how masks work when applied to painted areas. Guess I'll know not to try it now. :)
ReplyDeleteOnward Kathryn! Onward to the painting victory! Huzzah!
I love that dark background on the last. Now all you need to do is beef up the colours in the plant and it will sing. Go on, Kathryn, you can do this - be bold - its only a piece of paper after all!
ReplyDeleteKathryn, I had that puddling problem too -- so now after stapling them I use drafting or masking tape from 3M to cover all the staples. These tapes would stick to paper surface and usually prevent seepage... Hope that helps!
ReplyDeleteYou probably already know this but if you have your drawing done with a soft pencil, make sure you spray some workable fixative on the drawing before applying masking! I've had to redrawn mine last time... :-P It's a lesson I'd like to share with all my watercolor painter friends...