How to Fix Mistakes and Make Changes in Watercolor

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How do you fix a mistake in watercolor?

Watercolor has a reputation for being ruthless, but there are several different ways to correct watercolor mistakes, make edits, or even incorporate mistakes into your painting if you can accept them as 'happy accidents.' paint when dry, scrape the paint off with a razor or fine sandpaper, wash it with a fine stream of water or under the tap, or even "erase" it with a magic eraser. And if that inspires you, you can enter your room with other means to cover less desirable areas and turn it into a multimedia creation.

The necessary materials

• Soft handkerchief; paper towels
• Blotting paper
• Q-tips (cotton swabs),
• Bristle brush
• Sponges
• Mr. Clean Magic Eraser (available online or in supermarkets)
• Painter or artist band
• Spray bottle; sink
• Very fine sandpaper
• Letter opener, scissors
• Good quality heavyweight (140 lb) watercolor paper
• Mixed media: Gouache, Chinese white, white gouache, soft pastels, colored pencils, ink

Permanence/fastness to the light of colors.

First of all, it is important to note that some colors have greater coloring power and are therefore more permanent than others. For example, Crimson Alizarin, Winsor Blue, Sap Green, Hooker Green, and Phthalocyanine Blue act more like dyes; they stain the paper and are more difficult to remove completely with traditional media. However, the magic eraser is more effective.

You can also choose to avoid these colors by making substitutes with non-staining colors, such as mixing ultramarine blue and cadmium yellow to make green instead of using one of the green colors.

Also, some papers absorb paint more, making it difficult for colors to peel off when dry. Others, like Bockingford, Saunders, and Cotman papers, facilitate color fading. Experiment with a few items of your choice to see which one works best for you.

Remove excess water and paint

Always have a tissue, sponge, soft cloth, and/or blotting paper on hand. Watercolor is a fluid medium that, depending on the technique and the amount of water used, exhibits an uncontrollable and spontaneous element, making puddles or drops of water and unwanted color a reality. Having something on hand to immediately clean up the drip or nasty puddle will make the process very smooth. It will also help prevent colors from seeping into each other if you use too much water.

Make sure to dry the paper and lift it, rather than rubbing it. You don't want to leave bits of lint or torn tissues on your watercolor paper that will be difficult to clean. Drying with a soft cloth or fabric is also a technique that can be used creatively to produce cloud shapes or other organic shapes in a wet wash. A dry brush can be used in the sky to get a streaky cloud effect.

Natural sponges will give different effects and textures to synthetic cellulose sponges. Both are useful for drying.

To lift large areas of color, you can use a large, flat piece of absorbent paper, or a large, clean cellulose sponge that you would use in the kitchen, or a piece of blotting paper lying flat. For smaller areas of color, fold or crease a tissue most effectively, or use a corner of the blotting paper to absorb a small drop of unwanted color.

Blotting paper is thicker than fabric and can be used more than once. In addition to correcting mistakes in a painting, it can also be used creatively to create cloud shapes or simulate the texture of stones, for example.

It is essentially the same as good quality watercolor paper (pure cloth or linen without wood fibers), although it is more absorbent because it does not have an internal adhesion like watercolor paper. Another name for blotting paper is absorbent paper, which scientists use to wipe up moisture droplets when preparing slides in the laboratory.

Cotton swabs, also called cotton swabs, can also be used to clean very small droplets of color.

Lift wet color

One method of highlighting a color that is still wet or damp is to rub it gently with a soft cloth, sponge, or paper towel. What you use for the color will influence the shape and texture of the area that is raised.

In addition to correcting mistakes, lifting a wet color with a soft cloth, dry brush, or dry sponge is a technique used to create clouds and create textured areas like foliage in a painting.

You can also use a dry brush or cotton swab back and forth in a damp area to try and absorb even more paint and moisture. If you lifted as much as possible while wet, allow the paint to dry completely. You can use a hot hairdryer to speed up drying.

Lift dry color and remove hard edges

When the paint is dry, you may decide that some areas are too dark, or that you forgot to leave white areas for reflections and need to bring them back, or that some edges need to be softened. There are several things you can do to achieve this.

You can use a damp sponge, brush, or cotton swab to gently rub an area and gradually lift the paint, rubbing it in with a soft, dry cloth as you repeat the process. A cotton swab is very useful because it has cottoned on both sides of the toothpick, one that can be used wet to remove color and another that can be used dry to erase the color that has been removed. A wet bristle brush can also be used on thicker paper to work color in larger areas.

If an edge is too hard, you can soften it by rubbing it with a damp cotton swab or brushing it with a damp brush. The same goes for a tone cut - an area that has been painted in one color and has a sharp line or color discontinuity when another layer (an enamel) has been painted. Lifting a dry color can soften the color and create smooth gradations between colors or values.

Rinse the paint off with a spray bottle or under the tap.

If there is a larger area that you want to rinse, you can use a direct stream spray bottle and spray the area several times, rubbing the water with a tissue, soft cloth, or paper towel. Use painter's tape or artist's tape to mask and protect the area you want to keep.

If all the paint is waste and you painted it on heavyweight watercolor paper, such as 140-pound or larger paper, you can hold it under cold running water from the tap or submerge it in water. Coldwater in the sink while using a clean sponge to clean the paint. Blow-dry flat and blow-dry, then blow dry thoroughly with a hot hairdryer. While you may not be able to fully regain the white of your paper due to the coloring from the watercolor pigments, it may be close enough to use in another watercolor or at least one piece of mixed media. Recycling this paper for other projects will help you save money on art supplies.

Razorblade and sandpaper

Small paint stains or small stains that accidentally get on the paper can be easily removed by gently scraping with the side of a razor blade or X-act knife. It's important to paint on thick paper, at least 140 pounds, as lightweight papers will tear easily.

Fine sandpaper can be gently rubbed over the surface and will pick up the top layer of color and lighten it. Sandpaper can also be used to smooth out paper that has frayed from overuse.

Opaque white or Chinese white gouache paint

Opaque white gouache paint can be used to hide mistakes and can be painted over watercolor. However, this technique is sometimes frowned upon by watercolor purists, and the area can be noticeable. Also, it is more difficult to completely cover a dark color. However, it is very useful for incorporating small highlight details into your painting, such as eyes.

Chinese white is commonly used by watercolor artists, but it is more transparent because it is made of zinc. It is good for brightening areas and more subtle reflections.

Original Mr. Clean Magic Eraser

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is an amazing cleaning product that looks like a white sponge and when wet is a stable polymeric abrasive that acts like ultra-fine sandpaper to remove stains, dirt, grime, grime, and even paint pigments between the fibers of the paper. Make sure you get the "Original" mark, as later versions contain additional chemical cleaners that are not good for your paper or paint. The original sponge, although it works purely physically. When wet, it easily lifts watercolor paint off the surface, allowing you to go back and repaint the area you 'erased'. You can cut the magic eraser to any size you need.

Mask the area of ​​paint you want to erase, making sure the edges are secure where you are erasing so water doesn't seep under them and ruin the part of the paint you want to protect. Next, rub the moistened magic eraser over the area to be erased, rinsing the eraser several times in the process to drain the color. Pat the area dry and repeat the process until you are satisfied with the results.

Interestingly, this is the same material, melamine foam, invented about 20 years ago, which is also used for soundproofing and insulation because it is lightweight and fire retardant.

Color modification

Watercolor is a transparent medium meant to be painted in layers. Colors can be changed by subsequent layers of carefully chosen color (you don't want to add too many layers for fear of losing the transparency of the watercolor, blurring the colors, or degrading the paper). However, although you normally paint from the lightest colors to the darkest colors, it is possible to change the hue to a darker color by adding a lighter color on top (for example, yellow over red or a darker color). Blue), in which case it will heat both colors, making red more orange and blue more green, creating secondary colors.

Mixed technique

If you've blurred your colors by adding too many coats of paint, the paper is starting to fray a bit from overwork, or you can't remove as much color from the paper as you'd like, you have many options for combining other mediums with your watercolor.

Gouache paint is an opaque water-based paint that can be easily mixed with watercolor. Dries to a matte finish and can cover problem areas.

Acrylic is another water-based medium that is very versatile and can be used over watercolors. Used finely, it can be used as watercolor on luminescent colored glazes, and being a plastic polymer, it has the advantage of not activating when wet, keeping colors separate and pure. It can also be used thick and opaque, and can completely cover a problem area.

Watercolors can also be successfully and easily combined with good quality colored pencils, both regular and water-soluble such as Prismacolor, inks, and soft pastels.

Oil pastel can be used over watercolor, and watercolor can be painted over oil pastel, which will work as a watercolor resistant.

Letter opener and scissors

One of the best things about working on paper is that when all else fails, you can cut out the part of the paint that doesn't work and stick with a painting that you are proud to have made.

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Source: EastOaksStudio