CP removal help

[wshuff]

I have been working on my first original cp work, and I was pretty pleased with the results. It is for a local art project where people are decorating outlines of our county for display. My cp picture did not fill up the available space, so I had plenty of room around my image for a background and a foreground. That's where I ran into problems. As I was finishing up my picture, I added a little bit of foreground, but then it didn't look so good, so I added a little more to fix it, then the next thing I knew I had this terrible foreground that pretty much ruined all my previous work. In 15 minutes I had undone the work of about 6-8 hours.

Anyway, I saw the thread about cp removal tips. I used handi-tack to remove quite a bit of cp, but I'm talking a large area, and I stupidly added many layers in my attempts to "fix" things. Scotch tape also worked fairly well, but probably not as well as the handi-tak. I bought some of the un-du mentioned in the thread, but my experience has not been so positive. I used Stonehenge Vellum paper (?). I followed the instructions given by Ivy Leaf, but I didn't achieve so much cp removal, and the un-du left a definite yellow splotch. I also tried baby wipes, and while they pulled up color, they also seemed to cause more problems with the paper, at least if I used them enough to tell a difference on the color. So now I'm at an impasse. While I realize that 100% removal is impossible, I had hoped to do better than I have. The un-du and baby wipes haven't worked too well. Any suggestions? Have I used the un-du and baby wipes incorrectly? Is there somebody who can give me a more detailed explanation of how to use them?

My last option before I simply cut my cp painting from my paper (thereby cutting out the foreground) is to cover my mistake with something else. I have some acrylic titanium white. Will that cover cp? Is it recommended that I even try? If it does cover my mistake, will I be able to go back over it with colored pencil or watercolor?

I look forward to comments, and appreciate any help people can give me. Thanks.

[Ivyleaf]

#1 Can we see a picture of what it is that you are working on? #2 The un-du was not tested on a large area, it dries too quick to be effective. #3 What brand pencils are you using? #4 If I'm not mistaken, Stonehenge is a very absorbant paper. So when you wet it, instead of releasing it's soaking it further into the fibers, making it more difficult to remove. #5 If your CP are made with either wax or oil, as opposed to the watersoluable ones, I don't think that leaves a very good surface to adhere anything different to. #6 Don't give up, let's see the piece you are talking about and get some more information before it hits the trash can ;) :D ;) .

[arlene]

hey leave it till i'm down there...let me take a look...start something new...lol.

[wshuff]

Well, with the same impatient attitude that got me in trouble in the first place, I dove into it again last night, full speed ahead. But I think things will be alright.

First off, Ivy Leaf, I'm using Prismacolors. I forgot to mention that. As for the un-du, even though I have a large area that I wanted to remove, I only used it in a small area. I think you are right--it soaked into the paper more than anything.

The baby wipes removed quite a bit of color, but they were so wet that I think they would have damaged the paper before I could have removed enough color to make a difference.

As for posting a picture of my painting, I'm can't. This local project involves foam cutouts of our county, and the cutouts are pretty big. I think about 32-inches long. The paper I'm using is full sized, even though my image is only in a small part. I had planned to paint my picture (RC Colas and a moonpie), then cut the paper to the dimension of my county and glue it on the cutout. But in looking at it, I've decided that it would be better to simply crop out my painting, which will remove about 95% of the foreground that I found objectionable. And, as I removed some color with handi-tak, I found that the foreground actually started to take on something of a weathered wood look. So, maybe no harm, no foul.
I'm still not entirely sure what I will do for a background, but I'm thinking that I will use some watercolor to have a light background on the left of the paper, where the light was, then fade it into a darker shadow on the right. My picture will then be pasted on the cutout, which will be painted solid black (I live in coal country). Finally, I have an old RC carton, and I will fix a portion of it to the cutout for a 3-D effect.

I did learn something last night, though. Acrylic white covers cp nicely, so, while I wouldn't want to rely on it too much, I guess there is an eraser for unwanted cp, so to speak.

Arlene, I look forward to seeing you. I doubt I'll be finished, so I'll take any help I can get.

Thanks, guys.

[Shoope1]

Hey Arlene,
I had the chance to look at this lovely cp last night. I think you will really love what he has done. If only he could post it here. I am sure that everyone would love it. His highlights on the glass are lovely and the moonpie wraper is cool.
Stacy you need to post it.
On the removal we talked last night about it and worst case he could cover with white Gesso/acrylic and try again.
Ronnie

[arlene]

I'm looking forward to seeing it!