Yikes>>help!

[Maryeve]

OH..please tell me this is not a major deal..I am 3/4 of the way through a large portrait...I left it for a day or two and came back to work on it, I was working on the arm..I don't know WHAT I did, but My brush must have had too much mineral spirits mixed in, and when I started painting in some highlights on the upper arm it lifted off some of the base that had been previously painted..the more I tried to fix/ paint/ blend, the worse the spot got.....WHAT DO I DO...It looks AWFUL..even when I do get some paint to adhere to the spot it is clearly "thinner" than the rest of the arm,..SO..I gently wiped it off and left it...My logic being to let it dry for a few days and then go back and put some paint in that spot, to even out..THEN go back a day or so later to finish off...

Is this what I should do?..any other suggestions?..why did this happen?....Usually between stages, I let it dry a day or so to touch, put a little linseed oil, or retouch on it and paint...I "think" I forgot the later yesterday,(my mind was preoccupied) and just began to paint..was this my error..

Please..I am otherwise very happy with the direction of this painting, and don't want this to ruin it..have I made sense, or do I need to attach a photo of what happened... Thanks..

[sandge]

Moving this to the oils forum as it's more of a medium question than a subject question.

Crikey, I sure hope someone can suggest something for you!

[AmyH]

yeah, just let it dry and go back in...remember people intentionally do this type of thing to rework an area that is unsatifactory...it does sound like you had thinner on the brush, which wiped away your underlying paint.

amy

[G.L. Hoff]

I agree with Amy...let it dry thoroughly (whatever time that takes) and repaint using the same paint/oil/solvent medium you *originally* used. Yeah, probly had thinner in the brush and the paint film was barely top-dry. Happens.

Cheers

[paintfool]

Yeah, this doesn't have to be a major problem. You are going to have to be patient though and make sure it's reasonably dry to the touch. Work on something else or another portion of the painting. That is one of the beautiful things about oils. They're easily fixed in situations like this. I have several of each of my favorite brushes so that i don't run into this. I can give them adequate drying time after cleaning and still paint.
Cheryl

[Bendaini]

Yes, i agree... Give it some time to dry.
Even just whiping it off like you did it might have been alright to paint on it then. I did that a while ago with one of my paintings...