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  • #472952
    VonSmith
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        Hey all,

        I have a new painting I’m working on of a dragonfly. After I had it all drawn and was doing early washes, I accidentally had a couple small flecks of paint hit my paper while mixing colors. Two of these tiny (dark) droplets hit the clear area of my dragonfly wings. So what did I do? I took a small brush with clean water and gently brushed the flecks to try and lift them, but the paint had some staining pigment and they didn’t come all the way up. I can live with it though. BUT…when I went to do some light washes later on over these areas, to my horror, the watercolor poured through breaks in the sizing and spread under it into the surrounding area. It looks a bit better when it’s completely dry, but it also looks like two “blemishes” on the wings. Ugh! This sucks! I have learned my lesson with this 6×9 Bee Paper.

        So what do folks do when this happens?
        It makes it so difficult to later paint in these areas. This piece looks so nice, but “ARRRGH!” just like my previous pieces, another imperfection. One of these days……

        #825271
        jyaan
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            High quality papers have internal sizing to avoid this problem. But naybe you could try resizing those spots. I have some methyl cellulose but I haven’t tried it yet.

            #825268
            virgil carter
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                Have you tried watercolor ground in small areas?

                Sling paint,
                Virgil

                Sling paint,
                Virgil Carter
                http://www.virgilcarterfineart.com/

                #825274
                Kaylen
                Default

                    I never paint without tissue handy. If a get a drop or a drip etc, I quickly dab it with a tissue and for the most part it gets it ,, maybe not on the delicate wings of a dragonfly (sounds like Kung Fu ), but for the most part I just work the stain into the picture

                    Kaylen Savoie
                    https://www.savoieartist.com/
                    At least twice a year,paint something better than you ever painted before.

                    #825277
                    VonSmith
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                        I was so busy mixing I didn’t see the flecks until they had dried. Virgil, I’m not sure what you’re talking about.

                        #825275
                        Kaylen
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                            Virgil is referring to “watercolor ground” its a liquid that can be spread or brushed onto various surfaces and that surface will then behave somewhat like watercolor paper,,,,I have only barly experimented with it , most people seem not to be satisfied with results,,,it can be a sort of “white out”, for watercolorpaper

                            Kaylen Savoie
                            https://www.savoieartist.com/
                            At least twice a year,paint something better than you ever painted before.

                            #825278
                            VonSmith
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                                Hmmm…I might try very thin washes of white gouache.

                                #825273
                                shadye1
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                                    There are species of dragonfly that have dots/spots on their wings, could you adapt.

                                    #825269
                                    virgil carter
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                                        What Donald said. Watercolor ground is a gesso like paste which can be applied to almost any surface, and, after allowing 24 hours to completely dry, can be used for applying watercolor. Ground is manufactured by a variety of manufacturers and comes in a variety of colors and consistencies.

                                        Painting with watercolor on ground is not like painting on watercolor paper. The paint behaves differently and tends to look like tints. I don’t like the stuff and don’t use it, but in your case with just a few small dots to cover, it might be perfect for your situation.

                                        Sling paint,
                                        Virgil

                                        Sling paint,
                                        Virgil Carter
                                        http://www.virgilcarterfineart.com/

                                        #825267

                                        Honestly, I have learned NOT to try and fix things. A mistake such as yours will definitely change the direction of my painting, but I go with it rather than trying to lift and scrub.

                                        However, you can work with white gouache to help this problem along. Paint it on fairly saturated and let it dry completely. Then, with a clean cloth, tissue or paper towel, wet it down and begin to remove the gouache. Some of it will ultimately remain. You won’t get subsequent washes to paint the way you’d like, again, but it will minimize the appearance of damage to your paper.

                                        Char --

                                        CharMing Art -- "Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is no art." Leonardo DaVinci

                                        #825270
                                        janinco
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                                            I’ve had some luck burnishing the paper where I did the lifting with the back of a spoon. It compresses it back down so it absorbs paint more normally.

                                            Jan

                                            #825281
                                            calvin_0
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                                                not all dragonfly wings are transparent.. they have color from transparent, brown, red, red-brown, blue-green and black..

                                                they also not always crystal clear as some have pattern on their wings.. so the paint staining could be easily fix by just changing the wings color and pattern..

                                                #825272
                                                teshparekh
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                                                    I do many corrections during my painting process and have found Bee paper not to be suitable.

                                                    Thank you.

                                                    - Tesh Parekh

                                                    #825279
                                                    VonSmith
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                                                        I’m okay with this Bee Paper, but I am discovering it’s weaknesses. It doesn’t like lifting stains. Ah well, live and learn. And I’ve decided to live with my mistake. It gets buried in the business of the wing veins. I’m almost finished painting this. I’ll post a link to a gallery page when I’m done.

                                                        #825276
                                                        dustlilac
                                                        Default

                                                            I know what you mean, I’m curious myself of what the Bee paper is really made of as it does not behave like any other real watercolor paper I’ve tried- and I tried practically all of them. The fragile soapy coating is more akin to pulp papers.

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