S.O.S. FOR FAILED PAINTINGS

 This post is for paintings that you have tried everything on, but can't seem to save them. When you are desperate, ready to tear it up, and the painting has lost its life....but there's still an element worth trying to save.

These are, by all means, not the only measures you can take, but they might take you in a different direction. 

#1 RECLAIMING WHITES

Sometimes you overwork the paper, lose your whites, and the paper loses its ability to control the paint. You might consider using a WATERCOLOR GROUND. Golden, QoR, and Daniel Smith all make ground, which turns your surface into one that will accept watercolor paints. You can use it on wood, plastic, glass, paper, etc. 

If you are just covering a small amount of paper, just paint the ground over the paper that is ruined. Then you have to let it dry 24-48 hours. The directions tell you this, and believe me, you need to wait.Don't use a good brush to apply the ground. If you don't want to see brush strokes in the ground, roll over it with a small sponge paint roller. If it is still rough, you can use a little fine grit sand paper to remove the roughness.

Ground comes in several colors: Titanium, Transparent, Pearl, gold, black, buff, and others. I have used the black before to get a very black background that doesn't show brush strokes. In the yellow rose below, I tried to get a good black background, but the paint seemed uneven. The black ground was a great solution. (This was a rose tutorial from Louise DeMasi, but she had a white background)

White gouache is often used as a solution for adding whites or covering errors, especially in spattering snow in a snow scene. It is opaque. But you wouldn't want to try to paint over it, as it will make your paint look chalky. 

If you just have a few tiny whites, you can try a white gel pen or pastel pencil. 

Another possible product is called Bleed-proof White. Dr. PH Martins makes it, and so does Luma. In class I gave everyone a strip of paper with ground on one side and bleed-proof white on the other. They are both opaque and cover nicely. Bleed proof white will get chalky if you paint over it too much. You can lift on the ground. 

INKTENSE BLOCKS

Below is my set of inktense blocks and the color chart beside it.

Always make a color chart, as the colors can be quite different than they look on the stick.

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Inktense blocks, like the pencils, are designed to create more vibrant colors. They are ink based, however, and can be more opaque (useful for covering over an area of yucky color). You apply them dry, then wet them with a brush or leave them dry for a more textured appearance. By rubbing the side of a block over the paper, you can cover a large area quickly. 

PASTELS

Pastels deserve another mention. Here is a wax batik painting I just finished. I'll go over a few minor corrections using some pastel and some bleed proof white.

Below you can see the sleeve and hand of the woman. I used a little bleed proof white to add some light to the hand; added some magenta to make the hand a different color than the kimono; painted some cobalt on the shadow on the hand. 

On the face, the lips were not defined in the batik. (That happens with this technique...can't control the wax in tiny areas very well)j I needed her lips back, so painted over the area with bleed proof white; let it dry completely; then was able to paint her lips. I also used bleed proof white for the white makeup on her eyes and the white hilight in the eyes. I used black ground in areas where the hair did not get as black as I wanted. Then I used a pale blue pastel to lighten some of the dark on the left of her face.

Final painting.

Another example of using pastel. The left top corner was just a blob of purple on masa paper, and looked awkward. I painted in some buds, but broke up the purple with white pastel. Also ran some blue over the bumps on the right top half. I used a yellow to brighten the iris beards. 

COLLAGE IT

When I originally painted this little barn. it seemed uninteresting, and the area of the trees got damaged looking. Using scraps torn from torn up masa paper paintings, magazines, and batiks, I tore tree shapes and used matte medium on an old brush to glue the torn shapes to the painting. I did the same to the barn. I created some chickens using the printed inside of envelopes, and painted chicken features onto them after gluing them on.

Sandy Maudlin is doing a 3-day workshop in September of 2021 on this collage method. 

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USING RICE PAPER

One of the more elegant additions to a painting that is OK, just lacks pizazz, is using matte medium to adhere rice paper over the painting. Just lightly brush the painting with matte medium and lay a thin sheet of rice paper over it. The rice paper on this one is thai unryu, 10 gsm. They make it heavier, but the lighter weight rice paper is more transparent. I think it is like looking at the picture through a sheer silk curtain. There's something about it that pulls the painting together. (This is a painting that we did a few years ago, and is on the blog)

Before applying the rice paper.

After applying thai unryu 10 gsm rice paper 

Not all rice papers work for this project, but many do. 

THINKING OUTSIDE THE BOX: USING CLEAR PLASTIC OVER A PAINTING

On a whim I used alcohol inks on clear acetate to create a design. Then I began to lay the design over some of my more boring paintings, and thought the affect was pretty interesting, turning a simple study into something that appears more abstract. Below you will see the peppers I painted in the recent blog about shadows overlaid with acetate that has alcohol ink design on it.

alcohol ink on acetate

Alcohol ink on acetate overlaid on the pepper painting

You don't actually attach the two sheets, but cut both to the same size and frame that way.

USING PASTELS WITH WATERCOLOR

 

Above is a picture I did recently on masa paper. It illustrates one effective way to use pastels with watercolor. I painted it all over with watercolor, but when I was done, there were parts I wasn't pleased with. First of all, the white basket was looking dull, and I'd lost some whites. Second, the darks in some of the fruits just would not take any more color. The grapes, which ae green and purple, lost their shine in some places.

Adding pastel should be done after any other steps, because you won't be able to paint over it. Because masa paper has a little bit of tooth to it, I did not have to use any surface preparation on it. Also, the areas I wanted to fix were mostly "touch-ups," not major fixes. To bring back some whites to the basket, I used the side of a soft white pastel stick and lightly brushed it over the handle and basket areas. I brightened that rear apple with some red and orange pastel, gently smoothing the color. I brushed in a little bright green on the purple grapes.

BASIC SUPPLIIES

Below are shown 3 ideas to add some grit to paper that has already been painted with watercolor. 

First on the left is transparent WATERCOLOR GROUND. It is brushed on over the area you want to add color to, then dried overnight. In the middle is liquitex CLEAR GESSO. This is also brushed onto paper (right over the paint if you like). On the right is a spray fixative. (pastelists might use this over a base painting to set the background and add tooth for the next layers. However, it darkens the pastels, so they mostly do not use a final fixative spray)

Below are the pastels that I use. They are a cheap brand from Hobby Lobby, but they work well for my purposes. On the left are soft pastels; on the right are semi-hard. Other tools pictured are a white pastel pencil, sandpaper, and a craft knife.

Below I'll show some of the before and after pictures that I worked with for this tutorial. 

First, left is a bunny I tried and failed miserably with. On him I brushed over background and foreground with liquitex clear gesso. This adds a noticeable tooth. I worked in some whites around the mouth and cheeks. Softened the ears with a lighter blue. Darkened the eyes with black and put shadow beneath the ears. Darkened the tip of the nose. Chalked in a raw sienna background. I used a PASTEL WHITE PENCIL from Caran-Dache to put the white highlights in the eyes. Not finished, but he's looking softer already. 

Bunny photo reference

Next is the transparent watercolor ground. This is a product made to help repair over-worked paper or cover a mistake and allow you to paint with watercolor over it. It has to be dried overnight if applying watercolor over it, but you can just use a hair dryer if you are using pastel. 

On the left is the daffodil I was painting to experiment with yellow shadow colors. I brushed on some transparent watercolor ground and allowed it to dry. Wet products, such as the ground and the gesso, may make the paint run a little, so just be aware of that. 

I used 2 pastel methods on this. First, I used the white pastel pencil to make some of the ripples stand out. Second, I scraped a little green and blue soft pastels into a small container. Picking up a little at a time, I gently rubbed the dust onto the upper right background of the flower. I also put a little bit of green to highlight the stem.                                           

On the wisteria below, I sprayed the entire painting with fixative after painting with watercolor. The changes in this are subtle. I scraped some light green into a palette, and rubbed some into the green areas. Then I scraped some purple and blue and rubbed it on the bottom right, where there was a little flaw in the paper. (Yes, I use my fingers, but you can use a tortillon, brush, or other tool)

Someone asked if you can put water on the pastel. The answer is yes. Some pastel artists set a background by brushing over with water, alcohol, or a baby wipe. I like the baby wipe idea. I also wet an area in the middle and scraped some shavings over it to make a spattered effect. 

One last thing you can do with products. You can add some paint to your gesso and brush over it to tone the entire page for pastel, as you see below. If you don't want brush marks in your gesso, you can go over it lightly with sandpaper. 

QUESTIONS:

Q: Do you always use a product to add tooth to paper?

A: No, especially if I use masa paper or if it is a small touch-up.

Q: Do you spray a fixative over the finished painting, after applying pastel?

A: No, most pastel artists do not use a final spray because it darkens the color.

Q: Do you frame this differently from your watercolors?

A: I put a mat around it and frame with glass or plexiglas, like most of my watercolors. The mat serves to give air space between the glass and the pastel.

Q: Do you need a lot of pastel colors?

A: Only if you are doing a full picture. Pastels don't "mix" like your paints do.

On the pastel pencils, I only have white, raw sienna, and burnt sienna for now. I use those colors to give highlights to hair in portraits.

SIMPLIFIED WAX BATIK - FINISHING

 FINAL WAX:

When you are satisfied with the painting, cover everything with wax.

Put it in the freezer for about 5 minutes to harden wax.

When the wax is cool, crinkle up the painting to create little cracks. On the right of the picture you can see the crumbs of wax that have brushed off after I crinkled the paper. It's messy. It still has a lot of wax on it, but some crumbs flake off. If you do this part over a waste basket, it helps.

Using either black ink or watercolor (or dark blue or any other color you wish), force dark color into the cracks with a stiff brush. (like hog bristle....you don't want to ruin good brushes). This step is optional. But I want it to create an antique looking background that I'd originally left white.

I often like to wrinkle small areas at a time and put the dark color/ink in the cracks. It gives me a little more control over where and how much black goes on.

  

Dry completely.

REMOVE THE WAX:

You will need an iron (not your good one), layers of newspaper, and clean white or manilla paper.

Shake off as much wax as you can, gently.

Layer newspaper like this: 2-3 layers newspaper, 1 layer white paper, PAINTING, 1 layer white paper, 2-3 layers newspaper. Like a sandwich. 

 Go over all this with hot iron until the papers become saturated with wax.

    

Repeat this process, using clean newsprint and paper each time, until you don't see any more wax appear. ...

It's now ready to adhere to white watercolor paper. 

MOUNT THE PAINTING:

This mounting process is much like mounting masa paper. You can use your lower quality watercolor paper as a backing for this. Apply your glue to the watercolor paper, and brush it around thoroughly. Lay your painting over that, then use wax paper and either roll with a brayer or smooth with your hands to remove any air bubbles. Sandy Maudlin suggests wall paper paste. 

Any pieces of rice paper that have torn can be mended at this time, simply by gluing them down.

WHEN DRY, you can continue to work on your painting to some degree. You can paint, use pen and ink, and so on to add details or fix mistakes. You can even tone the paper (that you mount it on) with extra color to show through lighter areas, but don't get rid of all your beautiful whites.

STUDENT WORK:

Nora's, shown below, is mounted and nearly done. Later, she darkened the neck of the vase to bring it out a little. I believe she only used two or three waxes.

Diane's (below) had a rip on the right hand side and a place on the top right that needed mending.

I showed the ragged edge on the top right so you can see where we tore off some of the rice paper to glue over and "patch" the damaged area on the very top. She added some red to the flowers before calling it finished.

I love the glow that you get from wax batik!