Sunday, November 21, 2010

"Erasing Past Mistakes"

Today I watched an internet video that caught my interest. It was a video on erasing watercolor from a painting. It brought me back to a time when I took classes on watercolor. The instructor told the class it would be almost impossible to fix a watercolor by taking the paint off and getting it to not look over processed. She told us there were techniques with more water and toweling it off before it dried. There was even a technique of applying a solution to your watercolor painting that would keep the color out. But to remove watercolor and still keep the painting looking fresh was left to the professionals. Since my usual medium was acrylic, this was tough for me.

This was my first attempt at watercolor painting. And like all artists that spend too much money on supplies, I didn't want to mess up. Guess what? I did. I tried fixing it by putting more water then removing the watercolor paint, but my watercolor painting always managed to look over done.

Well today erasing the past is easier than ever. The answer is John Salminen. I mean his video of Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. This product has to be the bees knees for watercolor enthusiasts. To be able to erase a mistake in a watercolor painting is fantastic! Normally this product is used to erase scuff marks and dirt.  But at last, here is the solution for your watercolor disaster. Who would of thought!

Mr. Clean Magic Eraser is a small cleaning sponge, so you can cut it into pieces to fit the area you would like to erase in your watercolor painting. Although this product states it has no harsh chemicals, I still prefer to use it with a gloved hand since I tend to be more sensitive to cleaning supplies.

Once you tape off the area you want to wipe clean take a piece and gently erase. When rubbing with the sponge it appears as if the paper is coming apart, but don't be alarmed. It is just the watercolor paint being erased. After you finish and remove your tape, you can have a do over.
I feel like singing Mr. Clean, Mr. Clean...... that is how happy I am.

For more information on this product go to http://www.mrclean.com/en_US/magic-eraser.do


Here is the original watercolor painting on John Salminen website.

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