Somehow or other, I managed to spill spots of paint all over the sky of one of my oils - probably dripped off a palette while I was working on something else in the confined space of my bedsit-cum-office-cum-studio. Removed them with a bit of Sansodor, but should probably have used a little White Spirit with Oil Painting Medium - and on a pad of cotton wool rather than using a cotton-bud, which has a hard plastic core: a tip for amateur restorers everywhere.... Thing is, I couldn't remember whether some of those marks were deliberate (supposed to be birds) or whether they were all unwanted additions. And I hadn't saved a good enough scan/photo of the painting to be sure one way or the other. But happily, the painting is stored here in My Gallery .... so I was able to check that those spots were all unwanted on voyage, and having removed them I was able to retouch the areas with a little Cerulean Blue and Titanium White. So two hints: one - do look where your palette might be dripping (I discover I have white all over the television cable, for instance) and two - have a care when cleaning up accidents: avoid the dread cotton bud, and brave the ghastly whiff on White Spirit because, whatever it smells like, it's actually rather gentler in action than some of the low-odour thinners; you might even get away with using just Oil Painting Medium - don't add the harsher stuff unless you have to, and if you do mix it with a little medium. Next time, I shall practise what I preach.