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Disaster….

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Ellen Mooney

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What is a disaster…? For me it’s when you continue with a painting when you know you should have binned it in the first place, but keep adding paint in a futile attempt to try and save it. So finally, after yesterdays effort and spending this morning trying to rectify it with no hope of it ever being any good…..it’s finally in the bin! 🤦‍♀️

Collette Hughes

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Better to have disasters then not paint for fear of having disasters.  

Sylvia Evans

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I would have been tempted to file it for about ten years and then look again and enjoy it.   I've just found ancient sketches after about ten years , not amazing but better than I remembered.....too late now with yours.   

Jenny Harris

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It seems a shame to have wasted the paper - I usually gesso over anything that’s really not working and paint something else on it (but I do use rather expensive 300 lb watercolour paper).

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by Jenny Harris

With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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Once a watercolour goes really wrong, it's the devil's own job to rescue it; an oil, too, is hard to 'repair', once you've basically murdered it; acrylics are rather easier - but frustration usually shows, not necessarily to disadvantage.  Point is - we all have them.  Fewer perhaps, as we gain experience.  I think the biggest problem I have which leads to the occasional disaster is not really planning the painting properly in the first place: and if the scaffolding is wrong, the building will collapse. This tends to happen when one's being a bit too literal - accuracy is important if you're conveying a known building, object, landscape, and especially person - but moving things about until they make sense to you is the only way I know to counteract compositions that don't work: the scope with portraiture - not my forte - is somewhat limited: Picasso moved noses to where he wanted them, but most of us do not have this luxury.  In which case, you're left with an adjustment to clothing, colour, expression, angle of the head, and so on.   One thing I've noticed about professional painters: give them a largely un-lived-in face - eg that of one of the royal princesses, duchesses or whatever -and they can so often produce a portrait which is just dully bland: I think of one in particular, of which it was said "the nose follows you around the room"; well - it's the same phenomenon - if your raw material, your subject, the composition, isn't right, the painting will fail.   And then - ripping the swine to bits is at least satisfying!
With Sarah, Phil, Ellen, Rose the dentist, and the granddaughter whose name I forget.

Robert Jones, Napa

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It seems a shame to have wasted the paper - I usually gesso over anything that’s really not working and paint something else on it (but I do use rather expensive 300 lb watercolour paper).
Jenny Harris on 24/04/2023 12:05:52 True, but on the other hand you can worry too much about that - it can be an inhibiting factor, sort of 'I mustn't spoil this because it's expensive paper, canvas, board or whatever'.  I find it very important to forget about all that - otherwise you can get into a panic about all the costly paint you're wasting, as well: in which case, your paint might well stay safely in the tube.   And that would get us nowhere.  Watercolour can be washed off (provided you've not use a dye-based colour like Pthalo or Prussian Blue) - somewhere or other I have a book in which that's demonstrated by a watercolourist whose name I've forgotten, which is why I can't find it!  (Senile old fool...)  And of course you can follow your example with the gesso: would you paint with watercolour on a gesso'd surface, or use acrylics?  I think the latter would probably work better, but then I don't think I've ever done it.
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Peter Smith

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At least you've been brave enough to tell us Ellen; I'd have kept quiet!

Jenny Harris

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Robert, you can paint with watercolour on a gessoed surface, but it does give a slightly different feel, especially if the gesso is textured - and the colours tend to dry brighter. Acrylic inks produce similar results.  This one was done with watercolour on gesso.  I’ve tried washing off watercolour, but it always leaves some colour, even with non-staining colours.  I never worry, though, about spoiling a painting because of the cost of the paper, I just hate waste!

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by Jenny Harris

Ellen Mooney

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Sylvia, your reply made me smile. Jenny, it was really thick paper, but I got so frustrated, it had to go. It was only paper, but like you, I hate waste. Robert, I don’t think my “scaffolding” was in place at all! I knew what vision I had but couldn’t get there.  Peter, it proves we’re all human and mistakes happen, and not all happy ones.  So, I got the ironing done instead 😆

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by Ellen Mooney

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Peter Smith

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Ironing?  Never heard of it!!

Tessa Gwynne

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There’s always collage, if you haven’t actually binned it! I have one board which is now on its third painting because the first two were junk. If I’m not happy with it, it will become number four. 🙃
Entwined, abstract

Sandra Kennedy

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Enjoying this thread as I know exactly how this feels! I work(ed) in acrylic on canvas, and part way into a painting just knew it would never be right. Would gesso over once or perhaps twice but after that the canvas has to go out. Planning with abstract can be a bit different as quite often mine would evolve as I went along, but at least an initial plan was good for showing me when an idea wouldn't work so no need to take it any further.
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