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How do I get rid of a line of oil paint, that I don't want anymore.
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Message
Posted
Is your painting about the rubbish that fills the oceans Denise? If so, could you use that space where the mark is to paint in some kind of plastic? A kind of see through polythene so you can still see some of the sea colour but disguises the mark.
It’s a great painting, it would be a shame if this spoils it for you.
Posted
First of all - yes, it would annoy me too if I'd painted it: because it's a great painting, yet that line would nag at me - knowing what colours I'd used to mix the background (and here may lie the difficulty!) I'm sure I could mix the same colour again - and I bet you could, too. I'd do that, and paint in layers until the raw umber line was concealed effectively - it may show through one day, as oils become more transparent with age, but we'll all be long dead by then. Now there's a comfort.
Otherwise - I'd leave it: your attention in this painting is drawn to the (brilliantly painted!) central fish: you, being the painter, will be uncomfortably aware of that damn' line and will keep being drawn to it, but WE, the viewers, are not. If I didn't know, I'd assume this was just one of those things you find in the sea .... i.e. a deliberate part of the composition: I wouldn't seek to analyse it, it would be part of the painting's structure which I don't need to understand but would happily accept.
Now for some advice I hope you won't take - don't reach for the Turps or solvents, but if you take a little linseed oil on a stiff but not harsh brush, and gently scrub at the line, you might be able to at least reduce it to a bit of background line. BUT - if I had a warning bell, I'd sound it at this point - this can very easily go horribly wrong: if you used Turps, I can guarantee that it WOULD go wrong, and you'd have to re-paint; but even Linseed oil might not work, because it could also remove more than you wanted if the underlying paint wasn't dry to the touch. Still, knowing I could mix the same colour for the background, I might be inclined to try it: but - I have been painting for a very long time and would recognize soon enough that this wasn't going to work to be able to stop.
Posted
Thanks Robert, after much thought, I went back to my original idea, I thought, I'm just going to have to go with it now after putting it in prematurely. Here it is. I think it's almost finished. I'm still deciding on it and will leave it a few days and take another look. Still need a bit more detail. I put an ultra marine glaze on the brown rope and underbelly of the large fish.
Edited
by Denise Cat
Posted
Wow Denise this is looking really good , definitely the right thing to go with your original idea , would be such a shame if it was to be spoiled in the attempt to remove the line. I think Alan’s idea of a few well place bubbles would add to it really well.
Look at this and what you were doing a year ago , it’s on a vastly different level , you are a talented artist.
Posted
Excellent decision, Denise. You're one of the very few "natural" painters I've ever encountered - someone who seems to have been born to paint. Most of us struggle with poor drawing, insufficient imagination, incompetent brushwork, and through years of slogging on begin to get somewhere: you've got to where you are now far more quickly than most of us - makes me nervous thinking where you'll go next!
Your other advantage is that you work hard - consistently, and often; I know you have a pain condition, as do I: mine does limit the amount of work I do, probably to my disadvantage; you obviously believe in powering on through it, and I'm sure that positive attitude contributes to your success. I'm glad I'm not your teacher, mind: teaching someone who turns out to be better than you are can be a bit galling....
Posted
Thanks so much Alan, Paul, Robert and Marjorie, your words of encouragement never cease to amaze me. I still think to myself, can I call myself an artist, I really do. I still can't quite believe I've taken to it like I have. It has taken over my life, not that I'm complaining, I love it so much, I just want to keep on learning and improving and you have all helped me in that.
