Saving a botched watercolour

I've learned that when things go wrong, it’s good to sit back and not worry about it; especially where watercolour is concerned. Sometimes mistakes can be corrected, or at least got around, but not often and then the waste bin beckons. All the same, I pause a while before chucking something out. I tend to leave it to one side and not worry. I had a disaster a few weeks ago. I was left with a spoiled sheet of Arches, 140 lbs rough, on which there was a nice sky, but a muddied mess that was supposed to be a ploughed field. I did like the sky though, so I cut away the botch, to leave a wide, narrow sky. The other day, I dragged it out and decided to try my hand at Mixed-Media (something I don't often do.) So I took out my pastels, and ended up with 'Stand and Stare'. The moral of this is simple. Never throw anything out unless you are 100% sure it is beyond redemption. I don't know if ‘Stand and Stare' is a real success, but I like it. If nothing else it will fill a space in my studio. I also discovered that with rough watercolour paper, pastel is a great way of producing sparkle on a flat-wash. So next time your attempt at dry-brush goes wrong, let it dry, and then drag a small piece of light coloured pastel gently across the wash. Those impressionistic, sparkly dots will appear as if by magic. I think I will remember that trick and use it again. I might even plan for it. Happy Painting folks. Regards John :-D