How To Clean A Watercolor Painting

This watercolor technique is non every bit difficult as you may imagine! Whatsoever of your regular watercolor brushes can be used to lift dry out watercolor paint. Utilise clear water with a gentle scrubbing motion, blotting carefully with a drier brush or tissue every bit you go.

Using red sable or other soft pilus brushes creates a softer edge but is less effective at loosening the dried paint from the paper.

This method offers greater control in the areas you are lightening.

Using your good painting brushes for lifting paint can wear downwardly the fine tips over time. If you've invested money in loftier quality brushes spend a few more bucks and keep some constructed watercolor brushes handy for your dry color lifting needs.

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Acrylic or Oil painting brushes

The tough and resilient synthetic and natural bristle brushes used in acrylic and oil painting are the more than traditional choice for "scrubbing" lights into watercolor paint.

The stiffer hairs can quickly scrub an expanse covered in paint down to the paper surface.

Control is rather coarse using bristle brushes. The soft hair lift (see "watercolor brushes" above) "teases" the paint from the paper. This "scrubbing" method is more ambitious and can harm the paper if used with too much enthusiasm.

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Spray and Blot

Spraying articulate water on an surface area of yourn painting and blotting it with a newspaper towel can lighten large areas of a painting past degrees.

Using the force of the spray in a "sandblast" manner to force paint loose and off the newspaper is effective besides.

Beyond the blueish launder on the bottom I go on to nail and blot some white holes in the painting.

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Sandpaper

Sandpaper is rarely used because of it's destructive nature. Tiny sharp shards of sand or other abrasives rip layer later layer of paint and newspaper abroad with each stroke.

Sandpaper, when it IS used, is best used as a last touch on for subtle textured highlighting.

If yous try to paint over a sanded surface area, your pigment will suck into the holes of raw paper fiber like a blotter.

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Razor blades, pen knifes and Ten-actos

Sharp things! Be careful. Take a digit count. Yous demand to have the same amount going out as y'all practise coming in to this section.

Single-edged razor blades can pick out individual highlights and scrape crude lines.

Sharp pen knifes offer a safer culling to razor blades. The handle offers a better grip for control simply make sure you lot don't accidentally fold the knife blade into your fingers while using. Information technology hurts.

Ten-acto® blades can produce finer linear highlights. Take time to notice out which bract angle works best for what effect you need.

All of these mothods are destructive in nature and somewhat risky due to the sharp tools used.

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Sponges once more, Bob

Apply simply natural ocean sponges or cellulose (o'cello style) sponges in natural or neutral colors. They are stronger and hold more water than lightweight foam sponges.

Simplest to utilise, employ a clean clammy sponge with a gentle wiping movement. Lift colour from the paper, rotate to clean surface area on the sponge, wipe again. Repeat as needed.

Hither I carefully rub a large swath of color off the bottom middle section of the painting.

New sponge? Rinse out new sponges thoroughly using clean water. Nearly are lightly sized to hold their shape earlier auction. Make sure your tools are clean.

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Finished

Click picture to enlarge for a more than detailed wait at each technique's unique properties.

As you can encounter, many techniques for removing dry paint tin can result in harm to your paper surface. When scraping, scrubbing, or picking out highlights with precipitous or crude tools it can be easy to make a error that won't exist hands corrected.