How to Fix Watercolor Mistakes
It's no secret that watercolor is my favorite paint medium. I love how fluid and playful the painting process is. The paint blooms and flows in interesting ways, and there is always something delightfully unexpected when it dries. This may make watercolor seem intimidating, but I personally think it’s what makes this medium so beautiful.
One of the biggest things that holds watercolor beginners back is that they are worried about what will happen if they make a mistake. And I get it! You've come up with watercolor painting ideas and are ready to get started, but what if one mistake ruins your masterpiece?
In this short and sweet tutorial, we're going to learn how to fix mistakes while you're working with watercolor. But at the same time, I want to encourage you to lean into imperfection in your work. The fun of watercolor is that it can end in unexpected results, and I've learned to embrace the unexpected as part of my artistic style.
Techniques for Fixing Watercolor Mistakes
It's inevitable that you're going to have some slip-ups as you work. Watercolor has a rep for being unforgiving, but there are some tricks for fixing mistakes when they happen. The best way you can fix mistakes in watercolor is to address them immediately while the paint is still wet.
There are three main things I like to have on hand to fix watercolor mistakes as I'm working, and I'll show you exactly how I use them below.
Paper towel or tissues
Clean Q-tips
A clean brush with hard bristles
Fixing Larger Watercolor Mistakes
When you have a large mistake, it can actually be pretty easy to fix if you catch it quickly. This is where your clean paper towel or tissue will come in. I always keep a clean paper towel within easy reach while I'm working for this exact reason.
While your mistake is still wet, grab your paper towel, dab it onto the mistake, and pull it straight up. This will remove the majority of the mistake.
You can see that there's still a teeny bit of pigment even after I pulled up the mistake. You can get rid of the majority of that pigment by "erasing" it with a Q-tip. Dip your Q-tip in a little bit of clean water, and gently rub out the remaining pigment.
Fixing Smaller Detailed Watercolor Mistakes
If you make a mistake in a finer, more detailed area of your painting, you can still fix it fairly easily. You'll just need to use smaller tools like your clean Q-tips and dry brush.
While the mistake is still wet, take a clean and dry Q-tip and simply pick up the water and pigment. The Q-tip will suck up most of it.
Then you can go in with your dry brush and brush out the mistake area. The pigment will pick right up into your brush. This is great for areas where it's really fine and you don't have a lot of wiggle room. Just make sure that your brush is small enough to fit into the area you're fixing, and be sure to wipe it off after each time you pick up the pigment.
Pretty simple, right? I know that fixing watercolor mistakes while you're working can feel daunting, but if you're prepared and act quickly you can fix any mistakes easily.
If you have questions about fixing watercolor mistakes, just post them in the comments below! I am so grateful to support you on your watercolor journey. I hope that this medium brings you as much joy as it does to me!
Want to dive deeper into watercolor painting?
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