Masque has been applied, followed by a medium dark wash.
I decided to mask out the lighter spots on the orchid leaf in order to add the darker background color as one smooth wash, using the Cool Blue Masque I had bought a year or so ago.
Big mistake.
The masking liquid had separated. Even after being shaken, viscosity differences resulted in uneven layers of resist. The dried mask refused to peel off.
Yuck! You can see the nasty, sticky, crumbly mess the watercolor masque makes. Plus, it just won’t come up from the paper.
I dashed to the art supply store for a rubber cement pick-up, but results are underwhelming so far.
Will it work? Natural rubber pick-up is a traditional tool for removing watercolor masque.
Regardless of whether I use a rubbing motion, or the classic rolling pick up motion, the mask smears around on the surface, refusing to lift.
Results so far are not encouraging. The outdated masque smears around on the surface. Will I be able to complete this painting?
I’m pretty concerned that I’ll totally destroy the surface. At this point, I’ll be happy if there’s enough surface left to switch to colored pencils once the masque is finally removed.
