Mistakes - A Blessing or a Curse?

The first part of Aspire Gallery - Aspire Gallery Online - is getting closer.
It is looking beautiful and will provide a wonderful opportunity for artists to showcase  their work.

Unfortunately, the technology involved in creating something that seems so simple, is mind-boggling. The easiest way to relate the website's development is to undertaking a very complex maths sum at school...........make the slightest  mistake and the whole outcome changes.........Remember, the frustration of having the wrong answer and having to scroll back through every line to find the error? Now, triple this ten-fold and it will explain the situation I've been experiencing.

It is not so black and white with mistakes in art and craft though.

In knitting, if you drop a a stitch, your piece loses the intended form. You can try to hide your mistake by adding a stitch or stitches in a later row, keep going and be happy with the variant, or you can unravel the stitches back to the mistake and correct.

Mistakes in art and craft become subjective. Sometimes, the beauty is in the mistake and a piece  becomes more appealing because of its' 'flaw'. This is especially so in watercolour.

Backwashes in watercolour are usually accidental in nature. They occur when you lay two different washes close together and one happens to touch the other, the wetter of the two will flow into the other. Water - spotting is when water is accidentally spilt and damages the watercolour.

Both of these accidents, to the traditional water colourist can spell disaster. However, such mistakes can have a wonder in themselves. I get quite excited when they happen accidentally in my work and create their own unique quality.

More so, it is when water spotting and backwash are used in combination wondrous effects can be created. It is just knowing how to use such accidents to your advantage.

For example, when clear water is dropped on a very wet wash a soft and subtle effect is created. When water is dropped just before a wash is dry the effect is harsh and creates hard edges. The drier wash is less likely to flow back into the water to soften the edge.

Interesting backwash can be achieved by touching the edge of a wash with clear water. The pigment gets pulled away and concentrated.

The example below shows where the pigment is being pulled away.

Some artists like Björn Bernström, deliberately use such a technique to form the basis on their work.

See the examples below.

See original image here

See original image here

Kreative Kisses,
Donagh