Watercolour Pulsatilla flowers

I had a right old time with the wash on this painting of Pulsatillas in my Strathmore 400 watercolour journal. I used Daniel Smith's 'Hematite Genuine' and I couldn't make the paint behave and give an aesthetically pleasing result, tipping it this way and that. In my endeavour to get a result I liked, I ended up with the wash going over the flowers and under the protective masking tape. The masking tape, which is supposed to keep a pristine border, allowed water under it but, ironically, when I lifted the tape, a small piece of the paper surface came with it, so it stuck there alright! 😂 When I tried to lift the colour which had escaped the borders of the painting, the surface of the paper started to bobble. Oh, and let me tell you, I did use masking fluid in places and found that when I rubbed it off I, once again, got bobbles in places. Aaah dear. 😂

Pulsatillas in a watercolour journal

To try and remedy the matter and improve the appearance of the painting (after all, it is stuck in my book and ripping it out is not an option) I painted a solid border using Schmincke Horadam 'Mars Black' which is opaque. But, there were still areas outside the border that were faintly stained and I found that by trying to lift the stains, the paper surface was bobbling so, in true desperation, I painted around the black border with Schmincke Titanium White gouache. 😂

The reference photo, taken by me...

Pulsatilla vulgaris Bartons Pink

I have come to realise that the best way to deal with the journal is to avoid washes. The flowers, by the way, were painted with Schmincke Horadam 'Ruby Red'.

Of course, there are other ways to deal with a painting in a journal that we do not like. We can cover the whole or part of a surface with watercolour ground (I remembered that after I applied the opaque white paint!) 🙄 and paint another painting, or we can cover it over with something like a collage, for example.