Razor blades, pen knifes and X-actos
Sharp things! Be careful. Take a digit count. You need to have the same amount going out as you do coming in to this section. Single-edged razor blades can pick out individual highlights and scrape rough lines. Sharp pen knifes offer a safer alternative to razor blades. The handle offers a better grip for control but make sure you don't accidentally fold the knife blade into your fingers while using. It hurts. X-acto® blades can produce finer linear highlights. Take time to find out which blade 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.
Sponges
Bob Use only natural sea 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 use, use a clean damp sponge with a gentle wiping motion. Lift color from the paper, rotate to clean area on the sponge, wipe again. Repeat as needed. 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. Most are lightly sized to hold their shape before sale. Make sure your tools are clean.
Note: As you can see, many techniques for removing dry paint can result in damage to your paper surface. When scraping, scrubbing, or picking out highlights with sharp or rough tools it can be easy to make a mistake that won't be easily corrected |
