Waste Basket Diving

If I throw away my booboos before the painting is completed then I am really not honest with myself.  I am an amateur trying to explore the many intricacies of Chinese brush painting and I must capitalize on the opportunity to learn from my mistakes.  To assume that every piece I attempted is worthy of the wall  is a unrealistic fantasy.

I caused big holes to appear in my attempt to paint my "mosaic" piece.  I tried to avoid the mistake of rendering the paper too brittle by the use of alum solution yet I failed.  I think my mistakes could be attributed to the thinness of the paper and my stupid idea of ironing the paper.  Could I be using the wrong alum solution mixture?  I am told the ratio of gum to alum should be 2 to 1.  I seem to recall that my solution has more alum than gum.  I used animal skin gum by the way.  I've been using that on my double Xuan and so far I have not been penalized for using too much alum.  My frayed edges from the gold speckled paper was my first mishap and the first hint of any bad side-effects from my solution. I am convinced now that the more robust double Xuan saved my skin in the past.  

So instead of trashing my "mosaic" piece due to the holes, I am going to continue my project.  

I proceed to make the darker areas much darker than before, to contrast with the lighter areas.

Now I need to work on the ducks, to make them more appealing?  I also need to go over my many wriggly pieces that depict the shimmering water.  The Number 3 Blue Hue (176) is my first target.

I then work on other colors.

Since I do have a fair amount of void space to begin with, the holes caused by the ironing mishap actually could pass under the radar.

I suppose I shall find out more about the appeal of these holes after the painting is mounted.  

I am just glad that I have fulfilled my New Year's resolution at least, by initiating and not giving up on  a tedious project.